Govt reviews performance of financial inclusion schemes with PSBs

The Finance Ministry on Thursday advised public sector banks (PSBs) to leverage their Banking Correspondents (BC) network for outreach and enrolling of potential beneficiaries in various financial inclusion and social security schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).

At a review meeting chaired by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary Vivek Joshi with chief executives of PSBs, the progress under various social security (Jan Suraksha) schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana(PMJDY), Atal Pension Yojana(APY), Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, Stand Up India and PMSVANidhi were reviewed.

Joshi exhorted the PSBs to achieve the targets under the various schemes for financial inclusion in a time bound manner. 

He also discussed with banks the three months long saturation campaign of PMJJBY and PMSBY schemes from April June 2023.

Joshi emphasised that continued support, active role and participation from all banks will go a long way in ensuring that the saturation campaign reaches the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries.

The representatives from Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare also took part in the review meeting. The review meeting was also attended by Chairman NABARD & CEO of NPCI.

The DFS Secretary urged banks to conduct awareness campaigns about these schemes in regional/vernacular languages.

The progress of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) scheme was discussed with special focus on issuance of KCC for animal husbandry and fisheries. Scaling up of the account aggregator ecosystem, the issues related to Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and digital document execution framework were also discussed in the meeting.

Stand UP India Scheme 

It maybe recalled that the Stand UP India scheme was launched on April 5, 2016 to promote entrepreneurship at grassroot level focusing on economic empowerment and job creation. This scheme, aiming to promote entrepreneurship amongst women, SC and ST categories, has been extended till 2025. 

Under the Stand UP India scheme, as much as ₹40,700 crore has been sanctioned to over 1,80,630 accounts. Over 1.44 lakh loans worth ₹33,152 crore has been sanctioned to women.

This scheme facilitates loans between ₹10 lakh and ₹1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe borrower and a woman borrower per bank branch of scheduled commercial banks.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana 

The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is a flagship scheme launched by the Central Government in 2015 aiming to provide financial assistance to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals engaged in income-generating activities. 

The scheme focuses on facilitating loans to these individuals without any collateral enabling them to expand their businesses and create more employment opportunities.

The PMMY scheme was launched providing access to finance loans up to ₹10 lakhs for the unbanked population These loans are provided by banks and other financial institutions, which are registered under the PMMY scheme.

The key features of the PMMY scheme is that it does not require any collateral or security for the loans, thereby making it easier for small businesses and entrepreneurs to access credit. The loans are provided at a lower interest rate compared to other loans, making it more affordable for borrowers.

The PMMY scheme is divided into three categories: Shishu, Kishor, and Tarun. The Shishu category is for small businesses and entrepreneurs who require a loan of up to ₹50,000. The Kishor category is for borrowers requiring loan between ₹50,000 to ₹5 lakhs, and the Tarun category is for borrowers between ₹5 lakhs to ₹10 lakhs.