Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday directed the heads of all public sector banks to become part of the account aggregator ecosystem by the end of the month. The account aggregator ecosystem, aimed at transforming how credit is processed and accessed in the country, went live last September.
According to an official press release, Sitharaman headed a meeting of heads of public sector banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) to review operational and governance reforms (in the latter) and the performance of Kisan Credit Card KCC) scheme for animal husbandry, dairy and fishery industries.
While reviewing the performance of RRBs with their chairmen and heads of sponsor banks, the finance minister underlined the role being played by RRBs in financial inclusion and serving the credit needs of rural economy. She urged the sponsor banks to formulate a clear roadmap to further strengthen the RRBs and support the post-pandemic economic recovery. She also told the sponsor banks to champion technological advancements in RRBs.
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She also suggested that a workshop be conducted so that RRBs can share best practices with each other.
Recently, with an aim to provide the benefits of KCC loans to as many farmers as possible, a special KCC saturation drive was launched under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat programme, covering 2.5 crore farmers with a credit boost of Rs. 2 lakh crore. "It is noteworthy that as on July 1, 2022, 3.26 crore farmers (including 19.56 lakh animal Husbandry, dairy and fisheries farmers) have been covered under the KCC scheme, with sanctioned credit limit of Rs. 3.70 lakh crore," the release added.
During a detailed review of KCC, Sitharaman told banks to ensure time-bound disposal of pending KCC applications and to hold camps to cover farmers engaged in cattle rearing and fishing under KCC. She also instructed officials to periodically review the KCC scheme to ensure the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries are covered.
