Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 3 (ANI/NewsVoir): On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Dinesh Khara, Chairman, State Bank Group, announced the launch of the 4th phase of the 'SBI Gram Seva' program, adopting 30 remote villages across Aspirational Districts in Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

Commemorating Gandhiji's vision of Gram Swaraj, SBI Gram Seva was launched in 2017 to build and develop an Atmanirbhar Rural India. It is one of the flagship programs of the SBI Foundation, the CSR arm of the State Bank Group.

The program emphasizes on holistic development of villages by active intervention in areas like education, healthcare, livelihoods, and infrastructure. The program has so far adopted 100 villages across 16 States in 3 phases.

With the support of partner NGOs, SBI Foundation has been able to bring socio-economic transformation in these villages, impacting more than one lakh lives.

Announcing the launch, Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI, said, "SBI has always strived to contribute towards building a strong and developed rural India. Gram Seva is one of the flagship CSR programs of SBI Foundation working in this direction. Today, I am very much delighted to announce the launch of the 4th phase of the program in a fresh batch of 30 identified villages spread across 6 States, and believe that our combined efforts will take these villages closer towards realising Mahatma Gandhi's dream of Gram Swaraj."

Sanjay Prakash, MD & CEO, SBI Foundation, shared, "I am happy to share that after 5 years of implementation of SBI Gram Seva, with our partners on the ground, critical support from Government Departments, and active involvement of Gram Panchayats, we have been able to bring socio-economic prosperity in 100 adopted villages, in the first 3 phases so far. The program has set an example for community-led movement, paving the way for Atmanirbhar Grameen Bharat."

The launch of the 4th phase of SBI Gram Seva takes the program's outreach to a total of 130 villages, of which 75 villages are from Aspirational Districts notified by the NITI Aayog, Government of India. Additionally, the SBI Gram Seva program covers 16 of the 17 SBI Circles in the country.

SBI Foundation is the CSR arm of the State Bank of India. True to its tradition of "Service Beyond Banking", the Foundation recognises the importance of engaging with communities across key focus areas such as rural development, healthcare, education, sustainability & environment, livelihood & skill development, youth empowerment, promotion of sports, and more.

In this pursuit, SBI Foundation works across 28 States and Union Territories of India, undertaking several initiatives to make resources available to the most vulnerable sections of the society, directly and through strategic partnerships with impact-making entities in the social sector in the most transparent way to create inclusive, sustainable development.

SBI Foundation believes in reflecting the ethos of the State Bank Group in running interventions that are ethical, promote growth and equality, and create a positive impact on society. www.sbifoundation.in.

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