New Delhi

The heads of public sector banks were encouraged by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday to push for the opening of more physical branches in rural areas in order to support government efforts to increase financial inclusion.
At a review meeting held here, PSB chiefs were informed by Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, that while the government’s flagship schemes have made great strides toward deepening financial inclusion and extending social security nationwide, banks still need to put in a lot of effort to go the extra mile in order to support these initiatives.

During the review meeting, other topics such as CKYC, the Jan Samarth portal, and Aadhar seeding were also covered.
He conducted a thorough assessment of the advancements made in establishing physical bank branches in impoverished communities.
Joshi reviewed the status of several financial inclusion programs during the meeting, such as the PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), the PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), the PM Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), the PM Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Stand Up India, PM Vishwakarma, the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, the Ethanol Blending in Petrol (EBP) and Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) financing.

Additionally, the Secretary asked banks to put more effort into enhancing the overall banking service experience for customers.
Senior officials from UIDAI, NABARD, SIDBI, Mudra Ltd., CERSAI, and NCGTC also attended the review meeting.
The CEO of UIDAI attended the conference as well in order to present the new product that the organization has introduced to help banks with Aadhar authentication.