Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 6: While significant progress has been made in deepening financial inclusion through various flagship government schemes, banks should step up efforts to expand their digital outreach and focus on end-to-end digital processing of loans, Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary Sanjay Lohiya said on Tuesday.
Lohiya chaired a review meeting with the heads of all public sector banks (PSBs) and executive directors of major private sector banks (PVBs) here. Senior officials of the DFS also attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed providing working capital loans through channels such as credit lines on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and credit cards for micro-enterprises (CCME).
Lohiya reviewed in detail the progress made by banks under various financial inclusion initiatives and urged private sector banks to increase their participation in such schemes.
He directed banks to create greater awareness about claim eligibility under the Jan Suraksha insurance schemes so that nominees receive the eligible amount following the unfortunate death of a beneficiary.
Banks were also advised to exercise specific care while handling grievances related to claims under these schemes.
The DFS Secretary asked banks to enrol all new beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) through the Jan Suraksha portal. The portal will be integrated with all banks and insurers, which is expected to improve data quality and ease operations.
The meeting also discussed measures to improve the persistency ratio of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
A detailed review was undertaken of progress under various financial inclusion schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), PMJJBY, PMSBY, APY, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Stand Up India, PM Street Vendor's Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), PM Vishwakarma, PM Surya Ghar, Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and other initiatives.
The progress in opening brick-and-mortar bank branches and deploying business correspondents (BCs) in unbanked villages was also reviewed.