i nc lu s i ve f i nanc e i nd i a re port 2014
48
Department of Telecom (DoT) is separately seek-
ing government approval to cover all villages in the
North-East and difficult areas with telecom con-
nectivity.
(ii) Keeping the Accounts Live: DBT schemes especially
MGNREGA need to be pushed for this purpose.
(iii) Brand Awareness and Sensitization: In order to
achieve a demand side pull effect it is essential to
that there is branding and awareness of the BC
model for providing basic services.
(iv) Commission to Bank on Direct Benefit Transfer
(DBT): As recommended by the Task Force on
Aadhar-enable unified payment infrastructure, the
last mile transaction cost of 3.14 per cent, with a cap
of Rs. 20 per transaction, needs to be budgeted for
various EBT, DTS and last mile payments through
micro-ATMs and ATMs. MGNREGS should also
be included in DBT.
(v) Coverage of Difficult Areas: Parts of North-East,
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and
Kashmir and 82 Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)
districts may not be fully covered in the first phase
because of challenges of infrastructure and telecom
connectivity.
Source: Adapted from Department of Financial
Services (2014).
NOTES
1. Data and information drawn from RBI Annual Report
2013–14.
2. As discussed in a following section, under the PMJDY the
approach has shifted to one of covering all households instead
of the remaining villages. With a campaign mode being
adopted, the target for full coverage has since been brought
forward to 26 January 2015.
3. A description of these measures is contained in Department
of Financial Services (2013).
4. One bank reported that the average balance in BSBD
accounts was only Rs. 14.
5. Under the financial inclusion mission through the PMJDY,
banks will ensure that individual BCs will get a minimum
compensation of Rs. 5000 per month (Kumar, 2014).
6. In fact Sriram (2014) has argued that by allowing Aadhaar to
set the discourse of financial inclusion, the state has moved
towards a model that facilitates ‘payments’ and transactional
aspects, with significant costs added at the intermediary
levels.
7. Under the Interactive Aflatoun School model implemented
in three states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra),
school children take up the role of bank staff, with school
teachers acting as business correspondents.
8. Adapted from Bhatnagar and Gupt (2014) and other sources.
9. Meaning ‘Prosperity’.
10. Dr. Aruna Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary, Rural
Development, Panchayat and Social Justice in an interview
to The MP Bulletin, Government of Madhya Pradesh,
January 20
(
_
Bulletin/2014/The_MP_Bulletin_Jan_2014.pdf
)
11. MP newsonline, 2014, “Samriddhi being adopted by Central
government”, 10 August.
/
HViewNews.aspx?NewsID=2087%20&Newstag
=
12. Based upon Krishna (2014), a note prepared by Tushar
Krishna, Access-Assist, Patna for this study with inputs from
Mr. Gopal Narayan, Head Financial Inclusion, UBGB,
Muzaffarpur.
13. From ‘Gram Chetna-Centre of Rural Viability: Five Year
Perspective Plan of UBGB 2013–18‘, UBGB, Muzaffarpur.
14. These USB would provide a basic savings bank account
(Bachat Khata) for receiving and making remittances,
a Savings bank account with in-built overdraft facility
(Vikas Khata), Agriculture credit (Smart Micro KCC),
entrepreneurial credit to non-agriculturist (Smart Micro
GCC), Smart Variable Recurring Deposit scheme, remittance
facility through NEFT, life insurance, health insurance,
general insurance, pension schemes and mutual funds. RuPay
Debit cards would be popularized and the majority of current
client base of branches would be persuaded to transact with
the local USB using smart cards at the place and time of their
convenience.
15. SBI recently identified SEWA Bharat for rollout of DBT in
Uttarakhand. This coverage is inclusive of SEWA Bharat’s
outreach in forthcoming DBT operations.
16. ‘Business Correspondent In The Hills Of Uttarakhand:
SEWA Bharat’s step towards Financial Inclusion’, available at
-
SBI-Financial-Inclusion-Programme.pptx
17. Technical glitches in operation of PoS machines include
failure to connect to the server in remote villages with poor
wireless connectivity; failure of fingerprint verification; data
corruption of mobile phone device or memory card; invalid
transactions due to lack of timely synchronization in operat-
ing mobile phone and finger print device or premature turn-
ing off of the mobile phone before transaction data has been
uploaded.
18. In the absence of cost sharing among partners, SEWA Bharat
has made an investment of almost Rs. 60-70 lakh for this
project on
cost of PoS machines
;
CSP working capital
and CSP
commissions
and
incentives
; cost of SEWA Bharat
field staff
engaged in monitoring bank branches and training CSPs; cost
