At the peak of the lockdowns imposed in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19, 80 Customer Service Points (CSPs) who are financial intermediaries of formal banks, carried out cash transactions worth INR 10Cr for 25,000 customers in villages of Uttarakhand.
Rekhaben, from Almora, had started her journey as a CSP in 2019. When the lockdown was announced, Rekhaben was 7 months pregnant. Armed with a laptop, she’d walk 7 kilometres daily, to help out with immediate cash needs of 4 separate villages around hers. Serving a majorly old and poor population, she operated with empathy, and carried out cash transactions of 3 lacs INR during the lockdown. She also distributed masks and helped in ration distribution.