The government hopes to bring 73,000 villages under the banking net that will lead to over five crore new bank accounts in rural areas by March next year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
He said all the villages having a population of over 2,000 will be brought under the banking network by the end of next financial year.
The minister pointed out that only 38 percent of the total 85,300 bank branches in India were in rural areas. Only 40 percent of Indians have access to banking facilities.
"Though the total number of bank branches have increased from 8,700 at the time of nationalisation in 1969 to 85,300 now, rural areas have only 32,000 branches," said Mukherjee, adding that the government had directed all public sector banks to increase their presence in rural areas.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched a financial inclusion campaign called "Swabhimaan". The campaign is aimed at encouraging people in rural areas to open bank accounts and use banking facilities.
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