After a concerted drive by the officials in the banking sector over a few years, the Tirupur district has finally attained financial inclusion which means each of the enumerated households in the district now has at least one bank account.
“As per the extensive survey carried out by the banks, 5.3 lakh households have been identified in the district and we have succeeded to bring at least one member of every household to the institutional banking channel through a slew of initiatives taken through different methodologies,” lead district manager V. Ganesan told The Hindu.
To a great extent, the recently conducted campaign under Pradhan Manthri Jan Dhan Yojana to open maximum bank accounts helped expedite the completion of financial inclusion as 2.3 lakh new accounts, with many of them from the then unbanked households, were opened merely under the PMJDY scheme alone.
According to the banking sources, the opening of bank accounts in every household not only will bring the savings of the poor and under privileged people into the formal financial system but also help them not to fall into the clutches of usurers as they could now utilise the value-added financial services extended by banks at lower cost of funds.
Despite the attainment of the feat, banking sector sources pointed out that the lower level of financial literacy was still a matter of concern in the district and it needed to be improved so as to inculcate thrift among the poor people.
“Opening a bank account is a significant thing but at the same the account holders need to get more informed of the methods to increase the savings and for that financial literacy is needed. At present, the average balance in the Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts in the district is less than Rs. 500 which means financial literacy needs to be improved by leaps and bounds,” bank officials pointed out.
Our Special Correspondent in Coimbatore adds: Coimbatore district has achieved 100 per cent coverage of households under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana scheme.
According to a release from District Collector Archana Patnaik, since August 16 this year, banks in the district started opening accounts for people under the scheme. At a meeting held here on Monday, banks disbursed sanction letters for education loans to the tune of Rs. 76 lakh and TAHDCO loans worth Rs. 31 lakh.
