Abid Gowhar
Srinagar / June 4/ “Reach-out-to-all “is the latest slogan of finance minister P. Chitambram, voiced for all the Public and private sector banks in India. This idea of reaching to the un-banked rural masses was first floated during the mid-term review of monitory policy 2005-2006 in Oct.2005 wherein banks were urged to review their existing practices to align them with the objective of financial inclusion. With a view to achieving greater financial inclusion, all banks were asked to make available a basic banking ‘no frills’ account that would make such accounts accessible to vast and underprivileged sections of population.
Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) pursued the importance of the National agenda to its member banks so strongly that many banks instantly formalized such “ No-frill” accounts with a special coverage and concessions. Introduction of such hassle free account produced another thought that unless country’s un-banked population is covered and reached by the banks, the mantra of financial inclusion could not be materialized.
About 72% of country’s population is still living in rural India. Nearly one third of that continues to be below the poverty line. Majority of them are marginal farmers and landless agriculture. What the economy experts feel that rural population holds a big portion of the money that remains stagnant for a longer period of time. Even rural people does not prefer to bank their money anywhere and so is called un-banked area / population. People in the rural areas prefer to keep their hard-earned money under lock with themselves and so a big portion of money becomes non-volatile and immobilized in the money-market which in a broader concept effects the overall economic development of the country.
The Jammu & Kashmir Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India with 516 branches and business turnover of Rs37,967.75crore as on March 2006 launched a special “Reach-out-to-all “programme in Jammu and Kashmir divisions separately. Two rural Blocks Ranbhir Singh Pora in district Jammu and Ganderbal in district Srinagar were selected for the programme to produce an extensive coverage for its products and services rather to cover the un-banked rural population beneath the banking and financial inclusion shadows.
Full awareness but hard motivation :
“Reach-out-to-all “ programme launched by J&K Bank on May 10,2006 in Kashmir region under the National policy of financial inclusion finds block Ganderbal in its target after R.S.Pora block. The Bank reached some remote village of the block like, Gotlibagh,Chanhar, Baba-wayil, Wayil-Wudder, Wurpash, Shaji-nag, Banjar and other adjacent Mohallas and isolated villages. A special team of JK bank officials visited door to door and make people aware of all banking products, services and schemes. “ It was very hard to motivate the remote villagers towards banking facilities, services and products because of low literacy ratio, poorness and ignorance of the people and of course a bitter experience of the people by those fraudulent and mischievous elements who have earlier victimized the innocent people by grabbing money through false propaganda of being private agents of so called financial companies or so called banks” said the marketing team leader Gulzar Ahmad. He stated that the door-to-door banking enabled the people to get rid of certain pre-requisite formalities which foremost needed for opening a fresh account in the Bank branch.
1. No need of photographs, as the team carries a digital camera for taking photographs of the new customers free of cost.
2. Minimum deposit of Rs50/- accepted on spot instead of minimum Rs500/- required for opening a Savings Bank Account and that too with physical presence at the Branch.
3. No need to produce identification or residential proof, as simple authentication of a person is taken from a Village Head.
4. No need to search for a account holder or person, who has to put signatures for introduction of a fresh customer as Bank officials does it on spot without putting the depositor in hassles.
Wayil-Wudder:
A remote village with population of around 1500 and around fifty per cent of which are living below the poverty line. The village is situated in the laps of Harmukh in the north-east of Tehsil/ Block headquarter, Ganderbal. Ten kilometers away from Ganderbal town and seven- kilometer uphill approach from the right side of Srinagar-Leh National highway.
During the campaign, out of 1050 adults in the area, counseling and awareness was given to almost 80% of the male population. The major crop in Rabi season is oats and Cherry and during Kharif farm season maize is the major crop but dependent on monsoon. The village is overlooked by the government authorities in providing basic necessities of life.
The people here believe that a Bank is meant for those who have sufficient or extra money. One who has Bank Loan is deemed to be depreciated and one who has money with the bank is deemed as rich and affluent. Fixed Deposit is the matter of doubling the money and Loan from a bank means overburden of liabilities due to add-up interest component.
A performer in the gloom:
Pathan Mohammad Saleem, a 24 year old young man is one exception in the village Wayil-Wudder with so many glitters that every habitant of the underprivileged society is feeling proud and head-high. The boy is reading in final year of Bachelors degree in Degree College Ganderbal and has represented J&K State in eleven Nationals in different sports events like, Thangta, Speaktkraw, Archary and Sqay. He is several times appreciated and honoured by J&K Sports Council.
Cherry-garden blooms:
As one enters into the Wayil-Wudder ,cherry gardens scintillate the craziness of the village. Mushroom of cherry gardens and its season of harvest (May-June) is as scenic as anything in the whole fruit industry of the valley. Most busy season of the village with almost everybody engaged in plucking process of the tiny and famous Kashmiri fruit. A rich cultivation of all types of the fruit (cherry) is done here and is the biggest source of income generation in the area. “Awal Number”, “Goal”, “Makhmali”, “Gogji Makhmali”, “Dubble” and “Missry” are famous six types of the cherry that are found in all the adjacent areas of the village also. A one and half kilogram cardboard packed box incurs a real costs of Rs25/-till it becomes ready for sale in the village and the same box is sold in the retail market for Rs100/- or more in Srinagar city. Five Kanals of orchard land with Cherry trees not older than 10 years is sold for Rs60- 80 thousand.
