Finance Ministry ask private banks to give more thrust on serving the marginalised sections of society

New Delhi: Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi on Tuesday chaired a review meeting on the progress of financial inclusion schemes with senior executives of private sector banks and exhorted them to give more thrust on serving the marginalised sections of the society and fulfilling their banking needs.

During the meeting with private sector banks, the performance of Financial Inclusion Schemes, including PM SVANidhi, PM Vishwakarma and Jan Samarth Portal were reviewed, according to an official statement.

Joshi also 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, etc.

During the meeting, Joshi also took stock of the progress of opening of brick & mortar branches of banks and deployment of Banking Correspondents (BCs) in unbanked villages.

Joshi underlined the significant progress made in expanding social security and deepening financial inclusion in the country through various flagship schemes of the government.

He discussed in detail the progress made by private banks for deepening of financial inclusion and urged them to increase their participation in financial inclusion schemes.

A detailed presentation on features of Jan Samarth portal was also made, in which Joshi highlighted the importance of the portal that presents information on credit-linked schemes of the government on a single platform. The platform improves customer experience and assists banks in the acquisition of customers.

During the meeting, he emphasised the importance of financial inclusion programmes in providing basic financial services in reaching the last mile and also exhorted banks to organise financial literacy camps so that awareness about various financial inclusion schemes.