NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India is on a “mission mode” to carry forward the financial inclusion drive that has been initiated by the government to bring in more under-banked and unbanked people under its fold, a senior official of the apex bank said on Monday.
“We are furthering financial inclusion in a mission mode through a combination of strategies ranging from relaxation of KYC regulatory guidelines, provision of new products and supportive measures to achieve sustainable and scalable Financial Inclusion,” said RBI Regional Director, New Delhi, Deepak Singhal.
“We have framed regulations with an objective of providing banking services to over 6 lakh villages and to create an enabling environment for banks to do so by branch expansion, making it mandatory to open 25 per cent branches in rural areas,” Singhal said.
Singhal, while chairing a session on Innovative Ways of Achieving Financial Inclusion, organised here by consultancy firm Dun & Bradstreet, said that financial inclusion was high on agenda for the apex bank as it wants to many more customers under the banking fold.
“RBI attaches great deal of value to financial inclusion. A planned and structured approach has been followed to address the twin issues of demand and supply,” he said.
Singhal said the RBI has also relaxed the KYC norms to open bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana by allowing acceptance of only one of the documents — proof of address or proof of identity.
“Two separate documents were required earlier but now there is clear instruction from RBI that any one of the documents is necessary. The Aadhaar card is sufficient proof of identity even if the current address is changed.”
On Jan Dhan Yojana scheme, SBI Deputy Managing Director, Retail Strategy, M G Vaidyan said the government measures are yielding results. “Aadhaar was on the back burner for some time, but it has now become instrumental in the financial inclusion drive.”
Around Rs 1,500 crore has been deposited so far in banks under the Jan Dhan Yojana.
Jan Dhan Yojana scheme on Target
Mumbai: Claiming that RBI's concerns have been allayed, a top finance ministry official on Monday said banks have opened 5.1 crore new accounts under the flagship Jan Dhan programme and collected Rs 3,600 crore in deposits. Rs 3,600 crore have been collected till September 26 in the Jan Dhan accounts since its launch of the ambitious programme on August 28, Financial Services Secretary G S Sandhu told reporters.