Mumbai, Jan 23: The Reserve Bank of India has
contradicted the claims of state level bankers` committees that some districts of the country have achieved 100 percent financial inclusion.
After the evaluation of the financial inclusion scheme by
independent external agencies in 26 districts in Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab,
Rajasthan and West Bengal, the apex bank said that the actual
inclusion was not 100 percent.
"Most of the accounts that have been opened as part of
the financial inclusion drive have remained inoperative due to
various reasons such as distance from the branch, illiteracy,
lack of interest and non-availability of passbooks," the study
revealed.
Independent external agencies, appointed by RBI, found
that there were hardly any transactions in more than three-
fourth of the accounts opened under the no-frill accounts in
Ganjam district in Orissa.
In Rajsamand district in Rajasthan, where 92.27 percent
household had bank accounts, the study found that more than 50
percent people had no transactions in their bank accounts
owing to distance, illiteracy and other factors. Nearly 25 percent account holders in Hooghly district in West Bengal had
not visited the bank for over three months.
The findings were no different in twenty-four districts
of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and
Punjab.
Based on the findings, RBI directed the SLBCs to actively
step up the awareness with regard to no frills accounts as
these continue to be poor.
Bureau Report
