Dr. Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, chaired a review meeting here today with Lead District Managers (LDMs) of Aspirational districts and State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) convenors. The review meeting was also attended by senior officials of NITI Aayog, Panchayati Raj, and DFS.

During the meeting, the progress of 112 Aspirational Districts under Targeted Financial Inclusion Intervention Programme (TFIIP) was discussed in detail. The progress of 10 selected districts under Utkarsh programme was also reviewed.

Dr. Joshi appreciated the efforts of SLBCs and LDMs in furthering the drive of Financial Inclusion in the country and requested LDMs and SLBC convenors to utilise the next six months with renewed vigor and zeal to achieve the set milestones.

During the review meeting, it was impressed upon the banks to work on further increase credit penetration in these districts and ensure availability of at least one banking outlet within 5 km of all inhabited villages.

Banks were also requested to run financial literacy camps in villages with the help of Panchayati Raj institutions to further improve the performance of financial inclusion schemes. A reward and recognition program for performing districts and SLBCs was also discussed.

Financial inclusion push to expand credit access, ensure nearby banking outlets and deliver literacy camps with local institutions. Departmental review directed district managers and state banking convenors to intensify efforts to advance financial inclusion by expanding credit penetration, ensuring proximate banking outlets for inhabited villages, conducting financial literacy camps in partnership with local governance bodies, mobilizing outreach for scheme uptake, and implementing a reward and recognition programme to incentivize district performance.