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INTRODUCTION:

The Gramin Banks are the banks which are set up mainly for the purpose of serving the rural areas. The word "Gramin" in Hindi means village or rural area. These banks are also under the control of India's central bank "The Reserve bank of India."

POPULAR GRAMIN BANKS:

There are many Gramin banks all over India. A few of them are:
1. Andhra Pradesh Gramin Vikas Bank
2. Rushkuliya Bank
3. Utkal Bank
4. Assam Gramin Bank
5. Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank
6. Chaitanya Godavari Bank
7. Deccan Gramin Bank
8. Saptagiri Bank
9. Andhra Pragathi Bank
10. Langpi Rural Bank
11. Uttar Bihar Bank
12. Madhya Bihar Bank

SERVICES OFFERED BY GRAMIN BANKS:

Some of the services offered by most of the gramin banks are:
1. Issue of Gramin Pay Order (Multi City Cheques).
2. Lockers facility.
3. Demand Drafts and Cheques Purchase facility.
4. Collection of outstation cheques.
5. Issue of solvency certificates.
6. Issue of Bank Guarantees.

LOANS GIVEN BY GRAMIN BANKS:

The types of loans given by Gramin Banks are:
1. Crop Loans (Agricultural cash credits).
2. Poultry Vikas (Loans for Broiler Contract Farming).
3. Grameena Gruha Vika (Rural Housing Loans).
4. Agricultural Purpose Credit Card.
5. House Building loans to Public.
6. Personal Loans as a Mortgage of Immovable property.
7. Financing of Matured SHGs for farm production.
8. Loans to senior citizens and Pensioners.
9. Vehicle Loans.
10. Dairy Loans(for Dairy farming).
11. Farm Mechanization and Tractor Loans for farmers.
12. Mortgage Loans to facilitate Industry, Trade and Services Sector in rural areas.
The crop loans are given on furnishing to the bank a copy of the documents of the land possessed by the farmer on which he is going to cultivate. The rates of interest will be low and certain allowances like: to pay the loan back after sale of crops, etc., are given to the farmers.
In the same way the loans are also given specially for the purchase of tractors and other machinery needed for cultivation.
There are also loans given specially for poultry farming, dairy-farming, rural housing, small-scale industries and cottage industries.
Here the schemes and rates of interest of loans are specially formulated for the purpose of the above. The term of loan, rates of interest and documents needed for getting the loan sanctioned are all set as per the purpose.

RURAL SERVICES:

The Gramin banks are specially set up for helping and uplifting the rural areas. These banks set up their branches in many of the villages as per the need. Banks are set up in the most remote areas and are provided with internet and computerization to keep the records regularly updated. With this, the time needed for a person from a village to go to a bank in a city far off from his place for his needs is reduced. Even the fare for the journey is saved. In this way rural banks cater to the needs of the villagers by offering them services at their doorstep.

The Gramin banks also give Gold Loans, i.e., money in exchange for gold.
The Gramin banks give special support to the Self help Groups of the villages too. The self-help groups are usually set up by a group of men or women in a village who prepare goods and some food items on a small scale and sell them in the market. The required monetary help for the raw materials for these self-help groups is given by the these banks.

CONCLUSION:

Thus, Gramin banks are an integral part for the growth of agricultural sector and rural areas. They Indian Government has introduced a large number of schemes through these banks for the equitable development of the nation.
Gramin banks play an important role in India's rural development. Being a government owned public sector bank, it also provides employment opportunities with job security for people in rural areas.