U'khand CM asks bankers to make banking services easily available to weaker sections

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today asked bankers to work in a mission mode to ensure banking facilities reach remote areas of the state and weaker sections.

In rural areas, the focus should be on financial inclusion and financial literacy, the chief minister said addressing the 65th meeting of the State Level Bankers' Committee.

The banks' cooperation is must for doubling the farmers' income by 2022 and also for the implementation of flagship schemes of the Centre and the state government, he said.

The chief minister said that bank loans should be provided easily for allied agricultural activities like dairy, goat rearing, poultry, bee keeping and pisciculture in a bid to achieve the target of doubling farmers' income.

He stressed on the need to study the ways to benefit tenant farmer. Banks should work systematically to achieve the purpose, Rawat added.

The meeting was informed that as on March 31, 2018, the state's credit deposit ratio was 57 per cent, 2 per cent higher than the preceding year. For 2017-18 closing, in the fixed annual credit plan, Rs 16,581.90 crore was available, which is 90 per cent of the fixed target.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana(PMJJBY), as many as 17,82,842 and 4,83,334, respectively persons have been registered. Under the target to double the farmers' income by 2022 for allied agriculture activities, loans to the tune of Rs 2,399 crore have been disbursed.

In 2017-18, banks organised financial literacy camps and spread awareness about the flagship schemes, digital transactions, etc.

State Finance Minister Prakash Pant, Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary Manisha Panwar, Secretary Amit Negi, Regional Director of RBI Subrata Das, NABARD Chief General Manager Avinash Chander along with top officials of the government and representatives from various banks were also present.