Finance
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and Women’s World Banking inked an MoU on Thursday to promote the Jan Dhan Plus program through Regional Rural Banks, according to officials.
The collaboration would increase the use and uptake of basic financial services for nearly eight crore Jan Dhan accounts in the country, including 5.45 crore women account holders.
This would improve financial inclusion by introducing and expanding services like as savings, micro-insurance, pensions, and simplifying credit access for women and Women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
The new collaboration will expand the Jan Dhan Plus program by leveraging a network of 57,563 business correspondents, BIRD centers, Financial Literacy Centers, and RRBs to reach some of the most underserved populations in rural areas.
NABARD and WWB will also develop a Gender Intentional Index to encourage improved gender responsiveness among RRBs.
The GIIN is projected to transform gender-focused financial inclusion methods by initially leveraging supply-side data like as accounts, RuPay cards, deposits, social security programs, loans/credits, labor statistics, and agent networks.
The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs first supported the project, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation eventually joined the effort.
According to NABARD Chairman Shaji K.V., the relationship would go beyond just account access and will improve the utilization of financial services while also supporting enterprise development for women and SHGs.
“Designing and working with a gender-inclusive approach not only benefits individual women but also has a ripple effect on our households and communities at large. The introduction of the GIIN is expected to spark healthy competition among RRBs and automate the collection and reporting of gender-disaggregated data,” noted Shaji.
Ms. Franziska Sporri, Head of Macroeconomic Support at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, praised NABARD’s Financial Inclusion Fund as “among the largest, supporting low-income segments” that will increase women’s participation in accessing formal financial services.
According to Prabir Borooah, Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Jan Dhan Infrastructure is a prime example of the use of Digital Public Infrastructure in financial inclusion, and RRBs play a critical role in driving its products through SHGs in rural regions.
The Foundation will assist the program by aiming to improve capacity in 43 RRBs and three BIRD centers.
According to WWB Regional Head Kalpana Ajayan, Jan Dhan Plus has earned global prominence and was recently approved by heads of state in the World Bank DPI Report.
The GIIN, a one-of-a-kind effort in India, would redefine and realign financial inclusion action plans and strategies, particularly in relation to RRBs.
Source:IANS
