banks and women empowerment

8/3/2019 Banks and Women Empowerment

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BANKS AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Shri C.M. Nanjappa

I PUC, Sri Venkateshwara College,

HassanEmpowerment of women is essentially the process of upliftment of economic,

social and political status of women, the traditionally unprivileged ones in the

society. It involves the building up of a society wherein women can breathe

without the fear of oppression, exploitation, apprehension, discrimination and the

general feeling of persecution which goes with being a woman in a traditionally

male dominated structure. One major therapy prescribed by women empowerment

advocates is empowering women through legislation for ensuring participation in

political decision making.

Such an approach provides the women with a constitutional platform to stand up tomen, to raise their voice on issues concerning women oppression, subjugation and

related issues and thus in effect, providing them with an identity in an orthodox

male dominated socio-political set up, in addition to providing a much needed

forum to seek redressal of problems directly affecting them, the true essence of

empowerment.

Since women comprise the majority of the population below the poverty line and

are very often in situations of extreme poverty, given the harsh realities of intra-

household and social discrimination, macro-economic policies and poverty

eradication programmes will specifically address the needs and problems of suchwomen. There will be improved implementation of programmes which are already

women oriented with special targets for women. Steps are being taken for

mobilization of poor women and convergence of services, by offering them a range

of economic and social options, along with necessary support measure to enhance

their capabilities.

Before 1990s, credit schemes for women were almost negligible. The concept of

womens credit was born on the insistence by women oriented studies that

highlighted the discrimination and struggle of women in having access to credit.

However, there is a perceptible gap in financing genuine credit needs of the poor,

especially women in the rural sector.

The Government measures have attempted to help women by implementing

different poverty alleviation programmes but with little success. Since most of

them are target based involving lengthy procedures for loan disbursements, high

transaction costs and lack of supervision and monitoring, Banks often suffer from

poor repayment leading to a high level of non-performing assets.


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Inorder to enhance womens access to credit for consumption and production, the

establishment of new and strengthening of existing micro-credit mechanisms and

micro-financial institutions is being undertaken so that the outreach of credit is

enhanced. Other supportive measures are being taken to ensure adequate flow of

credit through extant financial institutions and banks, so that all women below

poverty line have easy access to credit. Micro-credit has been promoted as a tool

not only of womens economic empowerment, but also of social and political

empowerment. An assumption of micro-credit is that these programmes will

significantly increase womens incomes, enable women to control that income and

also enable them to negotiate improvements in their status within the household. It

was also assumed that micro-credit would give women access to support networks

that enables them to advance their individual and collective interests at the local as

well as macro-level.

Banks generally use individual rather than group-based lending and may not have

scope for introducing, non-financial services. This means that they cannot be

expected to have the type of the focused empowerment strategies which NGOs

have. Nevertheless, they can be actively involved in collaboration with other

service providers giving for example:

Enterprise and business development services for women and providing

loans to female trainees

Legal aid services for women

Reproductive health services for women

Now-a-days the Banks are focusing a lot on the empowerment of women.

Given below are a few examples to show what some of the banks are doing to

empower women and how they are playing a leading role in the life of women.

SEWA Bank now profits in millions. It presents a wonderful example of how poor,

female and illiterate clients can keep properly managed micro-credit enterprises

solvent and more. But the social impact of this womens bank cannot be captured

in an accounts register.

The ability of poor women to use credit productivity depends on broader socio-

economic contexts. As SEWA prioritises the needs of those who work, save and

borrow rather than some inert blueprint of capital growth, it helped rehabilitate

Zebunissa even though the passbook she had salvaged showed a loan outstripping

her deposits.

Established in 1906 by the captains of Indian industry, Bank of India was brought

into the public sector in 1969. It continues to occupy a premier positioning the

Indian banking scene today in terms of physical presence, asset level, range of well


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structured products and services and staff skills both in the cosmetic and

international banking spheres.

There are several Indian women who have been successful in transforming their

lives by taking loans from Bank of India.

Apart from general loan schemes, which are meant for both men and women,women entrepreneurs are also eligible for finance under Government sponsored

programmes such as Prime Ministers Rozgar Yojana for educated unemployed

young women in both urban and rural areas and the Swarna Jayanathi Sahakari

Rozgar Yojana in urban areas.

Have you ever seen a bank with no telephones, no typewriters, no carpets, no loan

agreements and mostly, run by women? Well, difficult as it is to believe, there is

one: The Grameen Bank. Grameen is not noticeably bank-like. But it does lend

money and does get repaid with interest.

There are a few other companies and organizations which are working for thebetterment of women such as,

The Reliance Insurance company has also introduced various plans for the

betterment of women like the Automatic Investment Plan for example:

The successful working of Mahila Mandals has resulted in the formation of a large

number of Self-Help Groups amongst women.

Mahila Viaks Nidhi is a specially designed fund for economic empowerment of

women.

Lately a section of the development community has been questioning the impact of

female-targetted micro-finance. Nirantar, a womens resource centre, has been

drawing media attention to the rise in womens indebtedness as a result of back-

to-back lending, higher incidence of violence in the event of women being unable

to bring into the family the credit that is expected of them, and the tremendous

pressure on women to repay which can cause them to migrate.

Only training aimed at empowerment, and not just at employment can help poor

women given their socio-cultural background identify the kind of competences

needed to survive adequately and fruitfully in the commercial web. Training for

empowerment will equip women to create conditions adequate for survival even

when their present employment terminates.

