BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE

SMALL SAVINGS

The Small Savings Movement was launched for the first time in 1945 to check the inflationary price trends in the country. Later on it was adopted as a means of borrowing internally for financing the Five-Year Plans. Since the Indo-Chinese war the movement mainly aims at raising money for the defence and development of the nation. Investments in Small Savings thus serve the defence and the development purposes of the country.

The Small Savings include the following categories of investments:—

(1) Post Office Savings Bank Deposits.

(2) 12-year National Defence Certificates.

(3) 10-year Defence Deposit Certificates.

(4) 15-year Cash Annuity Certificates.

(5) Cumulative Time Deposit Scheme.

The Post Office Savings banks constitute the most important source for collection of small savings from people of limited means. The agency of post-office savings banks is very much suited to the rural areas where there are meagre banking facilities. Moreover, as an agency of the Government it enjoys complete confidence of the people. Today the post-office savings banks provide a large net-work of offices spread throughout the country and could be developed without incurring any considerable expenditure.

Post-office Savings Banks.

The post-office savings scheme is such that even a poor person could avail himself of the facilities afforded by it. A person can open his account in this bank with a minimum deposit of Rs. 2 and can invest up to Rs. 10,000. Interest allowed for the deposit on individual and joint account is 2½ per cent, for the first 10,000 rupees and 2 per cent on the sum exceeding this amount. Non-profit making institutions and co-operative societies are also accorded the same facilities. The Small Savings Movement in this way affords the cheapest facility to every citizen or institution to contribute his (or its) humble mite to national development.

From 1963-64 to 1965-66, there were 16 post-offices doing the savings bank work in the district. The number of accounts held at these banks increased from 17,695 in 1963-64 to 24,497 in 1965-66. The amounts invested in them have also increased from Rs. 76,48,638.14 to Rs. 91,28,105.24 during the same period. The following table gives the names of these post-offices, the number of accounts held at each of them and the total amounts invested from 1963-64 to 1965-66.

TABLE No. 19

DEPOSITS IN POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS, WARDHA DISTRICT

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