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Kadambelil Paul Thomas, Managing Director of ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd, seems to be exploring green ground to promote business in tribal Jharkhand.

Toward the same end, he met Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das in Ranchi on Thursday. Paul looked smart and confident after meeting Jharkhand CM.

As it is, under the Modi government's guideline, the RBI had provided banking license to ESAF Small Finance Bank in December 2018. This meant that it has the authority to operate as a scheduled bank. Notably, this bank was established in Kerala in 1992. Now it has 432 banking outlets in 13 states with a customer base of 2.6 million.

Not the least, ESAF Small Finance Bank works with a vision to 'drive the triple bottom line agenda of balancing profit, people and planet in a way that low-income customers are able to move from poverty to self-sufficiency while they enhance their capabilities to fight the partiality of prosperity.'

"We are examining and seek the state government's support to set up outlets in Jharkhand", said a senior ESAF Small Finance Bank who accompanied Paul.

Das told him that his government is formulating policy for rural industries. In view of the growing demand for bamboo products across the globe, the state government has held meetings and directed concerned officials to promote small and cottage industries to produce bamboo products.

The state has forest areas in Palamau and Santhal Pargana divisions where bamboo and dates are grown and sold for construction purposes. Now, the state Khadi boards and its PSU JHARCRAFT sell handicrafts. The Das government wants to develop skill of youths to produce handicrafts out of bamboos.

Against this background, ESAF Small Finance Bank can play a positive role in making funds available to producers of bamboo crafts. Any small scale and cottage industry provides jobs to these trained youths only to produce bamboo and dates products for sale in the domestic market and export will be provided incentives,Das informed Paul.  

If the policy is planned and implemented holistically in a mission mode, bamboo craft producing companies can provide jobs to rural tribal youths and promote rural industry in the tribal belt of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh.     

The Das-Paul meeting was attended among others by CM's Principal Secretary Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Secretary, Industry,Dr. Ravi Kumar and ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd's Director Alok P.Thomas.

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