Womens entrepreneurial abilities are not always approved by their family;

workloads are exhausting with the double burden of taking care of the home and

family, as well as earning a livelihood; they enter into competition with less


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knowledge and training than their male counterparts; they have limited access to

capital, with many banks doubting their credibility.

I would like to conclude, all in all, it is operative to recognize that the training

needs and challenges of informal sector workers are far from being uni-

dimensional. It is hardly a linear path leading from informality to formality. Thechallenges are enmeshed within the socio-economic conditions of the groups.

Vocational training is one of the aspects along with these challenges can be

addressed. What is required is a set of competencies which empowers the workers

to make the right entrepreneurial choices. This is even more crucial for women

operating in the informal sector.

BANKING AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Kum. Priyanka S. Yadgiri

II Year Science C

V.B. Darbar College

Before 1990s, credit schemes for rural women were almost negligible. The

concept of womens credit was born on the insistence of women oriented studies

that highlighted the discrimination and struggle of women in having access to

credit. However, there is a perceptible gap in financing genuine credit needs of the

poor especially women in the rural sector.

There are certain misconceptions about the poor people that they need loan at

subsidized rates of interest on soft terms, they lack education skills, capacity to

save credit-worthiness and therefore are not bankable. Nevertheless, the

experiences of several SHGs (self-help groups) reveal that rural poor are actually

efficient managers of credit and finance. Availability of timely and adequate credit

is essential for them to undertake any economic activity rather than credit subsidy.

The Government measures have attempted to help the poor by implementing

different poverty alleviation programmes but with little success.

Under the trickle down theory in the planning process it was expected that womenwill equally benefit along with men. This has been belied by actual development.

The 9th plan document recognizes that inspite of development measures and

constitutional legal guarantees - women have lagged behind in almost all sectors.

In India, the emergence of liberalization and globalization in early 1990s

aggravated the problem of women workers in unorganized sectors from bad to


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worse as most of the women who were engaged in various self-employment

activities have lost their livelihood. Despite in tremendous contribution of women

to the agriculture sector, their work is considered just an extension of household

domain and remains non-monetised.

Empowerment implies expansion of assets and capabilities of people to influencecontrol and hold accountable institution that affects their lives. Empowerment is

the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action

and control work in an autonomous way. It is the state of feelings of self-

empowered to take control of ones own destiny. It includes both controls over

resources and over ideology (beliefs, values and attitudes).

Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control

over their own lives, communities and in their society, by acting on issues that they

define as important. Empowering women puts the spotlight on education and

employment which are an essential element to sustainable development.EMPOWERMENT : FOCUS ON POOR WOMEN

In India, the trickle down effects of macro-economic policies have failed to resolve

the problem of gender inequality. Women have been the vulnerable section of

society and constitute a sizeable segment of the poverty-struck population. Women

face gender specific barriers to access education health, employment etc. Micro-

finance deals with women below the poverty line. Micro loans are available solely

and entirely to this target group of women.

The problem is more acute for women in countries like India, despite the fact that

womens labour makes a critical contribution to the economy. Evidence shows thatgroups of women are better customers than men, the better managers of resources.

If loans are routed through women, benefits of loans are spread wider among the

household.

Since womens empowerment is the key to socio-economic development of the

community; bringing women into the mainstream of national development has

been a major concern of government. The ministry of rural development has

special components for women in its programmes. Funds are earmarked as

Womens component to ensure flow of adequate resources for the same. Besides

Swarnajayanti Grameen Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY), Ministry of RuralDevelopment is implementing other scheme having womens component. They are

the Indira Awas Yojana (IAJ), National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP),

Restructured Rural Sanitation Programme, Accelerated Rural Water Supply

Programme (ARWSP) the erstwhile Integrated Rural Development Programme

(IRDP), the erstwhile Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas

(DWCRA) and the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY).


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CONCEPT AND FEATURES OF MICRO FINANCE

The term Micro Finance is of recent origin and is commonly used in addressing

issues related to poverty alleviation, financial support to micro entrepreneurs,

gender development etc. Micro finance is defined as Provision of thrift, credit and

other financial services and products of very small amounts to the poor in ruralsemi-urban or urban areas for enabling them to raise their income levels and

improve the living standards. The term Micro literally means small.

WOMENS EMPOWERMENT AND MICRO FINANCE : DIFFERENT

PARADIGMS

Concern with womens access to credit and assumptions about contributions to

womens empowerment are not new. From the early 1970s womens movements in

a number of countries became increasingly interested in the degree to which

women were able to access poverty-focussed credit programmes and credit co-

operatives. In India, organizations like Self-employed Womens Association(SEWA) among others with origins and affiliations in the Indian labour and

womens movements identified credit as a major constraint in their work with

informal sector women workers.

The problem of Womens access to credit was given particular emphasis at the first

International Womens Conference in Mexico in 1975 as part of emerging

awareness of the importance of womens productive role both for national

economies and for womens rights. This led to the setting up of the Womens World

Banking network and production of manuals for womens credit provision. Other

womens organizations world-wide set up credit and savings components both as away of increasing womens incomes and bringing women together to address wider

gender issues.

ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT BANKS

MAHILA VIKAS NIDHI (MVN)

MVN is specially designed fund for economic empowerment of women. Training

and employment opportunities are provided to them through creation of necessary

infrastructure. Besides supply of improved inputs, production and technological

improvements are also covered under the MVN scheme. The progress of this

scheme has been noteworthy.

