Rural women drive Rs 27,000 crore financial inclusion transactions

Enterprising women business correspondents, known as BC Sakhis, have facilitated transactions worth Rs 27,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, earning Rs 75 crore in commission over the past four and a half years.

BC Sakhis, appointed under the nationwide women empowerment programme, are members of self-help groups (SHGs) who are trained and certified to provide banking and financial services in rural areas.

Since the programme’s official launch in May 2020, nearly 40,000 BC Sakhis have played a pivotal role in driving financial inclusion in the unbanked and under-banked regions of Uttar Pradesh, a senior state government official said.

There were 36,000 BC Sakhis in the state in September 2023.

Uttar Pradesh leads the nation in the number of BC Sakhis, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan with nearly 19,000 and 10,000 correspondents, respectively.

The initiative, which operates in partnership with various banks, such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and Union Bank, provides livelihood opportunities for literate women in rural areas while offering doorstep banking services in the absence of physical bank branches.

Women from families of ex-servicemen, bankers, and teachers are given priority when being recruited as BC Sakhis.

The programme is credited by the central government with keeping the non-performing assets (NPAs) of women SHGs down compared to the overall NPAs of the public-sector banks.

The central government aims to appoint at least one BC Sakhi in each of India’s nearly 250,000 gram panchayats.

Earlier this year, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh had said institutional finance and interest waivers for women SHGs have improved loan repayment rates.

Since 2013-14, SHGs have accessed Rs 6.96 trillion in bank credit, according to the Union ministry.

Under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, the government is prioritising financial literacy for women.

To date, 27.5 million women have been trained in financial literacy.

The broader goal is to help SHG members earn Rs 1 lakh per year to meet the targets of the “Lakhpati Didi” scheme, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2023.