Bihar can't grow without empowerment of women: Nitish Kumar

Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said development of the state was not possible without empowerment of women.

"Development of our state is not possible without development of women as they are an important half of our population," Kumar said.

The Chief Minister was speaking at the inauguration event of four new branches of HDFC Bank, including an all-women branch in the state capital. The other branches are located at Ara (Bhojpur), Saharsa and Saguna More on the outskirts of Patna.

"I accepted the invitation to inaugurate the branches after I was told that one of the new branches will be an all- woman branch. This is a happy occasion. We want all-round development of women in the state. Our government provided 50 per cent reservation to women in appointment of teachers. We also started cycle and dress schemes for school girls," he said.

"Today, our schemes for empowerment of women are being discussed across the country and abroad. We were the first to provide 50 per cent reservation to women in the three-tier Panchayati Raj elections," he added.

Kumar said the people of the state still kept their money in banks only. They were not aware about investing in capital market and trust banks for safe keep of their earnings.

The Chief Minister also pointed out that deposit in banks in the state was more, but the people in Patna were getting very less loans in comparison to it.

"The CD ratio in Bihar earlier used to be 30 to 32 per cent. It has now risen to 44 per cent and is increasing slowly. The CD ratio of HDFC Bank in the state is 49 per cent which is a thing to be appreciated," he said.

Kumar also praised the bank for contributing in micro- financing of women through Self Help Groups (SHG).

The chief minister once again raised the demand for special status for the state on the occasion so that exemption to central taxes be provided to industry and investment would increase. He also called on the banks to promote and encourage entrepreneurs.

The inauguration of four new HDFC Bank branches takes their tally to 80 in the state. It is operating 223 ATMs in the state and has 1,000 employees working in Patna.