NATIONAL BANK FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

(NABARD) AND ITS OPERATION

A pilot project for linking SHGs with banks was launched by NABARD in 1992.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) persuaded commercial banks, regional rural

banks and co-operative banks to actively participate in the linkage programme.


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Under the RBIs guidelines, banks were given permission to open saving bank

account in the name of SHGs and relaxation of security requirements.

WOMEN CENTRED ACTIVITIES

To tap the potentialities and managerial capacities of rural women RASS has

implemented several activities. RASS has been instrumental in organizing ruralwomen to show their strength and defend themselves for their rights with the

formation of Mahila Mandals. These Mandals work under the direct supervision

and guidance of RASS and also, get regular information about Government

programmes, bank financing, marketing trends etc. The successful working of

Mahila Mandals has resulted in the formation of large number of SHGs.

For women to get gainful employment especially belonging to SC, ST and BCs,

RASS provides training facilities and generates innovative programmes. The

vocational skills, thus acquired, help women to be self-reliant.

GROWTH AND PERFORMANCE OF SHGs

The successful working of Mahila Mandals has resulted in the formation of a large

number of SHGs. In 1990, with the help from RASS, 30 SHGs were formed

involving 10-15 women members. Within a year, there were 123 SHGs with a total

membership of 1559 women. A significant feature of this system was that a large

number of women shifted their borrowing from traditional moneylenders to SHGs

at reasonable rates of interest. Moreover, RASS has linked with Rashtriya Mahila

Kosh (RMK) and NABARD to mobilize funds. Some of the notable features of

this scheme are a high percentage (96) of repayment, utilization of funds for

income creating activities and generation of saving by women members in theSHGs.

MICRO FINANCE INSTRUMENT FOR WOMENS EMPOWERMENT

Micro Finance is emerging as a powerful instrument for poverty alleviation in the

new economy.

Perception women is that learning to manage money and rotate funds builds

womens capacities and confidence to intervene in local governance beyond the

limited goals of ensuring access to credit. Further, it combines the goals of

financial sustainability with that of creating community owned institutions.

ROLE OF BANKS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF VILLAGES


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Kum. Priya S. Patil

Presentation Girls Composite P.U.College

Dharwad

India is our country. It is the seventh largest country in the world. India is a country

that is full of villages. Villages are the centres of Indias life. More than 70% of thepeople live in villages. The main occupation of the villagers is agriculture. It is the

farmer who produces food for the nation. The far is popularly known as

Negilayogi.

Further, the essential commodities like milk, curds, butter and vegetables are

produced only in villages. From the villages these items are taken to cities and

towns. Raw materials like cotton, oil seeds and other products are also available

only from a village. Even the labourers working in towns come mostly from the

villages. A village occupies a very important place in Indian life. So it is said from

Halli to Delhi or think of the village first and then of Delhi. The village is thebackbone of all progress and development of the nation. The nation is totally

dependent on villages. It is for this reason that Gandhiji advocated Grama

Swarajya for the growth of villages. If villages grow, the nation will progress. The

general hinderances to the progress and development of the villages are poverty,

illiteracy, debt, uncertainity of rainfall, non-cooperation among the members of the

community, communal feelings and the atrocities of landlords and the rich on

weaker sections. The poor who are unable to fulfill their basic necessities like food,

clothing and shelter struggle day and night in the fields of rich landlords to have a

meal per day. The farmer who tills the land grows the yields and flatly handovers it

to the owners. The tiller works days and nights together to get a bread of one day.This is the poor condition of the farmers in villages.

Earlier the word bank seemed to be strange for the people who were ignorant

about this. In ancient days people used to save their money in knots, hiding in pots

and also under the earth. But, people could not save considerable amount of money

because the money kept like that was driven away either by robbers or by natural

calamities like earthquake, water over flow etc. So people did not have any safe

measures to save money.

T.M.A. Pai was the pioneer to start the first time in India. He was from

Maharashtra and the villagers had fishing as their occupation. He made thefishermans their to take out 25 paise each day and made them to keep it in the

bank and the money was used for the farmers or fisherman whenever they were in

need of it. Like this from that day today it has been rendering service to people by

giving security to the money kept at the bank and giving low interest. The bank

was Syndicate bank of Maharashtra and today it has its branches all over India.

Today it has become a famous bank in Maharashtra.


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Co-operative societies and co-operate banks were started by the weaker sections of

the society to free themselves from exploitation. Especially women have been

employed from these societies. i.e., they provide loans for women to start group

works such as craft making snacks making, agarbathi making, pickles making,

cotton making in the cottage industries. Women can form groups like Shree Sakti

or Swayam Sahaya Sanhgha by which they can be employed and make other

women not only employed but also literate them by providing night schools

especially in rural areas. Even women can have hen farm, Milk Diary which are

the major source of income in daily life. Co-operative banks or Grameena banks

implement schemes and many programmes for the development of children

recently it has undertaken Black board Scheme in which they provide black board

for each schools in rural areas inorder to literate the children. Adults in urban areas

i.e., the town and city people can be offered loans for foreign and higher class

studies after which they stand on their own legs the loan has to be repaid with low

amount of interest. Nationalised banks provide loans for constructing houses forresidence.

There is rapid expansion of the branch network of these banks and they are helping

common people by providing financial assistance who take up self-employment.

