GUNTUR: Andhra Bank will focus more on social and rural development, with specific emphasis on Andhra Pradesh, its Chairman and Managing Director K. Ramakrishnan has said.

Inaugurating the seventh Institute of Rural Development in the country here on Sunday, Mr. Ramakrishnan said that the bank was spending Rs. 1.5 crores annually only to train chosen beneficiaries in the area/trade of their interest so that they could generate employment in addition to eking out a living. Yet another institute would be opened at Bhubaneswar, he said.

Practical skills

At every place of operation of the bank branch managers were identifying the industry of importance for the region and training potential personnel, who could begin their own units with the financial assistance from the bank. Providing practical skills was key to developing self-confidence, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

Training for men and women ranged from one week to one and a half months and beautician course had a good demand in rural areas, he observed. Motor mechanic was another course, which found good support from major auto manufacturers for sponsoring skilled personnel, he said.

Some 46,000 rural people had benefited to the tune of Rs.1,257 crores in Andhra Pradesh through tying-up of loans in groups and individually, he added. The focus was on priority sector lending in which it had crossed all targets, he claimed.

Through self-help groups (SHG), the bank funded Rs.28.15 crores for 4,374 crores in 10 districts, and for the current year it had a target of expanding the network to 22 districts in Andhra Pradesh.

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