Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian finance minister has outlined some of the most important steps taken by the central government to ensure financial inclusion on Thursday.
While addressing the summit for the New Global Financing Pact in Paris, she stated about the majority of benefits can be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the citizens. She mentioned to the delegates that the government was able to save Rs 1 lakh crore after the implementation of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) through direct benefit transfer in just one of the provinces in India. By introducing DPI, the usage of taxpayer find has been done more effectively.
Women have been identified under the "Stand-up India" initiative, not just in major cities but also in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where they are being provided low-interest, collateral-free loans to enable them to stand up for themselves.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman further added that the support given to start-ups was not just a phenomenon in cities. Women street vendors and small business owners also receive collateral-free loans. She even mentioned several initiatives taken by the government which aim to develop women. All public sector banks in the country were required to lend money to at least one woman per bank branch at a reduced rate and without any collateral. In addition to this, the length of maternity leaves has been increased to 26 weeks, and women's self-help groups in villages could now purchase locally produced grains and construct silos and shortage facilities. They are given funding to fill the viability gap. To find a better market for their agriculture, a national agriculture market has been established for women.
