Morigaon, Nov. 30: RBI governor D. Subba Rao offered the villagers of Dongabari in Morigaon district the perfect Bhogali Bihu gift — a bank branch in the village.

Donga means a big pond while bori is high land.

He also asked the villagers to send their daughters to school and warned them that those who fail to do so will not be allowed to open bank accounts.

In the presence of the governor, the Assam Gramin Vikash Bank has agreed to open a bank branch in the village by Bihu, in January.

A senior official of the Assam Gramin Vikash Bank said an ATM would also be set up after three months of setting up of the bank branch.

“We understand the villagers’ problems and will help them get connected to the Reserve Bank of India, which also helps us become more responsible,” he said.

Top officials from many banks were present.

At the Dongabari Higher Secondary School, he asked teachers to see to it that at least five students from the school get into IIT.

“I will come back next time to see that the target has been met,” he added.

On the financial inclusion, he said 2,300 villages in Assam, which still do not have access to banks, will have them by March next year.

Under the financial inclusion, every village with a population of 2,000 must have a bank. “Bankers have told me it is a stiff challenge but they will meet the target,” he said.

Many of the banks will be set up in the business correspondents model initially and slowly physical structures will come up, Rao said. “An awareness camp should be held before the bank branch comes up,” he said.

He had chaired a state-level bankers’ meet in Guwahati yesterday where the performance of the banking sector was reviewed.

Rao also asked banks to gear up to meet the target of disbursing Rs 4,500 crore for the farm sector. “The performance so far is better than last year but it should improve,” he said.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi had asked banks to shell out Rs 4,500 crore to finance the farm sector. Rao also expressed concern on the circulation of fake notes in the Northeast.

SBI has also agreed to set up a rural ATM and UBI will meet the target as well.

Morigaon deputy commissioner Aruna Rajoria said the 29 bank branches in the district are mainly in urban areas. “The co-ordination between banks and post offices needs to be improved so that NREGA payments can be expedited,” she said. Rao assured the gathering that inflation, currently at 10 per cent, will come down by March.