
G.Narayanan, Executive Director of Indian Overseas Bank, handing over a ‘smart card’ to a beneficiary at Kameswaram village in Nagapattinam district on Thursday.
Source: The Hindu Press Release, 19 June 2008
NAGAPATTINAM: Indian Overseas Bank on Thursday launched its ‘IOB-Sampoorna’, a special scheme for total village development in the tsunami-hit Kameswaram in Nagapattinam district.
Bank Executive Director G. Narayanan, who launched the scheme, said that the bank had already launched the scheme in Kuthambakkam and Padur villages near Chennai in Tamil Nadu and would introduce it in more villages.
He pointed out that the scheme envisaged total village development covering greening of the villages, desilting of tanks and lakes, financial assistance to women and youth, better residential and medical amenities, etc. The scheme also encompasses creation of awareness among the local populace about sanitation and modern techniques in agriculture. The adopted villages will be provided with health care, tree planting, educational classes, toilet facility, rural tourism, rural housing, etc, he said.
Mr. Narayanan said that assistance would be given in the form of concessional finance or donation. The credit limit for women self-help groups had also been enhanced from Rs.50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore, he said.
He also handed over smart cards to the villagers of Kameswaram. The smart card offers a perfect IT solution for door-step banking initiated through the process of financial inclusion in catering to the unbanked sector by providing a secure solution with mobility.
IOB has chosen ‘smart connect’ of the Coromandel Infotech as the solution for its smart card pilot project launched in Kameswaram village in Nagapattinam district.
He appreciated the Development Promotion Group, a Chennai-based non-governmental organisation for carrying out tsunami relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the State and for handing over 59 permanent houses to the tsunami-hit families in Kameswaram village built at a cost of Rs.1.73 crore in March this year.
DPG Chief Executive Officer R. Bhakther Solomon, who delivered the special address, said that it had constructed 822 permanent houses in six villages in Nagapattinam and Tuticorin districts and had the credit of handing over all the houses in time to the tsunami-hit families.