Guwahati, Sept. 15: Over the next two months, two video vans will travel across 50 hamlets in lower and Upper Assam and stop at assembly points to screen a nine-minute clip to make villagers aware of the perils of borrowing money from the unorganised sector.

This will be done under Dhanchayat, a swachh banking corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign of leading private sector bank HDFC, which was launched here today.

Swachh banking aims to raise awareness about clean and convenient banking available through the organised sector. Through the film, the bank will showcase to the rural population the importance of transparency in financial dealings and the dignity and self-respect of the individual in the borrowing process.

Fifty villages across North Guwahati, Bijoynagar, Pathsala, Barama and Barpeta Road in lower Assam, Kampur in central Assam and Numaligarh, Sorumoinaporia, Moran and Duliajan will be covered in the first phase.

"We believe in creating real financial inclusion and the need to go beyond merely providing financial access. Our objective to support inclusive growth cannot be achieved in an environment where misinformation and lack of familiarity with organised finance pushes people towards unorganised sources of finance," Atul Barve, branch banking head (east), HDFC Bank Ltd, said after flagging off the vans here today.

Assam is the 11th state after Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Bengal and Telangana where the bank has rolled out this initiative.

"The vans will stop at assembly points such as haats, bazaars, fairsand village panchayats to screen the clip. Our promoters will educate the people on the benefits of organised banking and answer queries on the spot," Barve said.

The vans will also have micro-ATMs with biometric facility.

The bank has plans to roll out the initiative in other parts of the state and the region in phases.

At a national level, the bank will cover 5,000 villages in phase one, encouraging the local populace to join the organised banking sector in line with the government's vision for financial inclusion.

"This is an ongoing process and we are committed to the initiative," he said.

HDFC Bank has over 100 branches in the Northeast, 52 of them in Assam. "We are steadily expanding in the Northeast. In the past couple of years, we have opened over 15 branches," Barve added.