By 1997, there were about 63,534 branches of banks all over the country. These

banks fulfill all the requirements of rural people. There are more than one lakh co-

operative banks in our country. From these banks our farmers and economically

weaker sections get:

a) Short term loans (which can be repaid in 15 months).

b) Medium term loans (Duration of which extents from 15 months to 7 years).

c) Long term loans (Duration of which extends from 7 years to 25 years)

These banks are very helpful in a country like India, which is dominated by rural

areas. At the village level there are Primary Agricultural Co-operative Banks with

branches at taluk level and at state level there are Apex Banks. At the District

Level there are District Central Co-operative Banks. All the co-operative banks

have affiliation with State Apex Banks. The important Stock Markets are

i. State Financial Corporation (SFC)

ii. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI)

iii. Industrial Credit and Investment Bank (ICIB)


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iv. Small Industries Development Bank (SIDB)

v. Foreign Exchange Banks (F.E.B.)

Uses of banks: Many a times we need more money than what we possess. In thesame way our excess money is advanced as loans to others. Taking loans and

advancing loans is called Banking. We preserve the wealth we gained for future

use in the form of money providing institutions are Land Development Banks,

National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), State

Cooperative Apex Banks, Industrial development Banks, Unit Trust of India, Life

Insurance Corporation of India and also the nationalized banks. The Reserve Bank

of India is established to control and regulate the affairs of these financial

institutions. There are Co-operative Banks also.

Not only for agriculture banks provides loans to buy vehicles that are helpful foragriculture i.e., Tractor which is a modern method used for sowing. Also the

products (agricultural) produced must be transported for the distribution in

regulated markets by Trucks, Trains etc., for the loans farmers would not wait for

weeks or months together i.e., loans are available within a short period of three

days nowadays. Banks provide so many loans; Do you think that banks do for their

profit? No, it is not for the profit of banks but it is like taking water from the pond

and then throwing into the same pond i.e., the banks are from the people and for

the people. They provide loans form the invested money of others and take interest

from them on the contrary the person who has invested gets the interest for

investing over a certain period of time only. In this way banks are helpful for thepeople.

The banks were not much started earlier so if people wanted to keep money in

banks they had to travel from far away places; if he was a labour he had to miss his

daily wages at that day and spend money on his traveling charges and had to reach

over the bank. People had to face many difficulties of such type. The village people

were illiterate and could not take the use of banks.

Nowadays, banks have been flourished on each nook and corner of town as well as

villages rendering services to the people for their various needs. Do we know what

exactly banks are? :

Banks: Banks help in the mobilization of the savings of the people and their

savings are utilized in productive sectors or to provide credit to the people for

various purposes.

Even though farmers have agriculture as their occupation no such good yields are

produced because of the following reasons:


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i) Our farmers are poor and cannot invest money on modernisation

ii) Irrigation facilities are inadequate and our agriculture is a gamble with rainfall.

iii) Agricultural land is subject to sub-divisions and fragmentation.

iv) Old methods are still followed.

v) Soil erosion takes place during the rainy season.

vi) No proper marketing facilities are available for agricultural production and

vii) Our farmers are ignorant about modern methods of cultivation and the literacy

rate in villages is low.

In almost all the Five-year Plans, measures have been taken to improve agriculture.

They are first of all Banks are the helpers with them nothing is possible. As

farmers are poor banks provide long term as well short term loans for the

modernization of agriculture. Since our agriculture is a gamble with rainfall bank

also provides loans for irrigation facilities such as drip irrigation etc. Bank also

provides loans for owning more land which avoids sub-division and fragmentation.

It also provides loans for fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides. The co-operative

banks also provide good quality seeds not only that but also provide training for

their sowing, harvesting and also provide many other things.Irrigation has been provided through many multi-purpose river valley projects.

Through co-operative societies proper marketing facilities have been provided and

also loans at lower rate of interest are made available. Not only marketing facilities

but these societies also provide training for the farmers how their products should

be sold with all communication skills needed. By this farmers get standard yield

for their products.

Banks also provide stock market and capital markets. Together with banks many

other financial institutions which go hand in hand with banks also provide long-

term and short-term loans for agricultural development. The important capital wedeposit our savings in the banks. By doing so the volume of money will increase,

because interest is added to our deposits. It helps our future. Our saving and

deposits help in the economic development of nation also.

Through money the value can be transferred from one place to another safely,

easily and quickly. Quick transfer of money is possible through banks, as a result


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scientific and technological advancement. This helps in the economic development

of world also.

We say from the first to last about loans, loans loans !!! what is the main duty of

people after taking loans. They must be able to repay the loan within a given period

of time which would be useful and safe for them. The farmers should not createany situations of having debt which cause severe problems later. The bank and the

people must go hand in hand then only the nation will progress and can compete

with other countries which are already developed.

FIRST PRIZE

Name of the Student: Urvashi Bhat

Class: XIName of the School: SOS Herman School, Jammu

Category: XI-XII

Position Secured: Ist

Topic: More Banking More Development

Banking means the business of a bank or banker. It is essentially a craft based on

methodology and practices. We have moved a long way from the time when a bank

was a mere deposit taking and money lending institution, veiled in conservatism

and managed by people whose aim was maximum profits with minimum risks. A

banker then was a fair-weather friend, lending an umbrella on sunny days andwithdrawing it when it rained. Banking in India has had a thorough shake-up in the

50s, particularly with the conversion of the Imperial Bank of India into the State

Bank of India. The old concepts, attitudes and methods in banking have yielded

place to new techniques of viability, need-based finance and marketing. Today

banks are participating in the nation-building activities and helping in bringing

about socio-economic changes.

