How North East India Is Contributing To Nari Shakti By Engaging Women In Banking

The Ministry of Development of the North East Region of India issued a press release on 27 March 2023 that revealed the efforts made towards engaging women in banking.

Steps are being taken by the government to bridge the gender digital divide in India in the banking sector. Doorstep banking services are now being offered in 100 centres across India. 15 services are being offered by the banks under doorstep banking. 3 of the 100 centres mentioned in Agartala, Guwahati, and Shillong cater to providing services in the NorthEast region.

The doorstep banking services are currently being offered by 12 public sector banks (PSBs) in the country since September 2020 under PSB Alliance.

To promote this the State Level Banker's Committees (SLBCs) informed the masses of the news of PSBs providing doorstep banking through Business Correspondents and bank branches.

Efforts Made To Increase The Participation Of Women In Banking

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) saw disruption in their operations owing to the pandemic. The Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan launched the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) in May 2020 to support the growth of MSMEs.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) has been engaged by the Ministry of Rural Development to provide doorstep financial services by Women Self Help Groups (SHG) members.

Currently 4460 women SHG members have been working as Business Correspondents for doorstep banking.

A Word Bank project in association with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) called the North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) provided skill-based training to SHG members and unemployed youth for employment.

NERLP provided training for various courses to 10462 girls and boys. 28,154 Self Help Groups (SHGs), 1,212 Village Federations, and 1599 Community Development Groups (CDGs) covered 2,92,889 households.

The NERLP project revealed that 97% of the SHG members had a collective savings of Rs. 60.51 crores. A Community Investment Fund (CIF) worth Rs.319.15 was released to 28,154 SHGs. The total of the sanctioned bank loan amount is Rs. 58.19 crores with the average amount per SHG being Rs. 1.2 lakh.

Also Read: How India’s Digital Saksharta Abhiyan Strengthens G20 Nari Shakti Model