The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Bid to scrap small savings scheme stalled

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Saturday, Nov 11, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Bid to scrap small savings scheme stalled

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Minister for Science and Technology, Small Savings and Lottery Ramachandra Gowda said here on Thursday that there was a proposal to set the target for small savings collection at Rs. 2,000 crore for this year.

Decision

"The State Government will take a decision on this after the proposal is placed before the Cabinet and discussed," he said.

Speaking after inaugurating the World Thrift Day and Savings Fortnight celebrations organised by the National Savings Institute, Bangalore Regional Centre, Mr. Gowda said that there had been talks on scrapping the National Savings Scheme in Karnataka as it was a burden on the exchequer, but he had managed to stall this attempt, as "it is the lifeline of our people and helps in the economic development of our country," he said.

He added that Rs. 10 crore was released by the Government last year for disbursement of commissions to small savings agents.

Mr. Gowda also asked the Head of the Department of the National Savings Institute to talk to the Finance Department to impress upon them the importance of small savings so that it was not it is not done away with.

Awards

Two post offices — R.T. Nagar Head Post Office and Mico Layout Post Office — were given awards for their work in small savings.

Small saving agents were also given awards for their high collections last year: R. Alamelu (collected Rs. 12.19 crore), R. Rukmini (Rs. 1.31 crore) and S.T. Papanna (Rs. 1.38 crore).

Anil Bhattacharya, Head of National Savings Institute, Partha Bhattacharya, General Manager, State Bank of India, and others were present on the occasion.

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