3i Infotech joins SBI to launch Kiosk Banking for rural India - India Microfinance Business News
Yet another novel initiative from the big brother of banking in India. No reason, why Khandelwal Committee recommended a Maha Ratna status to SBI recently. Having been with the Bank for over twenty years (between 1971 and 1993), and to have worked in rural branches in the remote / backward Telangana area in AP, followed by a posting in the Agricultural Banking Department of the Corporate Office, I feel very proud and reminisce those good olden days.
Manning the under-staffed branches, living in semi-finished houses, taking food in tached canteens, walking miles and miles, working in odd-conditions and visiting village farms on hired jeeps, sitting with the illiterate Lambadas in Tandas, sending telegrams to HO, campaigning for business (deposits and loans), are all still fresh in memory. Those tough days are gone. All transactions were handled manually and prone to errors if not frauds. There were hardly any telephone or communication facilities about three decades back. Getting leave for genuine reasons was a problem. All staff members were eagerly waiting for week-ends or public holidays to move to nearby towns to breath some civilisation. A friend of mine when met after his rural posting, when greeted with the words 'how is life?' responded that he is under culture shock.
It is heartening that rural India and rural banking is going tech-savvy. Imagine working even without good calculators, today they have computers, networking, mobile phones, conveyance facilities, entertainment with TVs, and now moving towards Core Banking, Biometric ATMs and Kiosk Banking! I envy my young friends to have moved to rural service with all possible facilities. Good luck.
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