Finance Minister Urges RRBs to Digitally Empower Rural India by 2024

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pushes Regional Rural Banks to accelerate digital service adoption among rural customers, setting a December 2024 deadline. She highlights the importance of increased credit flow to agriculture and small industries, while stressing the need for tech upgrades and strong governance in RRBs.

In an ambitious push towards digital inclusion, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called upon Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to introduce rural customers to digital platforms like Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, and UPI. This directive was issued during a review meeting in Patna, involving eight RRBs from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal.

The minister underscored the urgency of transitioning to digital services and set a firm deadline for completion by December 2024. She encouraged RRBs to leverage their sponsor banks' support for digital adoption, with a focus on increasing usage among rural populations. "RRBs should prioritize onboarding customers to digital services," Sitharaman emphasized.

Sitharaman also reviewed the RRBs' business performance, digital advances, and credit offerings, stressing the need for inclusive growth. The emphasis was placed on enhancing credit flow to agriculture and micro-industries to spur business development. She further urged collaboration between state governments, NABARD, and SIDBI to aid women's self-help groups (SHGs) in becoming enterprises.

She highlighted the significance of the One District One Product (ODOP) program in fostering self-employment and directed financial institutions to offer training and marketing support to SHGs. Sitharaman stressed technological upgrades for better RRB efficiency and service delivery. The financial health of RRBs has shown improvement, with the consolidated CRAR rising from 7.8% in FY22 to 9.4% in FY24, and Gross NPAs decreasing from 25% in FY22 to 15% in FY24.

Sitharaman noted that RRBs in the Eastern Region recorded a consolidated profit of Rs 625 crore for FY 2024, reversing a net loss of Rs 690 crore in FY 2023. She concluded by stressing the importance of maintaining asset quality, expanding digital services, and ensuring robust governance to tackle future challenges.

(With inputs from agencies.)