Odisha Panchayat Polls: CM Naveen Dons Santa Cap, Borrows UP-Yogi's Bank Sakhi Scheme

A high of 73 percent of gram panchayats are unbanked in Odisha since long, CM Patnaik announced in Odisha, 24-hrs after PM Modi's meet with Bank Sakhi's in UP

Naveen Dons Santa Cap, ahead Of Rural Polls

News Summary

On Sept 2, 2016, a year before the 2017 rural polls, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had proposed to the then Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India Arvind Subramanian at the State Secretariat to open bank branches in the gram panchayats not having the facility.

The scheme of bank Sakhis had been framed by the Yogi Adityanath government in May 2020,

The Key Takeaway, therefore, is Odisha government had not touched upon this idea, though the model was in place since 2006, more so even after the conspicuous launch of PMJDY in 2015. Even, the State gave it a miss in 2020, when the UP government launched the Bank Sakhi scheme.

This Christmas, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had not only donned the Santa cap but was also seen playing the smart moves like a master chess player, only to checkmate the Opposition, especially BJP that gave a run for money to the party in 2017 rural polls.

The worth-watching move made by CM Patnaik had been the announcement to engage women SHG members as Banking Correspondents - Sakhis- in unbanked panchayats in the State.