Banking system has occupied an important place in a nations economy. A banking

institution is indispensible in a modern society. It plays a pivotal role in theeconomic development of a country and forms the core of the money market in an

advanced country. In the past several decades there were commercial banks and co-

operative banks then in the middle of seventies Regional Rural Banks came into

existence, the expansion of banks in such a way has organized the money market in

rural areas as well.


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Earlier, people used to borrow money from Zamindars and then these Zamindars

used to take handsome money from them and charged too much interest that

inspite of their whole life labour, they were unable to pay it. As a result these

Zamindars occupy their lands, property, jewellary etc. and always try to cheat them

in a way they can. But with the introduction of banking the situation was under

control. With this poor, rich, daily labours started saving money and then soon the

scheme of taking of loans was started, which proved a great boon for farmers.

From this very beginning today our farmers have got so freedom to use banks that

they can fulfill their every need which may be smaller than the small or bigger than

the big one. These banks are always there to provide them their maximum support

and guidance. Banks finance farmers in their way to progress in any way. They

provide them loans to get advanced machines, fertilizers and many more facilities.

The Agriculture Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC) is the apex

institution in the field of agricultural financing. For financing agriculture and allied

activities in the rural areas, though co-operative credit societies and Central Co-operative Banks have been participating since long, commercial banks began their

active participation after the nationalization of major banks in 1969. The banks

have penetrated into the country side by opening their branches in rural and semi-

urban areas. They have adapted their lending policies and practices to suit the

needs of the rural clientele, the motivational force behind this transition has been

the Reserve Bank of India and the government which provided them the

operational guidelines, introduced the system of institutional guarantees and

reduced the risks involved in financing agriculture. A farmer needs short term

credit in the form of crop loans to purchase seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and

also to meet the labour cost, irrigation and other expenses of cultivation. Normally,

they are repayable within 12 months but for the convenience of farmers it may be

extended up to 18 months.

Banks, as social organization, have to go out to the people and assist weaker

sections in achieving their aspirations. They are thus, to act as catalytic agents for

the development of the country, mobilizing resources whenever these be and

channelizing them towards productive purposes. New strategies have been evolved

for industrial development, both in small-scale and large-scale sectors and rather

than confining to the traditional way of storage and distribution finance of a short-term nature, developmental finance and term lending have to be taken up by

commercial banks.

As our country falls in the category of developing countries, the banks are playing

a vital role to make it a developed nation. These banks are not only benefitting

small-scale and large-scale sectors but providing a guarantee of bright future to our


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younger generation as they are the future of the country. They provide loans to the

students for pursuing graduate and post-graduate studies, for professional courses

or job-oriented diploma courses in India or for higher education abroad. The

normal rate of interest for the students lies between 15% and 17% but it is 10% in

case of advances to indigent students i.e those students whose total annual family

income does not exceed Rs. 6,000. It has many HDFC plans for children and their

little dreams. In this way it made the countries future strong and efficient enough to

reach to the peak.

Banks are also providing housing loans in direct or indirect way. It is providing

direct housing loans to scheduled castes/tribes and other economically weaker

sections of the society. Amount of loans may be up to Rs. 5,000, interest is charged

at the rate of 4% from scheduled castes/tribes and 12.5% from others. These loans

may be up to 80% of the total cost of the houses and indirectly housing loans

through government agencies for slum clearance and rehabilitation of slumdwellers. In this way banks are proving boon not only for upper class but also for

people considered as low class.

For retail traders in fertilizers and mineral oil with an annual turnover up to Rs. 10

lakhs and other retail traders with an annual turnover up to Rs. 4 lakhs are eligible

to borrow, for the purpose of acquisition of fixed assets and tools and other

equipments required for the trade and short term loan: 12.5% for loans up to Rs. 5,

000; between 12.5% and 15% for loans between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 25,000 and

between 15% and 19.5% for limits above Rs. 25,000.

For even a small businessman individuals or firms managing business enterprises

which provide services other than professional services, the cost of their

equipments should not exceed Rs. 2 lakhs. These services include cycle hire shops,

booking, clearing and forwarding of goods, beauty parlours, hotels, juice vendors,

launderers, mobile restaurants and publishers-cum-booksellers, for the purpose of

acquisition of fixed assets and tools etc. with the rate of interest as term loans for

over 3 years at 15% and short-term advances up to 17.5%. In case of professionals

and self-employed persons, any individual or a firm who or every one of whose

partners is (i) trained in any art or craft and (ii) holds either a degree or a diplomaor is considered to be technically qualified or skilled in his line and is rendering

professional service. Firms and joint ventures of professionals and self-employed

are also eligible, with the amount of loans up to Rs. 2 lakhs for the purpose (i) for

purchase of equipments, repairing or renovating of existing equipments,

acquisition or repairing of business premises, purchase of tools and (ii) for working

capital requirements at the rate of interest for term loans for 3 years 15% and for


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short-term loans up to 17.5%. Banks also provide consumption loans to small and

marginal farmers with land holding up to two hectares, landless labourers, rural

artisans and other people of very small means, like carpenters, barbers and

washermen, with the amount for various purposes like Rs. 250 per family for

marriage or medical treatment; Rs. 100 for educational purposes and Rs. 75 for

funeral, birth or religious ceremonies or general consumption. For two or more

purposes loan up to Rs. 500 per family per year may be granted. Against the

security of gold and silver ornaments loans up to Rs 1, 000 per family may be

sanctioned. These loans are granted mainly on the personal security of one or more

individuals or groups of persons. Security of gold and silver ornaments and

consumer durables is taken whenever available. The loan should be related to the

borrowers minimum needs and his capacity to repay at the rate of interest of

12.5% per annum.

