With an aim to achieve total financial inclusion by 2012, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has joined hands with the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance(IIBF), Mumbai for training business correspondents and business facilitators.
It has introduced a scheme to support the capacity building needs of business correspondents and business facilitators of banks in association, under which it will reimburse the course fee of to those who successfully complete the certificate course offered by IIBF.
The course will be conducted by IIBF at the state or district level through local accredited institutions. Support from the financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) of Nabard will be provided for candidates employed or engaged as business correspondents or facilitators with banks, or as customer service providers of the business correspondents. In West Bengal, the extent of support will be 100 per cent of course fee of Rs 4,000 per successful candidate in 14 districts and 75 per cent of the course fee, which is about Rs 3,000 in four districts, which are Hooghly, Birbhum, Darjeeling and East Midnapur.
The scheme is highly relevant in West Bengal as several areas do not have requisite network of bank branches. Banking institutions could take full advantage of this scheme to beef up their efforts to increase their outreach through BC and BF model. The initiative is expected to provide a fillip to the efforts for securing total financial inclusion in the State by March 2012, said P Mohanaiah, chief general manager, Nabard.
It is to be noted, West Bengal has been lagging behind other states in terms of financial inclusion.
In fact, last year, Hooghly district administration and the bankers claim of 100 per cent financial inclusion turned out to be false on scrutiny.
Last year, the district was declared 100 per cent financially included, but a subsequent study commissioned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed that banking facilities are yet to reach each and every household of the district.
A study, conducted by Jadavpur University, and commissioned by the RBI, found that only two-third's of the total number of families of the district have proper banking facilities.
The state has set a revised target to achieving total financial inclusion in Hooghly by March 2009. In addition, it has set a target of achieving up to 80 per cent financial inclusion in about eight districts of the state by 2009. By 2012, the the government aims to have total financial inclusion in all the 18 districts the of the state.
