Indian Banks are planning to add loan products in the financial programme, which was initiated by the Government of India to take the banking services to the rural India. According to a senior government Banks are going ahead in full-throttle to take their services to the rural India and by March 2012, 73,000 habitations with population in excess of 2,000 are expected to come under the Banking services.
Speaking to reporters after take a review of the programme in South India R Gopalan, secretary - financial services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India said “we will work towards ensuring that all the 73,000 habitations will have some kind of banking facility by March 31, 2012.
“We have discussed number of issues with the Bankers including how to use the Business Correspondent model, using technology, creating awareness and monitoring system,” he said.
The Government is also working on how to incentives the banks to achieve the financial inclusion programme successfully, said Gopalan. On the first phase services will be offered by Banks include deposits, withdrawal and remittance. “Next phase we are planning to add loan products,” he said. Financial inclusion is fair, timely and adequate access to financial services that include saving, credit, payment and remittance facilities at an affordable cost, and in a transparent manner through institutional agencies.
Since, as per the 2001 census there are around 100,000 habitations with a population of over 2,000, the government advised the banks to reach all such village by March 2012. Given the scale of this task, achieving this goal will require multiple channels and technology driven solutions.
