Jaipur. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to play their part in spreading awareness about government schemes among the common people. Along with this, she appealed to these banks to ensure loans to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. Sitharaman was addressing a performance review meeting of nine Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in Udaipur on Thursday.
The review meeting focused on the business performance of these banks, upgrading digital technology services, promoting business growth in MSME clusters and strengthening financial inclusion in rural areas.
According to the official statement, Sitharaman directed the RRB officials to play their part in creating awareness about the government schemes especially in the aspiring districts.
The meeting discussed the business performance of rural banks, upgrading services related to digital technology, promoting business in MSME groups and further strengthening financial inclusion in rural areas. Sitharaman underlined the natural potential of Gujarat and Rajasthan for the PM Surya Ghar Yojana and urged the RRBs to create awareness about the scheme among the general public.
The Finance Minister also urged the Reserve Bank to intervene in resolving the pending dues of RRBs. He directed that Regional Rural Banks should become more customer friendly, take advantage of their local contacts to further improve their performance.
On this occasion, One District One Product (ODOP) program for increasing the reach of credit by Regional Rural Banks was also highlighted.
Chairmen of Regional Rural Banks of West-Central region and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of their sponsored banks attended this review meeting. Officials of NABARD, SIDBI, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, nine Regional Rural Banks participated in the meeting and apprised the minister of the progress report of their respective banks. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said that the MSME sector has a major contribution in eliminating unemployment.