PM Modi’s vision is to take banking services to every village & eligible citizen: FM Sitharaman

 
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to ensure banking services reach every village and every eligible citizen. The Union Finance Minister, along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, distributed loans worth 3,216 crore rupees to 1,03,246 beneficiaries under various Central Government schemes at the Credit Outreach Programme held in Narasaraopet in Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh today. The assistance included 2,363 crore rupees for the agriculture sector, 325 crore rupees for MSMEs and 624 crore rupees towards housing, education, vehicle and solar energy loans.
While addressing the gathering, Ms. Sitharaman said, the Prime Minister has been pursuing the goal of taking banking services to every village since 2014 so that farmers, agricultural labourers, handloom workers and people engaged in every occupation have access to institutional banking. She said the Government first strengthened the banking sector by addressing the problem of Non-Performing Assets inherited from the previous UPA period and then focused on taking banking services directly to the people.
The Union Finance Minister said the Centre introduced Government-backed guarantee schemes to enable banks to provide collateral-free loans to small farmers, fishermen, street vendors and other self-employed persons. She said the initiative was aimed at protecting poor borrowers from exploitation by private moneylenders charging exorbitant interest rates. 
Ms. Sitharaman said banks have changed their approach by going to villages, identifying eligible beneficiaries and extending loans instead of waiting for people to visit bank branches. She urged beneficiaries to make productive use of the assistance and strengthen their livelihoods to contribute towards the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the Credit Outreach Programme would improve the living standards of people by extending timely institutional credit to Self-Help Groups, farmers, entrepreneurs, industrialists and street vendors. The Chief Minister appreciated the Centre’s support to Andhra Pradesh and said the State Government was working towards building a healthy, wealthy and happy society by 2047.