Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asked Regional Rural Banks to make efforts to remove duplication of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts. During the review meeting with heads of RRBs, the finance minister emphasised the need to increase penetration under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) and financial inclusion and stated that a roadmap has to be prepared for completing the designated activities in a timebound manner.

The minister urged the RRBs to remove duplication of PMJDY accounts and facilitate storage facility for apple growers particularly in J&K and Himachal Pradesh, an official statement said.

During the review meeting of Regional Rural Banks of Northern Region here, the Finance Minister emphasised on digital capability upgradation of RRBs and instructed MD and CEO Punjab National Bank (PNB) to ensure that all RRBs by the bank to acquire digital onboarding capability by November 1, 2023.

The Centre has 50 per cent stake in RRBs while sponsor banks and state governments own 35 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

The finance minister also asked banks to map RRBs with MSME clusters and put greater thrust on increasing network of rural branches in cluster areas identified by the MSME ministry.

Along with Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi, Additional Secretary and senior officials of the ministry, representatives of Reserve Bank and Nabard and other senior government officials of states and bank representatives were present at the meeting.