New Delhi: The finance ministry has called a meeting with heads of state-owned banks and financial institutions on Tuesday to review the progress of the government’s flagship financial inclusion schemes such as the Jan Dhan Yojana, Jan Suraksha Yojana, and Mudra Yojana ahead of the budget.
The meeting will be chaired by financial services secretary Vivek Joshi.
“Other financial inclusion-related issues may also be discussed,” an official aware of the developments said.
Earlier this year, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said inclusive schemes like Jan Dhan (to provide banking service to the unbanked) and Mudra (lending scheme for micro and small enterprises) have ensured widespread access to banking services, and that the government remains committed to further driving financial inclusion and empowering the underprivileged.
A bank executive said some of the key issues that will be discussed include identifying unbanked adults and opening their accounts, bringing down the number of inoperative accounts, and scaling up the digital payments network. “Banks and insurers will also ensure that simple and standardised documents are there for loan applications or insurance policies,” he added.
The government is also working on a financial inclusion strategy that will focus on empowering female entrepreneurs and expanding women’s participation in flagship schemes such as PM SVANidhi loan scheme for street vendors. Banks and insurance firms will launch campaigns and leverage digital banking units (DBUs) to enhance outreach, people cited above said.
In the interim budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman increased the target for the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme to 30 million women from the existing 20 million. The scheme aims to train women’s self-help groups to earn a sustainable income of at least Rs 1 lakh per annum by setting up micro-enterprises within their villages.
Last year, the government approved the continuation of PM SVANidhi Scheme until December 2024. The scheme was launched in June 2020 by the government as a micro-credit facility to empower street vendors to recover losses incurred during the pandemic. Through PM SVANidhi, affordable, collateral-free loans are given.
