Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday urged sponsor banks to formulate a clear roadmap in a time bound manner to strengthen the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and support the post pandemic economic recovery.
She also instructed all Public Sector Banks to onboard account aggregator system by end of July.
In September last year, India launched the Account Aggregator (AA) network, a financial data-sharing system that revolutionises investing and credit, giving consumers greater access and control over their financial records and expanding the potential pool of customers for lenders and fintech companies. Account Aggregator empowers the individual with control over their personal financial data, which otherwise remains in silos.
The finance ministers instructions to banks came during her meeting with heads of Public Sector Banks and RRBs to review Operational and Governance reforms in rural banks. Speaking at the meeting, Sitharaman also underlined the important role being played by RRBs in financial inclusion and serving the credit needs of rural economy.
It is in this context, she said, the need was to further strengthen RRBs and banks and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) should come forward to help such institutions in technological advancement so that they are able to meet the credit needs of the rural sector effectively.
Sitharaman suggested to conduct a workshop of RRBs so that they can share the best practices with each other.
The finance minister also reviewed the performance of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries with Banks and RRBs.
Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala also attended the session. Union Minister of State Finance Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad was also present during both the sessions.
With an aim to provide the benefits of KCC loans to maximum number of farmers, a special KCC saturation drive was launched under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to cover 2.5 crore farmers under KCC with a credit boost of Rs. 2 lakh crore. It is noteworthy that as on July 1st, 2022, 3.26 crore farmers (including 19.56 lakh Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries farmers) have been covered under the KCC scheme, with sanctioned credit limit of Rs. 3.70 lakh crore.
During the detailed review of performance, while highlighting the role of animal husbandry and fisheries in the economy, the Finance Minister directed banks for ensuring time bound disposal of pending KCC applications. FM also instructed banks to hold camps for saturating all those engaged in cattle rearing and fishing with KCC.
