The Gramina Abhyudaya Financial Literacy and Credit Counselling Trust, sponsored by the Corporation Bank, plans to open 10 centres in the State.

Managing trustee of the trust T.V. Bhat told presspersons on Tuesday that the centres would come up at Channapatna, Magadi, Kanakapura, Belur, Periapatna, Jamkhandi, Savadatti, Ranebennur, Jagalur, and Tirthahalli. During the current year, the trust would focus on providing financial education in rural areas with the help of government departments and banks. It would also provide preventive counselling on loans up to Rs. 1 lakh for new borrowers.

The trust had opened district-level financial literacy centres at Chikmaglur, Madikeri, Ramanagar, and Udupi. It had opened block-level centres at Amethi in CSM Nagar district of Uttara Pradesh, Gonikoppa, Sagar, Honnavar, and Somwarpet in Karnataka. In all, nine centres had been opened, he said. The Corporation Bank was presently meeting the expenses of the trust. The counsellors of the trust counselled 2,085 borrowers about the proper use of loans . As per the directions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), each FLCC trust had to open centres in all the blocks of the lead districts. This trust was the first in the country to open FLCC centres in all blocks of Kodagu , Mr. Bhat said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / News> Cities> Mangalore / by Hindu Staff Correspondent / Udupi, April 18th, 2012