The meeting at Pune was also attended by senior officials of DFS, Reserve Bank, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), senior officials of sponsor banks, and chairpersons of RRBs.
Joshi expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved by the RRBs on different operational parameters consequent to the infusion of recapitalisation funds by the government of India, the finance ministry said.
He exhorted all of them to strive for further improvement in their performance so that the government’s efforts towards financial inclusion and improving credit delivery in rural areas are implemented successfully.
During the meeting, the progress made by RRBs on various parameters fixed in their respective viability plans were reviewed. It was noted that there has been substantial improvement in the financial performance of RRBs in 2022-23 as compared to 2021-22, it said.
The need for technology upgradation of RRBs, strategies for NPA reduction, IT initiatives, improving financial inclusion, enhancing credit delivery to rural areas and support being given by sponsor banks to the RRBs were other issues that were discussed in the meeting, it added.
These banks were formed under the RRB Act, 1976 with an objective to provide credit and other facilities to small farmers, agricultural labourers and artisans in rural areas. Currently, the Centre holds 50 per cent stake in RRBs, while 35 per cent and 15 per cent are with the concerned sponsor banks and state governments, respectively.
Joshi emphasised that sponsor banks, in partnership with NABARD, need to proactively hand-hold their respective RRBs for facilitating technology adoption so as to enable them to serve their customers more efficiently.
He also urged RRBs to redouble their efforts for achieving the targets fixed in the viability plans within the next one year itself.
