Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The first state bank of India entirely dedicated to women opened today. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Mumbai branch of Bharatiya Mahila Bank ( MB), which will start with seven offices throughout the country. Each branch will have only female employees and give priority to a female clientele . By 2017, the BMB wants to open 500 locations throughout the country, even in villages.
Significantly, the bank has
decided to inaugurate the branch today, the anniversary of the birth of Indira
Gandhi, the first woman Prime Minister of India.
"We
encourage men and women - said Usha Ananthasubramanian , president of the
Bharatiya Mahila Bank - to open an account with us, but we want to focus on the
world of women , especially with regard to loans." The
goal is to promote and support the empowerment, autonomy and independence of
women. In
general , they are considered more parsimonious than men, but by tradition tend
to entrust their savings to their husbands .
Compared
to a global average of 50% , only 35 % of Indians have access to banking
services. Of
this percentage, women account holders are only 26 % , against the 46 % of men.
Across
the country there are about 100 thousand bank branches, and out of the 650
thousand villages most do not have a bank.