Thanks to new norm for wage payment approved by ministry of rural development, more than 98 lakh rural poor have been provided access to formal banking facilities through opening postal savings bank account.
Besides, another 56 lakh savings accounts with state owned or cooperative banks have been opened in the rural areas under the UPA’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
In a bid to prevent delay and ensuring transparency in wage payment, the ministry of rural development had asked state governments to launch special drive to open saving accounts of the NREGS workers in bank and post offices.
During 2007-08, Rs 10,738.47 crore was paid as wages under the scheme to more than 3.3 crore households out of the total expenditure of Rs 15,856.89 crore. Officials of rural development ministry said despite spread of rural bank branches, more than 50% of rural households have been deprived of banking services for many years. The latest data reveal that under NREGS more than 1.62 crore savings bank account have been opened in various banks and post offices across the country.
?This has resulted in inclusion of large number of people under poverty line with the formal banking system and added close to a crore savings bank account holders to existing 14 crore accounts holder with the post office,? an official said.
However, Andhra Pradesh leads all other states in opening accounts for wage payment with more than 80 lakh out of which more than 78 lakh is opened with the post offices. Other leading states in opening savings accounts are Jharkhand (21 lakh accounts), Madhya Pradesh (13 lakh), Karnataka (13 lakh), Orissa (5 lakh), Bihar (4.6 lakh) and UP (5 lakh).
Interestingly, due to inefficient postal network in Uttar Pradesh, not a single savings accounts have been opened with post offices out of 5 lakh accounts for NREGS wage payment. Other states which have not utilised the postal services are Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, J&K and Himachal.