Chandigarh: The Punjab government will install micro ATMs in its all 3,535 primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS) and district central cooperative banks (DCCBs) under its rural financial inclusion plan.

Stating this Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Cooperation D P Reddy said cooperatives have played a vital role in improving the economic conditions of the farmers and accelerating the pace of development in Punjab.

In fulfillment of its goals, the department has brought both the services and resources at the doorsteps of villagers, thereby covering every nook and corner of the state, he said in a release.

He said to extend the digital transaction facilities to rural populace, the NABARD had accepted a proposal sent by the cooperative department in this regard and sanctioned 4,545 micro ATMs by financing 90 per cent of the cost of the device.

Outlining the benefits of micro ATMs, Reddy said all transaction facilities like balance enquiry checking, cash deposit or withdrawal, fund transfer and remittance could be made through these hand-held devices.

In branches, this hand held device could be used to authenticate the Aadhaar, eKYC, e-KYC account opening, Aadhaar-based transactions through biometric authentication from the UIDAI data base.  PTI