'Bring More People Into Financial Inclusion Of Schemes' Financial Services Secretary Nagaraju Urges Banks

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju on Wednesday asked public and private sector banks to dedicate themselves to bringing more people into the fold of financial inclusion schemes to further strengthen the government's initiatives in this direction.

He was chairing a review meeting with heads of public sector banks and senior officers of private sector banks.

The review meeting was also attended virtually by senior executives of SIDBI, Mudra Ltd, IBA and NCGTC, according to an official release.

During the meeting, Nagaraju reviewed the progress under various financial inclusion schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Stand Up India and PM Vishwakarma.

He said that significant progress has been made in expanding social security and deepening financial inclusion in the country through various flagship schemes of the government, and further urged the public and private sector banks to dedicatedly work towards bringing more people in the fold of financial inclusion schemes.

The secretary stressed extending loans to SC/STs under the Stand-Up India Scheme and achieving the allocated targets under the MUDRA scheme.

He also reviewed the progress of opening of brick and mortar branches of banks in unbanked villages and stressed upon augmenting of banking infrastructure in the country with a special focus on northeastern states.

The secretary also emphasised the need for the expansion of banking services in far-flung areas by resolving the issues related to connectivity and infrastructure.