The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Financial inclusion key to good governance'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 29, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Financial inclusion key to good governance'

Special Correspondent

There are complaints about delay in payment of old-age pension, says Ranganath
‘There is scepticism
about Business
Correspondent-based model'

Bangalore: Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath said on Monday that the financial inclusion programme is “key to good governance”.

Pointing out that there have been complaints that payment about delay in old age pensions and that “money has been recovered without authorisation” from beneficiaries' accounts, Mr. Ranganath said transparency associated with financial inclusion would result in better governance. Addressing the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting, Mr. Ranganath said the Global Agribusiness Meet would be hosted by the Government in August.

Mr. Ranganath urged banks to partner the State Government in its implementation of the “Bhoochetana” programme, which seeks to increase crop yields by improving soil health. He pointed out that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had set a coverage target of 30 lakh hectares in 2011-12, from 12.3 lakh hectares in the current year.

Referring to the emphasis placed on the Business Correspondent-based model for financial inclusion, Mr. Ranganath said his own experience in districts such as Chickballapur showed that there “is a lot of scepticism” about the use of this model.

Basanth Seth, Convenor, SLBC, said only 1,121 “unbanked” villages — of a total of 3,395 such villages in the State — have been covered so far. He pointed out the target for coverage of “unbanked” villages was 2,253 villages by the end of March 2011.

P. Vijay Bhaskar, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, said the hand-held devices used for operating the smart cards suffered from “connectivity problems” in the nine model villages where they are being tried in the State. “The availability of power to use these devices is also a big issue,” he said.

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