Vaishali (Bihar) - Hundreds of poor landless labourers in Bihar's Vaishali district will soon be able to withdraw their wages directly from ATMs, freeing themselves from the corrupt clutches of middlemen, moneylenders and contractors.
The district administration has opened nearly 300 bank accounts in the name of enrolled labourers in the last three days and is likely to open nearly 200 more accounts to ensure ATM cards for them.
`The administration has targeted to cover nearly 500 labourers for the ATM facility in the first phase, and the later phases will cover more and more labourers,' said a state official.
This is a first of its kind in the state, to ensure that labourers' wages go straight into their pockets. `Unskilled labourers from the unorganised sector would gain access to ATMs to withdraw their wages from next month (July),' said district magistrate Sanjeev Hans.
Central Bank of India will be installing ATMs at the block level to facilitate this move.
`We were told that after we get the ATM facility, we need not run after officials and contractors to beg for our wages after working so hard. It may change our life style,' exclaimed Mohan Paswan, a labourer.
Dukhan Das, another labourer, said this would boost their confidence and self-respect.
Several enrolled labourers were educated through an innovative schooling scheme and were trained to operate the bank's ATM before their account was opened.