Wurpash:
Village wurpash is located seven kilometers away in the north-east south of tehsil/ block headquarter. It is a two kilometer uphill journey to the right of village Nunnar while an un-macadamized, isolated and rough road leads to the village. It also falls in the backward category of Government declarations. There are almost 150 households with population of around 5000. The Rabi season major crops are rice and cherry, while in Kharif season people are involved horticulture and allied fruit trades
Majority of the people in Wurpash are trained in horse-plying. Every household is the owner of at least couple of horses which give them a good earning during Yatra and tourist season.. Soon after the end of rice sapling, cultivation and Rabi crop season people go to Sonamarg and Baltal for providing Horse riding to the tourists.
More than fifty per cent of the population is engaged with agriculture and allied activities while many including young boya and girls are shawlbafi and pashmina trained artisans.
There are two government middle schools being clubbed in to one building with a roll of around 350 students. The school has good setup and sufficient infrastructure compared to a private primary school, which has roll of 42 students with shabby and un-maintained class rooms situated in the upper storey of a local house.
Shaji-Nag:
A village of gujjar tenants with population of around 1500 people. Five kilometers away from the Srinagar-Kangan roadside and only an uphill footpath of three kilometer distance is the way to approach the village from Wurpash. The area has abundance in fruits gardens like, Apple, walnut, cherry and pear. Unexposed and unexploited to the modern day happenings, the people have their own living standard and strongly maintain their cultural and social status. The people hardly get impressed with banking facilities on prosperous change to be made in their standard of living. Very brave men to see wild animals like snakes and bears grazing in their lawns. People have some astonishing and fearful tales to express their livelihood and unique expertness of handling with the wild animals. “what to do with interest based banking , when it is totally banned by Islam to give or take profits in the form of interest” says a Shaji-nag resident 80 year old Husain Khan. “We have our own standards and practices of dealing with money. We earn money in lakhs and know how to utilize it. When we give “Karz-e-Hasna” to any needy person in the village and use to go his/ her home but never drink or eat something in that home, because that becomes a form of interest or earning out of my lending, which is a great sin” added Khan. One can not motivate such people having strong belief in Islamic values and principles but tactful business guidance may help those who are running a completely untapped trade in the village.
Srinagar / June 4/ “Reach-out-to-all “is the latest slogan of finance minister P. Chitambram, voiced for all the Public and private sector banks in India. This idea of reaching to the un-banked rural masses was first floated during the mid-term review of monitory policy 2005-2006 in Oct.2005 wherein banks were urged to review their existing practices to align them with the objective of financial inclusion. With a view to achieving greater financial inclusion, all banks were asked to make available a basic banking ‘no frills’ account that would make such accounts accessible to vast and underprivileged sections of population.
Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) pursued the importance of the National agenda to its member banks so strongly that many banks instantly formalized such “ No-frill” accounts with a special coverage and concessions. Introduction of such hassle free account produced another thought that unless country’s un-banked population is covered and reached by the banks, the mantra of financial inclusion could not be materialized.
About 72% of country’s population is still living in rural India. Nearly one third of that continues to be below the poverty line. Majority of them are marginal farmers and landless agriculture. What the economy experts feel that rural population holds a big portion of the money that remains stagnant for a longer period of time. Even rural people does not prefer to bank their money anywhere and so is called un-banked area / population. People in the rural areas prefer to keep their hard-earned money under lock with themselves and so a big portion of money becomes non-volatile and immobilized in the money-market which in a broader concept effects the overall economic development of the country.
The Jammu & Kashmir Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India with 516 branches and business turnover of Rs37,967.75crore as on March 2006 launched a special “Reach-out-to-all “programme in Jammu and Kashmir divisions separately. Two rural Blocks Ranbhir Singh Pora in district Jammu and Ganderbal in district Srinagar were selected for the programme to produce an extensive coverage for its products and services rather to cover the un-banked rural population beneath the banking and financial inclusion shadows.
Full awareness but hard motivation :
“Reach-out-to-all “ programme launched by J&K Bank on May 10,2006 in Kashmir region under the National policy of financial inclusion finds block Ganderbal in its target after R.S.Pora block. The Bank reached some remote village of the block like, Gotlibagh,Chanhar, Baba-wayil, Wayil-Wudder, Wurpash, Shaji-nag, Banjar and other adjacent Mohallas and isolated villages. A special team of JK bank officials visited door to door and make people aware of all banking products, services and schemes. “ It was very hard to motivate the remote villagers towards banking facilities, services and products because of low literacy ratio, poorness and ignorance of the people and of course a bitter experience of the people by those fraudulent and mischievous elements who have earlier victimized the innocent people by grabbing money through false propaganda of being private agents of so called financial companies or so called banks” said the marketing team leader Gulzar Ahmad. He stated that the door-to-door banking enabled the people to get rid of certain pre-requisite formalities which foremost needed for opening a fresh account in the Bank branch.
