Calling upon all banks, including the privates ones across the State, Punjab Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra on Wednesday urged them to focus on lending to farm sector and Below Poverty line (BPl) population for overall economic development of the state.
He said this while addressing 128th meeting of State level Bankers' Committee (Punjab), here on Wednesday. He added that it was regrettable that credit deposit ratio last year declined by 4.32 per cent from 85.49 per cent in March, 2013 to 81.17 per cent this year reflecting that credit disbursal of the bank could not keep pace with deposit collected from the State.
He said that the Punjab Government was focusing on rural uplift and banks would have to become equal partners in this progress. Focusing on doorstep banking, Rakhra said that banks would have to focus on technological innovation to provide banking at doorstep especially in the remote
rural areas. “Banks would have to focus on financial inclusion by ensuring 100 per cent coverage within next three years,” he added. He offered total support of Punjab Government in expanding the Rural Self Employment Training institute in the State.In the meeting, Punjab National Bank’s executive director Gauri Shankar advised banks to open one account per household in the allocated wards in villages in urban and sub-service areas in rural areas.