Page 2 - Financial Inclusion

450 mn Jan Dhan accounts have accumulated Rs 2.1 trillion: Anurag Thakur

Addressing an audience of the officials and employees of the bank, the Minister at the very outset, congratulated Federal Bank for an all-time high share price

Bill for NFIR almost ready; may be introduced in next session: DEA secy

Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth has said that a draft Bill for setting up a National Financial Information Registry (NFIR) is almost ready and it may be introduced in the July session. The objective is to build a public infrastructure for credit-related information and the right information can be made available by the NFIR to lending agencies. A National Financial Information Registry will serve as the central repository of financial and ancillary information. This will facilitate efficient flow of credit, promote financial inclusion, and foster financial stability. "Stakeholder consultations on the draft bill are over now and it is almost ready. We will shortly take it to the Cabinet for its approval but introduction in this session will not be possible," Seth told PTI in an interview. However, he said, the Bill may be introduced in the July session. The July session would be the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha after the general elections in the next couple of months. .

Budget 2024: Women entrepreneurs advocate inclusive policies, skilling

Women entrepreneurs and leaders highlight key areas, including healthcare, maternity benefits, education, and skill training, where more inclusive policies could be drafted in Budget 2024

For women, it's a long walk to financial inclusion

Designing financial services for women makes good business sense. Women have lower defaults, tend to save more and make timely repayments compared to men

Sikkim achieved extensive financial inclusion covering remote villages: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday lauded the Sikkim government for helping the Himalayan state achieve extensive financial inclusion, covering remote villages and habitats. She also congratulated banks and other financial institutions for the success story in Sikkim. "Sikkim has done extremely well to set up bank branches and ATM kiosks in all six districts, covering remote villages and habitats to make the mission of financial inclusion a great success," Sitharaman said at a credit outreach programme here. The minister said there are 32 bank branches and 36 ATMs in Sikkim per one lakh population in comparison to the national average of 14. "The state capital Gangtok alone has 43 bank branches and 58 ATMs per one lakh population," she said, adding that women and youth are the biggest beneficiaries of financial inclusion in Sikkim. Sitharaman also handed certificate of loans worth Rs 402 crore to 3,828 beneficiaries under various central schemes, noting that the

Sustainable finance will foster economic growth: Deputy Guv Swaminathan J

He said that lenders need to go beyond mere compliance and must imbue the organisation's practices with sustainable finance principles in order to foster a culture of financial inclusion

Jan-Dhan scheme biggest instrument of financial inclusion: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched in 2014, has emerged as the biggest instrument of bringing financial inclusion in the country. Delivering the inaugural address at Kautilya Economic Conclave 2023, the minister said benefits under more than 50 government schemes are being directly transferred into the beneficiaries' bank accounts, and PMJDY has played an important role. She also said when the scheme was launched, a certain section of people had made "snide" remarks saying public sector banks would be under pressure as these are zero balance accounts. However, these accounts have a balance of more than Rs 2 lakh crore, Sitharaman said. In her address she also spoke elaborately on climate financing and challenges associated with it. The minister also said that multilateral institutions including Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have become less effective in the current global situation. Sitharaman also ...

RBI's financial inclusion index printed at 60.1% in March 2023, shows data

The FI Index was introduced in 2021 to capture the extent of financial inclusion throughout the country

The next orbit of financial inclusion will be in the offline world

Payment solutions will allow transactions when connectivity is poor or if there is a systems breakdown

Focus on four 'Is' to make India a developed nation by 2047: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the focus of the government is on four Is -- infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness -- to make India a developed nation by 2047. She said India has necessary wherewithal to meet the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides several investor-friendly reforms undertaken by the government, she said, India has a very vibrant young population and the emphasis on skilling them to suit the requirement of the economy would yield dividend. With the aim to build India a developed country by 2047, she said "the emphasis has been on four different issues (Is). We are looking at infrastructure (first I) in a very big way. In the last 3 to 5 years, consistently, the public expenditure for infrastructure building has been ramped up significantly and it will reach Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24." With infrastructure comes investment (second I), she said, adding that emphasis on investment will promote greater participation

Financial services secy asks banks to achieve financial inclusion targets

Financial services secretary Vivek Joshi has urged public sector banks to achieve the targets allocated to them under various schemes for financial inclusion for the current financial year at the earliest. During a review meeting with the top management of state-owned banks and Nabard chairman, Joshi exhorted the banks to expeditiously clear the sanction and disbursement pendency of applications under PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme. He further urged banks to devise the strategy and step up efforts to increase the digital onboarding of street vendors and scale up their digital payments, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday. PM SVANidhi scheme envisages empowerment of street vendors through hassle free access to affordable credit and their digital onboarding for their economic development. During the meeting, he reviewed the progress under various social security (Jan Suraksha) schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradh

RBI Governor launches financial inclusion dashboard 'Antardrishti'

