Leading industrialists and bankers today met at the ICICI Bank headquarters in Mumbai to prepare a road map for financial inclusion.
This meeting was the result of an initiative by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up a committee to improve the living standard of the poor and extend the reach of banks in the interiors of the country.
“The supply and demand aspects of financial inclusion were discussed,” said Bajaj Group Chairman Rahul Bajaj. “On the demand side, the discussions focused on the need to meet the customer’s requirements.”
The other members of the committee are: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Usha Thorat, ICICI Bank Chief Executive Chanda Kochhar, Bharti Chairman Sunil Mittal and Housing Development Finance Corp. chairman Deepak Parekh. The prime minister had formed five committees to address inclusive growth and reducing poverty and inequality, among others. The committee will meet again in September in New Delhi before tabling its its recommendations to the Prime Minister.
Today’s meeting, which began at 11 am, went beyond the scheduled three hours to accommodate presentations by all the members and discussions, sources said.
Financial inclusion aims to reach banking services and adequate credit to the lower income sections, physically challenged, senior citizens and unorganised sectors, among others at an affordable cost.
Approximately 5 per cent of villages in India have a bank branch, while 2 per cent have credit cards and 10 per cent have a life insurance.
Officials of automobile companies, cellphone operators and consumer personal care products were included in the exercise as they could help banks extend financial inclusion using their wide marketing network and agents. “Their inputs could be invaluable and hence the reason for their appointment on the committee,” an official said.
The Reserve Bank of India brought out operative guidelines for the use of mobile phones for banking transactions. Most banks provide basic services such as checking account statements, stop payment of cheques among others, it said. India has 450 million mobile phone users and some analysts see the use of cellphones as a cheaper and effective means of reaching all users.