1. No need of photographs, as the team carries a digital camera for taking photographs of the new customers free of cost.
2. Minimum deposit of Rs50/- accepted on spot instead of minimum Rs500/- required for opening a Savings Bank Account and that too with physical presence at the Branch.
3. No need to produce identification or residential proof, as simple authentication of a person is taken from a Village Head.
4. No need to search for a account holder or person, who has to put signatures for introduction of a fresh customer as Bank officials does it on spot without putting the depositor in hassles.
Wayil-Wudder:
A remote village with population of around 1500 and around fifty per cent of which are living below the poverty line. The village is situated in the laps of Harmukh in the north-east of Tehsil/ Block headquarter, Ganderbal. Ten kilometers away from Ganderbal town and seven- kilometer uphill approach from the right side of Srinagar-Leh National highway.
During the campaign, out of 1050 adults in the area, counseling and awareness was given to almost 80% of the male population. The major crop in Rabi season is oats and Cherry and during Kharif farm season maize is the major crop but dependent on monsoon. The village is overlooked by the government authorities in providing basic necessities of life.
The people here believe that a Bank is meant for those who have sufficient or extra money. One who has Bank Loan is deemed to be depreciated and one who has money with the bank is deemed as rich and affluent. Fixed Deposit is the matter of doubling the money and Loan from a bank means overburden of liabilities due to add-up interest component.
A performer in the gloom:
Pathan Mohammad Saleem, a 24 year old young man is one exception in the village Wayil-Wudder with so many glitters that every habitant of the underprivileged society is feeling proud and head-high. The boy is reading in final year of Bachelors degree in Degree College Ganderbal and has represented J&K State in eleven Nationals in different sports events like, Thangta, Speaktkraw, Archary and Sqay. He is several times appreciated and honoured by J&K Sports Council.
Cherry-garden blooms:
As one enters into the Wayil-Wudder ,cherry gardens scintillate the craziness of the village. Mushroom of cherry gardens and its season of harvest (May-June) is as scenic as anything in the whole fruit industry of the valley. Most busy season of the village with almost everybody engaged in plucking process of the tiny and famous Kashmiri fruit. A rich cultivation of all types of the fruit (cherry) is done here and is the biggest source of income generation in the area. “Awal Number”, “Goal”, “Makhmali”, “Gogji Makhmali”, “Dubble” and “Missry” are famous six types of the cherry that are found in all the adjacent areas of the village also. A one and half kilogram cardboard packed box incurs a real costs of Rs25/-till it becomes ready for sale in the village and the same box is sold in the retail market for Rs100/- or more in Srinagar city. Five Kanals of orchard land with Cherry trees not older than 10 years is sold for Rs60- 80 thousand.
Wurpash:
Village wurpash is located seven kilometers away in the north-east south of tehsil/ block headquarter. It is a two kilometer uphill journey to the right of village Nunnar while an un-macadamized, isolated and rough road leads to the village. It also falls in the backward category of Government declarations. There are almost 150 households with population of around 5000. The Rabi season major crops are rice and cherry, while in Kharif season people are involved horticulture and allied fruit trades
Majority of the people in Wurpash are trained in horse-plying. Every household is the owner of at least couple of horses which give them a good earning during Yatra and tourist season.. Soon after the end of rice sapling, cultivation and Rabi crop season people go to Sonamarg and Baltal for providing Horse riding to the tourists.
More than fifty per cent of the population is engaged with agriculture and allied activities while many including young boya and girls are shawlbafi and pashmina trained artisans.
There are two government middle schools being clubbed in to one building with a roll of around 350 students. The school has good setup and sufficient infrastructure compared to a private primary school, which has roll of 42 students with shabby and un-maintained class rooms situated in the upper storey of a local house.
Shaji-Nag:
A village of gujjar tenants with population of around 1500 people. Five kilometers away from the Srinagar-Kangan roadside and only an uphill footpath of three kilometer distance is the way to approach the village from Wurpash. The area has abundance in fruits gardens like, Apple, walnut, cherry and pear. Unexposed and unexploited to the modern day happenings, the people have their own living standard and strongly maintain their cultural and social status. The people hardly get impressed with banking facilities on prosperous change to be made in their standard of living. Very brave men to see wild animals like snakes and bears grazing in their lawns. People have some astonishing and fearful tales to express their livelihood and unique expertness of handling with the wild animals. “what to do with interest based banking , when it is totally banned by Islam to give or take profits in the form of interest” says a Shaji-nag resident 80 year old Husain Khan. “We have our own standards and practices of dealing with money. We earn money in lakhs and know how to utilize it. When we give “Karz-e-Hasna” to any needy person in the village and use to go his/ her home but never drink or eat something in that home, because that becomes a form of interest or earning out of my lending, which is a great sin” added Khan. One can not motivate such people having strong belief in Islamic values and principles but tactful business guidance may help those who are running a completely untapped trade in the village.