Indian banks has progressed in every sphere and involved every single individual

and even it has many plans for old people.

In the present scenario, the world is changing with a great speed so is the

introduction of new schemes in banking. We have ATMs at every corner of our

country, we have credit cards, debit cards, anyway banking, insurance policies etc.

All this has made life luxurious and comfortable. Now, advancement has reached

its peak as we have online banking through which we can conduct almost all our

banking activities on the phone, except withdrawal of money. Despite all the

advantages of convenience, speed and savings, less than 10% of approximately 47

million bank customers in India have subscribed to net banking. Phone banking is

the most popular self banking channel today. They may soon change, as mobile

and net banking coverage on a complementary platform.

Branchless banking is much more than banking. It can pervade your entire

financial portfolio. You can bank much more than before, but with much less effort

and cost. Thats unsurprising. Banks are emerging as financial superstars offering

everything from insurance to mutual funds. They are no longer mere wealth

accumulators or custodians; they now help in wealth creation and wealth

management. Soon, debit and credit cards will be replaced by m-banking. The push

and pull factor of branchless banking is too compelling for temporary glitches tobecome popular. Only, most bankers believe that e-bankings evolution will not

completely replace the bank branch. Even now most customers wish to maintain a

traditional banking relationship so banks cant shed existing infrastructure in a

hurry.

Ultimately, e-banking spells more self-reliance and less hand holding. This type of


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banking not only saves time but also takes our country towards the light of

complete development and advancement.

We are passing through a very competitive banking era. Customer satisfaction is

must. To meet the competition, the banks have taken many initiatives under

Business Process Re-engineering and also taken up an ambitious project for

implementation of core banking solutions for providing Anytime Anywhere

Banking. CBS gives us the capability to provide value added services to

customers across multiple delivery platforms through integration of channels. The

BPR initiatives launched by the Bank would leverage CBS for realizing the

intended business benefits. Not withstanding teething problems, the CBS offers a

very good platform to us to improve our competitive position. Many new products

like CORE POWER, offers many free value added services to the customers of our

CBS branches like instant transfer of funds from their accounts to any other

account in any other CBS branch and vice versa. Similarly, they can transact theirbanking business like encashment of cheques, drafts issue, deposit of cheques

drawn on any local bank at any other CBS branch. With the advantages of Core

Power we can easily experience and appreciate the benefits of new technology. The

banks in India are striving hand by making best use of new technology. Today as

the competition is increasing so is the tension of students. As most of the students

are rushing towards management stream as educational loan is the only alternative

for most students opting this stream. Because of good job prospects and little risk

in recovery, most government banks readily provide assistance in the form of

subsidized loans. With the cost of management courses touching the sky, cobbling

resources has become crucial for students. While plenty of banks provide education

loans at concessional rates, students need to do extensive research to ensure they

get the best deal in upper limits and collateral requirements before they take the

plunge.

As the banking in India has reached at the top and trying to become more and more

advanced day-by-day. India is developing under its influence. Banking is having a

great influence on India and its citizens. Apart from modernization Indian banks

have kept its influence on every common man either of small community or rich.

Its hands are always ready to help them anyway. The evolution of banking fromZamindars to debit cards has made a huge difference. It has not only proved the

progress of country but also the efforts of people in making their country more

mobilized and advance. Even a single man who may be a carpenter or juice vendor

can enjoy all the benefits of banks. Its insurance policies, ICICI Prudential Fund,

online banking, childrens HDFC plans, housing loans etc. has moved our

countrys future towards the shining and bright future of developed India.


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Its ATM service, credit cards, debit cards, etc. has made it more popular among

common man. Now, more and more people are becoming the customers of banks.

For a common man he can save money, can take different policies for secured

future, can start his own business with the help of loans etc. Even students can get

their own account to save their own money from their pocket money. Banks are

day-by-day becoming an indispensible part of the country. As the whole country is

involved directly or indirectly with the banking.

As we have the Export Import Bank of India, an apex bank which has come into

existence in the field of financing the foreign trade of the country. This has led to

the maintenance of stronger and good relations with foreign countries. In this way

we are able to interact with other countries of the world freely and learn many

more things which are needed for more advancement in banking. Many new

schemes are taken into consideration by the Government of India to be one of thebest banking countries. The day is not far when our country will be counted among

one of the developed countries. So, India will be developed with the development

in banking. If there is more banking in India then there is more and more

development and soon India will be at the top among developed nations.

SECOND PRIZE

Name of the Student: Karandev Singh Kamra

Name of the School: SOS Herman School, JammuCategory: XI-XII

Position Secured: 2nd

Topic: Role of Banks in Rural Upliftment

Banking in India has its origin as early as the vedic period. It is believed that the

transition from money lending to banking must have occurred even before Manu,

the great Hindu jurist, who devoted a section of his work to deposits & advances &

laid down rules relating to rates of interest. During the Moghul period, the

indigenous bankers played a very important role in lending money & financing

foreign trade & commerce. The Oudh Commercial bank, the first of limitedliability bank managed by Indians was founded in 1881. The Swadeshi Movement

in 1906 also led to the formation of a number of commercial banks.

