Kohima: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday urged banks in Nagaland to go the extra mile and reach out to eligible beneficiaries of various central schemes, particularly in the rural areas.
Speaking at the credit outreach programme held at the Capital Cultural Centre in Kohima, the finance minister directed the banks to collectively undertake outreach programmes in all the districts of the state.
In this regard, she asked the chief minister of the state to use state machinery to identify eligible beneficiaries. She said that schemes like the Atal Pension Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) have achieved beyond their target.
However, she expressed concern over schemes that are way below the target. While Nagaland has nearly 70% population in the Agri sector, she said that the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan has registered 70,927 beneficiaries out of the total target of 2.3 lakh beneficiaries.
Sitharaman said that not just farmers but those engaged in veterinary and animal husbandry services can also avail of the loan under KCC.
She, therefore, questioned when the saturation will be reached. The FM suggested the need to have banking correspondence, which will also create jobs in the state.
The Union Minister said that banks have to go out of their comfort zones and bring back the focus to the banking sector with the help of local representatives, despite geographical challenges and accessibility issues.
To reach saturation by district, she said that announcements should be made way in advance and the focus should be on one district at a time.
Prime Ministerial schemes aimed at the common man should be rightly given to eligible beneficiaries and not to the cronies, she stressed. She hoped that banks would achieve saturation by November 30 in all districts.
Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio urged banks to expand bank branches across the state, saying that the state government is making efforts to build a banking culture in the state.
As per an official update, she also stressed the importance of financial inclusion which the Prime Minister very strongly took up to ensure inclusion for all strata of the society through various schemes.
She said that such inclusion provides people access to credit without much security which is very crucial for most people in the bottom layer of the economy who often fall prey to middlemen who charge exorbitant interest rates. She also stressed the importance of connectivity both physical and digital connectivity to ensure access to facilities and security.
Further, Sitharaman thanked and appreciated Axis Bank and its management for reaching out to the rural area to provide space for financial inclusion and access to all kinds of facilities.
She expressed appreciation to the Axis Bank management teams in Assam and Meghalaya which were also simultaneously inaugurated along with Mon Branch.
Sitharaman appealed to the community to ensure the inclusion of all the people in the schemes of both the State and Central Government. She also appealed to the people to avail the facilities to the fullest and become productive units of society as job creators.
MD & CEO, Axis Bank, Amitabh Choudhary on behalf of Axis Bank, thanked the Finance Minister for personally dedicating four of its branches in the Northeast.
He stated that the flow of investments in the Northeast was just the beginning and asserted that the Bank desires to expand even further and provide banking facilities in all parts of the region.
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