The Minister of Finance asks public banks to join the ecosystem of account aggregators by July 31

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked the heads of all public sector banks to become part of the ecosystem of account aggregators by the end of the month. The ecosystem of account aggregators, aimed at transforming the way credit is processed and accessed in the country, went live last September.

According to an official press release, Sitharaman led a meeting of heads of public sector banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) to review operational and governance reforms (in the latter) and the performance of the Kisan credit card scheme. KCC) for the animal husbandry, dairy and fishing industries.

While reviewing the performance of the RRBs with their chairpersons and the heads of the sponsoring banks, the Minister of Finance highlighted the role played by the RRBs in financial inclusion and meeting the credit needs of the rural economy. She urged sponsor banks to formulate a clear roadmap to further strengthen RRBs and support post-pandemic economic recovery. She also told sponsor banks to champion technological advances in RRBs.

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She also suggested that a workshop be organized so that RRBs can share best practices with each other.

Recently, in an effort to provide the benefits of KCC loans to as many farmers as possible, a special KCC saturation campaign was launched under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme, covering 2.5 million farmers with an increase loan of Rs. 2 million. “It should be noted that as of July 1, 2022, 3.26 crore farmers (including 19.56 lakh of animal farming, dairy farming and fishing) have been covered under the KCC scheme, with a limit sanctioned credit of Rs. 3.70 lakh crore,” the statement added. .

During a detailed review of KCC, Sitharaman instructed banks to ensure timely disposal of pending KCC claims and hold camps to cover farmers engaged in livestock farming and fishing under KCC . She also asked officials to periodically review the KCC program to ensure that the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries are covered.