But the Indian banking came of age only with the establishment of Reserve Bank

of India, the apex bank of the country, in 1935 with a capital of Rs. 5 crore which

was divided into 5 lakh equity shares of Rs. 100 each. It was nationalized on


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January 1, 1949. When the Indian Banking Act was passed in March 1949,

extended powers were granted to it for the inspection of non-scheduled banks, i.e.

banks not included in second schedule of RBI Act, 1934. The development in rural

areas at that point of time was in a ghastly state of affairs. So for the development

of banking facilities in rural areas, the Imperial Bank of India (now, the State Bank

of India) was partially nationalized. It also had 8 (at present 7) other banks

converted as its associate banks which now constitute the State Bank group.

When the British left the country, the India economy was in tatters. Not only had

the British drained a substantial amount of Indias wealth & resources to Britain,

their policies had left deep scars on the economic condition of most of the

population. The agrarian sector was the worst hit. Productivity was at an all time

low & the financial structure was in no condition to alleviate the distress &

miseries of the people. The failure of 588 banks in various states during the decade

ending 1949 further complicated the problem. The Banking Regulation Act waspassed to bring the situation under control & regulate Indian banking. The main

objective was to consolidate the Indian economy & for this rural areas had to be

the top priority. As such many steps were taken for the advent of banking culture in

rural areas. The main era in the field of banking was the post-nationalisation period

in which one of the main objectives was the widening of branch network of banks

particularly in rural & sub-urban areas. It is thus clear that upliftment of rural areas

has always been the top most priority of the banking policy in India.

India currently has 72.2% population living in rural areas. 21.1% of that

population, i.e, almost one-fourth of the total rural population is below poverty

line. Most of these people are illiterate & have agriculture as the only means of

livelihood. Agriculture accounted for nearly 18.5% of the total G.D.P (2006-07

economic survey). With such a huge amount of population currently engaged in

agriculture, there are about 31 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala

where there is high incidence of farmers suicides. Apart from agriculture the main

occupation of people living in rural areas is the employment in small scale cottage

& village industries, handicrafts etc. But here also the condition of petty artisans &

craftsmen is deplorable. So there arises a need for some government controlled

credit structure. The most significant role in the mobilization & allocation of creditis played by the financial sector. The institutional structure of the financial system,

at present, is characterized by banks.

With a view to give a major boost to agriculture & small scale industries, the

National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) was established

on July 12, 1982 with the paid-up capital of Rs. 100 crore having 50:50


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contribution of the Indian Government & RBI. NABARD makes all policy

planning & operations in the field of credit for agriculture & other economic

activities in the rural areas. It serves as an apex refinance agency for institutions

providing investment & production credit for promoting various developmental

activities in the rural areas. NABARD provides refinance to the state land

developmental banks, state cooperative banks, scheduled commercial banks &

regional rural banks. To meet its loan requirements, NABARD obtains funds from

the Government of India, World Bank & other agencies. Besides, it also utilizes the

funds of National Rural Credit Fund. During 1996-97, it sanctioned short-term

credit limits totaling 789.9 crores. With the help of NABARD, many villages &

individuals were able to script their glorious success stories.

Another effort was the establishment of Regional Rural Banks (RRB) in the middle

of 1970s with the specific objective of providing credit & deposit facilities

particularly to farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans & small entrepreneurs. Theyprovide institutional credit to weaker sections at concessional rates of interest. The

RRBs have the responsibility to develop agriculture, trade, commerce & industry

in rural areas. The RRBs are essentially commercial banks but their area of

operation is limited to a district. At the end of June 2004, there were 196 RRBs

covering 516 districts with a network of 14507 branches. The establishment of

National Rural Bank was proposed by the Parliamentary Committee on agriculture,

finance & credit flow under the chairmanship of N. Janardan Reddy in its 55th

report. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) another bank for the

upliftment of small industries in rural areas was established as wholly owned

subsidiary of IDBI.

Credit Co-operatives have also been established under a three-tier structure-

Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) at village level, Central Co-operative

Banks (CCB) at district level & the State Co-operative Banks (SCB) at the state

level. The flow of loans is from SCB to CCB to PACS. Cooperative finance is the

cheapest & the best source of rural credit. The rate of interest is low. Cooperatives

have played a significant role in the flow of credit to the agricultural sector, both

for production & investment. As on March 31, 2001, there were about 1 lakh

primary agricultural credit societies with membership of approximately 10 crore.Nowadays Elaquai Dehati Banks are being set up to help the illiterate poor.

At the international level, the Grameen Bank, established by the Nobel Prize

winner. Mohd. Yunus is a glowing example of the fact that banks have contributed

so much to uplift the rural areas, pre-dominantly occupied by the poor. The bank

provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh without any


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collateral. The credit is extended in the form of small loans to entrepreneurs too

poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. This scheme called micro credit has

proven to be an effective & popular measure in the struggle against poverty & the

fact that almost 97% loan recipients are women adds icing on the cake. More than

half of Grameen borrowers in Bangladesh have risen out of acute poverty thanks to

this micro credit. This phenomenal success story has inspired many other countries

to establish similar micro credit financial institutions.

