Amul MD Mr R S Sodhi has been appointed to the Board of India Post Payments Bank as an Independent director. An expert in cooperative matters Sodhi’s experiences in connecting with rural folks are expected to come in handy for the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking from the Red Fort this Independence Day Modi said Post offices across the country will be converted into “payment banks”. He said the move would create a network of banks which will help in transferring benefits to the people.
The prime minister said with the advent of technology, post offices are becoming irrelevant and the government is focusing on keeping them relevant. He said we all love ”post man”.
When Indian Cooperative phoned Mr Sodhi to know his reaction he said “I feel humbled by the appointment. India Post has a strong presence of 1.55 lac post offices across the country and it will be a powerful vehicle for financial inclusion in the country”, he underlined.
India Post Payments Banks has started with a corpus of Rs 800 crore. People in rural areas will now be able to bank close to their homes as 1.39 lakh post offices are located in rural areas. The bank is likely to be a great financial tool and the final nail in the coffin of money-lenders’ culture still prevalent in rural areas.
There was resistance in the beginning from the Department of Posts, which now comes under a separate ministry-of communications. It had expressed reservations about the ministry’s proposal suggesting that the centres or the CSCs can be co-located with post offices.
But a determined Prime Minister had his way in the end, marking perhaps the biggest move since 1991 in terms of financial inclusion, commented experts. And the cooperative sector is proud of the fact that one of its leaders Mr Sodhi has been appointed as the Independent Director.