CSC SPV, a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, has entered into agreement with HDFC Bank to enable its three lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) managing the Common Services Centers operate as Banking Correspondents of HDFC Bank. The agreement was signed between Chairman and Managing Director, HDFC Mr. Aditya Puri and CEO, CSC SPV Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi in the presence of Hon’ble Minister of Electronics & IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad today at the Ministry of Electronics & IT, New Delhi.
Under the agreement, VLEs of CSC will work as Banking Correspondent of HDFC Bank and support the Government initiative to promote financial inclusion and make banking services more accessible in rural areas. This agreement is expected to be a game changer as it would significantly contribute to Government’s objectives of enabling Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of various schemes. Women, senior citizens and persons with disability will especially get benefitted through this initiative. This will facilitate withdrawal and deposit of government entitlements such as payments under MGNREGA as well as various social welfare schemes like widow pension, handicapped and old age pension, etc.
Congratulating HDFC’s CEO, Mr. Puri on joining hands with India’s digital story Sh. Prasad said that the initiative is a game changer and will significantly contribute to Government’s objectives of enabling financial inclusion and add to the success story of Digital India.
The HDFC BC (CSC) under this arrangement will also function as Business Facilitator (BF). This is a unique facility being extended through CSC by HDFC. This will help and support the citizens, especially merchants, youth, entrepreneurs, farmers and women avail loan facility from the Bank to support in their economic uplift.
Apart from this, HDFC Bank will support CSC SPV in converting 1000 identified villages into Digi Gaon (Digital Villages) within this financial year. CSC SPV is implementing Digi Gaon initiative in rural and remote villages of the country, with the mandate of the Ministry of Electronics & IT, where citizens can avail various online services of the central and State government. In the pilot project, CSC SPV has adopted six villages in the country. The Digi Gaons are positioned to promote rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods through community participation and collective action for engendering social change through a bottom-up approach with key focus on the rural citizen.
Under its’ commitment to enhancing women’s health and hygiene, HDFC Bank will also support CSC SPV by funding Stree Swabhiman Sanitary Napkin Manufacturing Units. CSC SPV, through its initiative ‘Stree Swabhiman’ is striving to create a sustainable model for providing affordable and accessible sanitary products close to the homes of adolescent girls and women in rural areas. So far 204 sanitary pad manufacturing units have become operational across the country.
The Common Service Center (CSC) Scheme is an integral part of “Digital India” initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. Currently, close to three lakh VLEs are operational across the country, of which 2.10 lakh are at Gram Panchayat level.
