Srinagar: Reaching out to the unbanked and underbanked sections of the population, J&K Bank’s Financial Literacy and Credit Counselling Centres (FLCCs) conducted multiple awareness camps during the ongoing Financial Literacy Week (FLW) in the UT of J&K to deepen financial inclusion initiatives of the government besides helping achieve sustainable development throughout the region.
The FLCCs conducted the camps at various locations in the UT including at far-off places like Chatyar, Chowkian-a-Darhal, Kothra and Nadian villages in Rajouri. Besides, financial literacy camps were conducted at Industrial Estate Zainakote, New TheadHarwan and Business Unit Nowgam in Srinagar which were attended by aspiring entrepreneurs, local businessmen, self-employed persons, Village Development Committee Chairman, National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) representatives, and Self Help Group (SHG) members.
The Facilitators briefed the gatherings about the special drive launched by RBI during the ongoing Financial Literacy Week themed around “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)” and informed the participants about major credit facilities, subsidy benefits and schemes including Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Stand-Up India, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), interest subvention scheme for MSMEs etc. launched by the government for financial upliftment of the people. Besides, the participants were also educated about various features of the revised Kisan Credit Card Scheme covering agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry and fisheries.
Education regarding the benefits of government sponsored and social security schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jeevan JyotiBimaYojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha BimaYojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was also imparted to the participants. The highlighted features include life insurance cover of up to ₹ 2 lakhs by paying a nominal premium of ₹ 330 per year under PMJJBY, financial cushion by providing accidental death/permanent disability cover of up to ₹ 2 lakhsand permanent partial disability cover of upto ₹ 1 lakh at a premium of only ₹ 12 per annum under PMSBY and Rupay Cards issued to PMJDY account holders that carry an inbuilt accidental death insurance cover of ₹ 2 lakhs.
During the camps, the participants were made aware about good financial practices in MSMEs and small business management, financing options and financial management, Goods and Services Tax, good credit rating, maintenance of proper books of accounts and turnover in bank account.
Remarkably, Lieutenant Governor J&K Girish Chandra Murmu had on February 11 launched a Financial Inclusion Outreach Campaign with special focus on extending banking services to all unbanked areas, opening of bank accounts for unbanked adults under PMJDY with RuPay Cards, enrolments under PMSBY & PMJJBY, outreach for Mudra Yojana, housing loans, other retails loans etc., credit Linkage with SHGs, RSETIs and other skilling centres in J&K and issuance of KCCs to all eligible beneficiaries.
Notably, RBI has been conducting FLW every year since 2016 to propagate financial education messages on a particular theme across the country.
