With 33% population of India being in the 15-year-old bracket, the Punjab National Bank has set on itself the target of making youths globally employable. It has evolved a new business model in which it will focus on students who need quality education.
The CMD of the bank KC Chakrabarty said, “Of more than 6 lakh villages, only 30,000 villages have banks. A whopping 60% of the population doesn’t even have a bank account. It is to meet this challenge that we have launched a pilot project on financial inclusion in Neemrana, Rajasthan.”
The other places identified by the bank are Saharanpur, Chandigarh, Taran Taran, Balia, Dehra Dun, Ranchi, Mayurbhanj, Gaya and Patna. Under the financial inclusion plan, the bank, by 2010, plans to cover 30,000 villages, 15 million households and 75 million people. Chakrabarty added, “No student should stop studying because he can’t afford it. We will make sure that they are globally competitive and get loans required for higher studies.”