Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

15-November-2012 19:20 IST

The Union Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram will be holding a meeting tomorrow with the Chief Ministers of North Zone States/UTs and CEOs of selected Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Financial Institutions(FIs). The Chief Ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Administrator of Chandigarh are likely to participate in one day meeting here. This will be the first such meeting by the current Finance Minister with the Northern State CMs and CEOs of PSBs and FIs together after assuming the charge of Finance Ministry in August this year.

Major issues on the agenda of the meeting include review of the State wise flow of Credit and Credit related parameters in various sectors including agriculture credit, MSE (Micro and Small Enterprises) Credit, housing and education loans, credit to Weaker Sections and Minority Communities among others especially in various participating States/UTs.

The issue of Financial Inclusion is also likely to be discussed during the said meeting. In this regard, progress in extension of Swabhiman Campaign, campaign to ensure each family has at least one bank account and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) for Government Welfare Schemes may also come under discussion. Opening of new branches of Regional Rural Banks(RRBs) specifically in participating States/UTs are also on the agenda of the tomorrow’s meeting.

Progress of Centrally Sponsored Schemes especially in each participating State including Swaranjayanti Gram Swarogar Yojana (SGSY), Swaranajayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers(SRMS) and Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) are also likely to come under the discussion during the aforesaid meeting .

Key pending projects and recovery issues related to the participating States are also likely to be discussed during the aforesaid Meeting tomorrow.

Revival package for Short Term Cooperative Credit Structure ,implementation of Aam Admi Bima Yojna and Co-Contributory Pension Scheme by the States for Unorganized Sector workers under the Swavalamban Pension Scheme of Government of India are also on the agenda of the tomorrow’s meeting.

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DSM/RS/ka

Financial inclusion push to expand bank access and credit delivery across sectors, with state-centre implementation oversight. Measures target improvement of financial inclusion and the flow of credit in northern States/UTs through state-wise review of credit delivery across agriculture, MSE, housing, education, weaker sections and minority communities; expansion of Regional Rural Bank branches; and promotion of Swabhiman and Electronic Benefit Transfer to ensure bank account coverage.