Ranchi: Expanding banking services in rural areas and fostering economic self-reliance among women and youth are top priorities for the government. The government aims to extend banking services into villages, which will provide financial benefits to women and the youth.
Rural Development Minister Deepika Pandey Singh stated this on Thursday during the 97th quarterly meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Committee, held at the Jharkhand Secretariat.
The Minister stated that a proposal has been put forward to provide credit linkage of up to Rs 15 lakh to SHG (Self-Help Group) groups. This will foster the development of entrepreneurship and lead to an increase in turnover, while also boosting the income of women. The meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore.
On this occasion, Deepika Pandey Singh emphasized the need to increase the number of bank branches and ATMs in remote rural areas, as well as to integrate Panchayat buildings with banking and digital services. She stated that, under the ‘Digital Panchayat’ initiative, banks have granted approval for 335 out of the 673 Panchayats selected in the first phase, and for 571 out of the 1,848 locations selected in the second phase.
The Minister stated that developing Panchayat buildings into service centers would spare villagers from having to travel long distances for basic banking and digital services.
Highlighting the financial potential of women associated with over 3.2 million self-help groups (SHGs) in the state, the Minister called for providing them with more opportunities to serve as ‘Bank Sakhis’ (banking friends) and banking correspondents. Furthermore, the Minister emphasized strengthening the linkages between self-help groups and bank credit.
The Minister suggested launching pilot projects in every district—with the support of banks—to promote women’s entrepreneurship and rural industrialization under the ‘Nari Yojana’ (Women’s Scheme). He emphasized the need to ensure the timely provision of loans to youth trained by RSETI (Rural Self Employment Training Institutes) and highlighted the importance of better coordination between government departments and banks.
The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore, Agriculture Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey, and several officials and representatives from banking institutions and relevant government departments.
