RBI to evaluate progress of financial inclusion

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposes to evaluate the progress of districts under financial inclusion through an independent external agency, said RBI Deputy Governor V Leeladhar.

The State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) will identify one district in each state for 100 per cent financial inclusion. He added that to bring more such districts under financial inclusion, RBI has asked banks to introduce more no-frill accounts and general purpose credit cards (GPCCs) with limits of up to Rs 25,000 in rural and semi-urban branches.

The credit facility will be in the nature of revolving credit entitling the holder to withdraw up to the limit sanctioned. About 50 per cent of general credit card (GCC) loans could also be treated by banks as part of priority sector lending, Leeladhar added.

Leeladhar noted that till June 2007 around 70 lakh no-frill accounts have been opened by commercial banks. Of these, around 67 lakh accounts have been opened by public sector banks and around 11 lakh accounts by private sector banks, besides around 12,000 by foreign banks.

Leeladhar said that so far, 68 districts have been fully financially included "� 14 in Kerala, 11 in Haryana, nine in Punjab, Puducherry, 12 in Himachal Pradesh, 7 in Karnataka, 1 in Tamil Nadu, 1 in Gujarat, 1 in Andhra Pradesh, 1 in West Bengal, 1 in Rajasthan, Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, 3 in Uttar Pradesh, 1 in Orissa, Daman, 1 in Maharashtra and 1 in Assam.

In certain less developed areas like the North East, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, working groups headed by RBI representatives have been set up.

The recommendations of these working groups for financial inclusion, strengthening of financial institutions and improving currency and payment systems are being implemented and monitored by Reserve Bank regional offices, he said.