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday launched a financial inclusion dashboard named 'Antardrishti'. As the name suggests, the dashboard will provide the required insight to assess and monitor the progress of financial inclusion by capturing relevant parameters, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement. This facility will also enable to gauge the extent of financial exclusion at granular levels across the country so that such areas can be addressed, it said. Presently, the dashboard is intended for internal use in the RBI, it said, adding it will further facilitate greater financial inclusion through a multi-stakeholder approach. The Reserve Bank has been promoting financial inclusion through various policy initiatives. To measure the extent of financial inclusion, it said, the central bank had constructed the Financial Inclusion (FI) Index in 2021, based on three dimensions of financial inclusion -- 'Access', 'Usage' and 'Quality'. The FI-Index has been conceptualise

India's financial inclusion journey can be example for other countries: UN

India is at the vanguard of the digital revolution and its financial inclusion journey can be an example for other developing countries to look at, senior UN officials and economists have said. Speaking on Thursday at the India Roundtable on Financial Inclusion', India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said the country takes financial inclusion seriously and it has led to social and economic empowerment of the people. We believe India's financial inclusion journey can be an example for other developing countries to look at, she said. The discussion, organised by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, aimed at bringing to centre stage the role of financial inclusion in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Delivering the keynote address at the session attended by senior UN officials, ambassadors, diplomats and analysts, Columbia University Professor and former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya said India played a pioneering role in

Achieve targets under financial inclusion plans: Finance ministry to PSBs

"Banks were advised to leverage their banking correspondents network for outreach and enrolling potential beneficiaries," the finance ministry said in a statement

Breaking barriers, building inclusion

By focusing on measures that make financial services available to households and small and medium enterprises, G20 has the potential to make a real difference in people's lives

Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion G20 meet concludes in Hyderabad

The second meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) under G20 India Presidency concluded here on Tuesday. According to an official release, the two-day meeting was led by GPFI Co-Chair and G20 India Presidency and saw participation from Ministry of Finance and Central Bank representatives from G20 and non-G20 countries and international organisations. The meeting also witnessed announcement of the selection of the new long-term Co-Chairs of the GPFI. India and Italy were announced as the new GPFI Co-Chairs with support from the whole membership. They have been selected for duration of three years and their tenure will commence from 2024, it said. During the plenary, the GPFI members discussed and agreed on the way forward for important deliverables for the year including those on Digital Financial Inclusion, SME Finance. A dedicated workshop was also organised for the development of GPFI Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) 2023 which will guide the ...

Paytm inks pact with Andhra govt for initiatives in financial inclusion

Digital financial services firm One97 Communications that owns Paytm brand on Monday announced it has signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to drive initiatives in financial inclusion, public health, cyber security. The Memorandum of Understanding was inked on the sidelines of the Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023. "The agreement aims to promote mutual cooperation in the areas of industrial development, financial inclusion, public health, cyber security and prevention of financial frauds in the state of Andhra Pradesh," according to a company release. Under the pact, Paytm plans to empower merchants, street vendors and street hawkers in Andhra Pradesh to accept digital payments and provide them access to loans through its lending partners. "Paytm plans to extend its platform to the government of Andhra Pradesh for providing eGovernment services, which will be conveniently accessible to all Paytm Super App users. Additionally, Paytm plans to empower variou

FinMin meets private sector bankers, reviews progress of flagship schemes

The finance ministry on Tuesday held a meeting with private sector lenders to review progress made by them under the flagship financial inclusion and social security schemes. "Dr. Vivek Joshi, Secretary DFS chaired a meeting today with the representatives of Private Sector Banks, Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks to review the progress made by them under various Financial Inclusion initiatives (PMJDY, PMJJBY, PMSBY, APY, PM SVANidhi, etc.)," Department of Financial Services said in a tweet. Last week, Joshi met heads of public sector banks and urged them to achieve targets under various schemes for current financial year. During the meeting, progress of various social security (Jan Suraksha) schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri MUDRA and Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi), and Agri credit etc, we

Internet connectivity key to India's robust financial inclusion: SBI chief

Khara said that his and other banks have created a robust system of digital banking that help people get access to their banking needs in real time

India great example of how financial inclusion can work: German envoy

India is a great example of how to bring about financial inclusion and it needs to share this experience with the world at large, a German diplomat, who was a part of the delegation at a recent G20 meeting in Kolkata, said. He also said that India has taken over the G20 presidency from Indonesia at a crucial time for world development. "India is a great example of how financial inclusion can work. Over the last 10-odd years, you have made tremendous progress, and are much further advanced when it comes to electronic payment methods than, say, Germany for example," Manfred Auster, the Consul General of Germany in Kolkata, told PTI. Auster was a part of the delegation at the first Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion meeting of the G20, which was held from January 9-11. "In India, you pay everything with Unified Payments Interface (UPI), every small vendor will accept it. But in Germany, we still use quite a lot of cash Financial inclusion is important as common people, especia