A National Conference on ‘Financial Inclusion and Sustainable livelihood’ was organised at Doon University here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion the Chief General Manager, (CGM) of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), C P Mohan said that 80 percent of villages of the country have a population which is less than 2000 and they do not have access to banks due to low population.
He gave an elaborate account of financial services which are available in rural areas. Mohan said that 56 percent of total 6 lakh villages of the country are sparsely populated with a count of less than 1000 people and it is a challenge to bring them under financial inclusion.
The secretary Finance, Dr M C Joshi highlighted the importance of access to technology and technical problems encountered in some areas in India. He said that the fact remains that people living in urban areas still avail credit facilities from other people like traditional money lenders and avoid financial intermediaries like banks.
Joshi emphasized on finding the root cause of the problems related to sustainable livelihood.
The Director of Uttarakhand Science Education and Research Centre (USERC), Durgesh Pant stressed on inclusivity and connectivity in his address. He said that is a fact that the rural population is curious about new technology.
The Keynote address on the occasion was delivered by founder of Basix, Vijay Mahajan. He explained Financial Inclusion in detail and the actions taken by the Indian Government to promote it.
He said that triumvirate of JAM,which stands for Jan-Dhan, Adhar and Mobile is benefitting people. He said that ‘MAJAA’ is needed today, where M stands for mobile, A stands for Adhar, J stands for Jan-Dhan, A stands for ‘aayushman’ which denotes universal insurance and the last A stands for ‘aajivika’ which means livelihood.
A panel discussion was also organised on the day. The programe was organised by the Doon University in collaboration with IIM Kashipur.