i nc lu s i ve f i nanc e i nd i a re port 2014
36
without requiring their direct interface with bankers,
and they are able to get loans within 48 hours into their
accounts. This significantly reduces transaction costs on
both sides as well.
The owned funds of Stree Nidhi as on 31 March 2014
were Rs. 2.62 billion, of which the contribution of 1,096
MSs and 88TLFs to the share capital was Rs. 1.07 billion.
Stree Nidhi mobilizes deposits through three schemes,
including a compulsory scheme by which SHGs have to
contribute Rs. 100 per month for a period of one year
when they are converted into a fixed deposit for a period
of five years. The amount of deposits mobilized as on
31 March 2014 under all schemes was 778.2 million.
Stree Nidhi’s borrowing as cash credit and term loans
from commercial banks amounted to Rs. 6.85 billion.
Streenidhi has made loan disbursements to SHGmembers
to the extent of Rs. 17.19 billion. The outstanding loan
amount as on 31 March 2014 was 1.01 billion. The share
of the urban SHGs in total credit flow during 2013–14
was 9.1 per cent. Repayments of loans were 98.6 per cent
of demand as on 31 March 2014. Streenidhi earned a net
profit of Rs. 178.5 million for the financial year ending
March 2013. 6 per cent dividend was paid to all MSs in
proportion to their share capital contribution.
Stree Nidhi is working as a BC of banks in promoting
a viable model with Village Organisations as Common
Service Providers (CSPs) and one of the literate women
are identified as the village-level entrepreneur (VLEs) to
take up the role of the BC agent. The main area of focus is
to provide basic banking services and graduate into a full-
fledged ‘one-stop services centre’ by integrating financial
and non-financial services. Stree Nidhi facilitates VOs
in identifying and selecting entrepreneurs for running
CSPs. A transaction-based commission is paid to the
entrepreneur by Stree Nidhi directly. The revenue is
shared in the ratio 85:10:5 among the entrepreneur, Stree
Nidhi and VOs. Stree Nidhi acts as the corporate BC
of Andhra Bank, State Bank of India and State Bank of
Hyderabad. VLEs are working in 124 centres.
Technology is the backbone of Stree Nidhi operations.
The system used is a combination of mobile technology
to capture data and web-based portal for processing
and information dissemination. A unique feature in
disbursement of loans to SHGs is the use of IVRS and
web-based technology to capture and store data on the
central server, with the objective of disbursing loans to
SHG members in 48 hours. Similarly, with the help of
ICT, the MIS is available on real-time basis on Stree
Nidhi website and is also made available to the MSs and
TLFs on a log-in basis.
2.6 PRADHAN MANTRI JAN‐DHAN
YOJANAȅMISSION OBJECTIVES AND
APPROACH TO IMPLEMENTATION
23
The experience innovations described in previous sec-
tions have fed into the newly launched Pradhan Mantri
Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The PMJDY seeks to ensure
access to various financial services like availability of basic
savings bank account, access to need-based credit, remit-
tances facility, insurance and pension to the excluded sec-
tions, i.e., weaker sections and low-income groups. This
deep penetration at affordable cost is possible only with
the effective use of technology.
According to the PMJDY Mission document, though
the banks achieved their targets under the first phase of
the Swabhimaan campaign, it had very limited reach
and impact. Public Sector Banks (PSBs) including
RRBs estimated that by 31 May 2014, out of the 131.4
million rural households which were allocated to them
for coverage, about 59.4 million uncovered remained
uncovered
.
It was estimated that 60 million households in
rural and 15 million in urban areas need to be covered—
representing a total of 75 million households.
Under the mission, all the 6, 00,000 villages across the
entire country are to be mapped according to the service
area of each bank to have at least one fixed point banking
outlet catering to 1,000 to 1,500 households, called Sub
Service Area (SSA).
The banking sector would also be expanding itself to
set up an additional 50,000 BCs, more than 7,000 bank
branches and more than 20,000 new ATMs in the first
phase up to 15 August 2015. The comprehensive plan is
necessary considering the learnings from the past where
a large number of accounts opened remained dormant,
resulting in costs incurred for banks and no benefits to
the beneficiaries.
The Mission plan envisages providing a bank account
to every household in the country and make available
within 5 km distance of each village basic banking
services facilities, i.e. (i) opening of bank account with
