Koraput: Majority of panchayats in the tribal-dominated Koraput district is deprived of banking services.

According to official figures, 196 of the 240 panchayats in the district do not have a bank branch for which the villages are forced to travel several miles to meet their banking requirements.

"We have to cover around 20km to reach to Boipariguda if we need to go to a bank. A day's labour is lost for this reason," said Ranjit Murjiya of Kathpada village in Boipariguda block.

Banking services are available at only two of the 20 panchayats in the block. The situation is worse in the Maoist-hit blocks such as Narayanpatna with nine panchayats and Bandhugaon with 13 panchayats, which share the boundary with Andhra Pradesh.