Bhubaneswar: In a bid to help the villagers of the recent cyclone-affected districts for withdrawing money, mobile ATM van of HDFC Bank was flagged off today in State Secretariat by Odisha Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi in presence of Finance Secretary Ashok Kumar Meena, GA Special Secretary S.N Girish HDFC Bank Zonal Head Odisha and Andaman Rajesh Srivastava.
On the occasion, the Odisha Chief Secretary said that as mobile network has not been restored in many of the villages in the affected districts and people are unable to withdraw their money from ATM, the van of HDFC Bank will provide a mobile ATM to the affected areas so as to serve the people.
Talking to media, Odisha Finance Secretary Ashok Meena said, “Puri district was worst affected by cyclonic storm FANI. Due to disruption of power supply and telecom facilities, banking services were also worst affected. Now all banks are open. Out of the 220 ATMs there, 40% is functional. But, the interior areas where power supply is yet to be restored, mobile ATM facility has been made.”
“Our State Cooperative Bank had initially deployed 5 such ATMs. Now 10 more ATMs are being sent. Besides, other banks like UCO, SBI and HDFC will also do so. Today, HDFC Bank got their mobile ATM van from Noida and deployed in Puri district. Hence, the mobile ATM van will go round Nimapara, Kakatpur, Satyabadi, etc areas where ATMs not functional. Total about 25 odd mobile ATMs now pressed into service. There is no paucity of cash. If run out, the van will replenish and move again,” informed the Finance Secretary.
HDFC Bank Zonal Head Rajesh Srivastava mentioned that the State of Odisha starts to recover from the aftermath of cyclone FANI and the HDFC Bank family is committed to stand in solidarity with them.
He also mentioned that HDFC Bank has come forward to give a lending hand to the State and has contributed Rs 10 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF). The bank has also adopted 20 schools in the cyclone affected districts including Puri.
He further mentioned that the HDFC Bank has waived off late fee charges for loans in May 2019 and has made all the 147 branches operational including the cyclone-affected branches. Out of the 240 ATMs affected by the cyclone, 222 have been made operational and rest will be made operational by May 31. HDFC Bank is also providing relief material, especially food, in the cyclone ravaged area covering around 12,700 households. Plastic sheets are to be distributed to around 1,000 cyclone affected houses by May 31 in the affected areas, as per a press note released on the occasion.
