Rural banking at its best in Assam

MOVING AHEAD: A rural bank in Assam has been conceived on the lines of rather famous venture of Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus.

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Borihat (Assam): When Girish Chandra Das, a farmer in Assam's Borihat village decided to expand his piggery business, he did not have to go far for financial help.

Thanks to a novel venture by some enterprising men from his village, the main force behind Rani Bholagaon small savings bank, Girish was provided timely help.

"I went to this bank because things are very simple here. Government banks take a long time to sanction loans for ventures like mine," says Girish Chandra Das, a farmer.

The bank, conceived on the lines of rather famous venture of Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus, has been a big hit in the area.

The two-roomed bank that was started just four months ago by a handful of villagers with just Rs 80,000 is a runaway success and the figures say it all.

"Till date, we have collected over Rs 22 lakhs in deposit and have disbursed loans up to Rs 18 lakhs to the needy," says the chairman of Rani Bholagaon small savings bank, Muhammaed Siraj Ali.

And the reasons for the bank's success are not hard to find. Operating micro-credit schemes, the bank has deposit rates pegged much higher than the rest, even as lending rates are reasonably lower.

"We hope to reach out to more than 1,000 families in near future," says Ali.

Interestingly, when it all began, the villagers had not heard of a similar venture in Bangladesh by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

"if they can do it in Bangladesh, we in India and Assam can do it too. We have taken it as a challenge," says the chairman of the small savings bank.

The banking sector boom and the visible transformation of Urban India is visible to all. But this is one rare instance when people themselves have taken to transform the rural side and the changes are already visible.