Shillong: Meghalaya, in terms of financial inclusion, is faring poorly. Even though bank penetration is good, the distribution of banking units is skewed. This was informed by the General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), YK Rao, on Monday.
Rao was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Financial Literacy Week (FLW) 2020, which was initiated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to promote financial awareness through a focused campaign on key topics.
Addressing the gathering, Rao said the per capita credit flow and credit-deposit ratio in the state is low despite the fact availability of many opportunities, particularly in the tourism and food-processing sector.
In the farming sector, he said there are close to 2,32,000 holdings in the state but there are only 90,000 Kisan credit cards. Due to this, the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi are also low.
The FLW 2020, which was inaugurated at the conference hall of Hotel Poinisuk, Shillong, is based on the theme ‘Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME)’, and how they benefit by being a part of the formal banking system. The FLW 2020 will be observed in the state till February 14.
General Manager (OIC), RBI, Shillong, Anurag Asthana, who was speaking as the chief guest, said MSME plays a significant role in economic development in terms of their contribution to employment generation, innovation, exports and inclusive growth. With a vast network of 6.34 crore enterprises, the sector contributes about 45 per cent of manufacturing outputs, more than 40 per cent of exports and 28 per cent of GDP while creating employment of 11 crore.
“This, in terms of volume, stands next to agriculture,” he informed.
Adding that the lack of understanding of financial products and services, banking procedures and risk-return framework inhibits the growth of MSME units, he hoped the FLW will go a long way in addressing few of such issues.
The RBI, Shillong, will also hold MSME Town Hall Meeting at Syntein village, EKH, on Friday and will conduct special literacy camps for micro and small entrepreneurs in potential/natural MSME clusters.
