Satara / New Delhi, 24 April (Hindustan Times). Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad has asked banks to focus on providing banking facilities to the unbanked, making the unbanked safe and working towards financing the unbanked. The Minister of State for Finance said this at a review meeting on financial inclusion norms held at Satara in western Maharashtra on Monday.
Dr. Bhagwat Karad also said that under the PM SVANidhi scheme, small loans are given to the needy people without the condition of collateral or CIBIL score. On this occasion, he asked to increase banking facilities in rural areas. Karad directed the banks to reduce the waiting period for loan disbursement.
Dr. Karad said that even in a developed state like Maharashtra, there is scope to increase the number of bank branches in rural areas. He said that banks need to work towards that goal. Karad said that the banking sector is a big pillar in our goal of becoming a five trillion economy. Dr. Karad further said that new voters should be included in the banking sector by opening bank accounts and special camps should be arranged for this.
He also suggested to imbibe the spirit of competition among the banking sector for the development of all. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Karad appreciated the overall performance achieved by Kolhapur district on financial inclusion parameters. Karad also said that in terms of schemes like Swanidhi, Maharashtra has performed better than the national average. However, there is further room for improvement in the performance of Mudra Yojana, where Maharashtra lags behind the national average.