In India also, the Self Help Group (SHG)- Bank Linkage Programme was

introduced in 1992 as a mechanism to provide the poor in rural areas, at their door-

step, easy & self-managed access to formal financial services on a sustainable basis

by enabling them to gain access to banking services in a cost-effective manner.

To provide adequate & timely support from the banking system to the farmers for

their cultivation needs, a model Kisan Credit Card Scheme (KCC) was introduced

in August 1998. The Co-operative banks & RRBs were advised to cover all farmersunder KCC by end-March 2007 & to make the renewal process of KCCs more user

friendly. The KCC scheme made rapid progress with cumulatively more than 645

cards issued up to October, 2006. Loans are also given by banks to farmers for

different purposes. The financial needs of farmers are classified on the basis of

time & purpose. For the purpose of buying seeds, fertilizers & for marketing of

agricultural produce, short term loans for 12-15 months are given by co-operatives.

For buying cattle & agricultural implements, repair & construction of wells,

medium term loans of 15 months-5 years are given by commercial banks & co-

operatives. And long term loans of 5 years-20 years for permanent improvement of

land, purchase of costly implements are given by co-operatives & land

development banks. But still people in rural areas need to be assured that the

money deposited in banks is entirely safe & they can withdraw it in their troubled

time.

Thus to conclude, banks have been the harbingers of prosperity in rural areas.

Though the Indian banking system was bogged down by number of crisis & bank

failures which led to its slow progress in the first half of 20th century, yet in the

later half of the 20th century & in the current century, the banking system has made

rapid strides towards progress. Thus, banks have formed a steel backbone toprovide for the upliftment of rural people. With a great spectrum of above

mentioned policies they have infused life & blood in the rural economy.

CONSOLATION PRIZE


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Name: Arnav Omar s/o Kusum Gupta

Class: XI

Air Force School, Jammu

CONSOLATION PRIZEROLE OF BANKS IN RURAL UPLIFTMENT

What is Bank? Bank in literary meaning, is an establishment for guardianship of

money to conserve and grow ones savings. In simple language, it is an institution

to store and deposit money and valuables to pay out on customers order.

In socio-economic terms, it is a medium for rotation of money and provides

financial security as well as help when required. It is difficult to imagine a world

without currency. Therefore, it is necessary to establish banks so as to rotate the

money to the people and build their capacity.

Rural life plays a major membership towards the society. In fact, the urban class is

mainly evolved from rural class. People belonging to rural class are very useful

members of society who can bring prosperity to urban class. Though their life is

very miserable, these people including peasants, labourers etc. used to depend

upon landlords but their conditions of life does not seems to be improved so far.

There are also some poverty-stricken people in rural areas which occupies most of

the population. They not only have no access to their basic necessities such as

food, clothing and shelter but also cant enjoy the common mans life which they

are leading with circumstances, which must be uprooted.

Bank provides financial help in the form of loan to the rural people to make them

run small scale industries. The loan which is provided to them make them self-

sustained and self-dependent in their work. Moreover, it becomes the source for

livelihood and employment.

M.K.Gandhi in his autobiography well said-Villages are the heart of India, When

village will progress , India will develop.

India is a country of trimming millions and the second richest on earth, so farpopulation is concerned. In India during Independence, 13% of the population

were living in the cities and 87% of population were living in the towns. The

population composition has been changed radically within the last 50 years and as

per 2001 census 28% of population are living in villages.

The flowing population from villages to cities is due to several causes out of which


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the most prominent is to get a job in the towns. Bank is playing a big role to solve

the problem of rehabilitation of village people. The various programmes providing

loan facilities by banks i.e. NREP, RLEGP, JRY, etc. The role of rural co-operative

credit banks provides short-term loans to the village people. The NABARD also

provides loans to the people. The development of Kishan credit card and debit card

for the farmers facilitates the farming activities and production is increases.

Banks has prominent role in the rural upliftment by providing loans for the rural

industrilisation. Since 1969, after nationalization of the major commercial banks,

the banks are opening their branches at the village levels to provide loans to the

rural people for industrialization and other activities.

The loan carries low rate of interest alternate date to pay and in adverse

circumstances like drought, flood and famine they are getting special subsidies. In

this way, banks contribute to patronize financial assistance and builds nationaleconomic growth. It plays a supportive role in the society.

The material social integration of people through gainful employment is an

important aspect. Bank facilitates improvement in economic conditions and made

it possible for Indian rural population so that they can cultivate their own source of

income and profits from them. Therefore, the role of bank for rural upliftment i.e.

for the progress of India is unconditionally applauded.

Bank reduces the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the society. It

creates a perfect balance in a nation. But most importantly, it should be noted that

it is a great source of their survival. Its not only a remarkable opportunity provided

or sponsored by Rural Planning and Credit Department but also a blessing for

them. It reduces misadjustment in population density caused due to the migration

of the poor to cities. However, it also conducts peace and harmony in the society

among rural and urban as well.

Mohammed Younis, who is a founder of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh is a noble

prize awardee for economy. He took the crucial decisive role in rural upliftment

through banking.

In India, the bank had drawn up an ambitious plan to expand in rural and agri-

credit where it would be adopting the hub and spoke model with one branch

catering to surrounding markets with relationship managers interacting with each

market.


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Microfinance companies in India have grown from their NGO roots to become

profit making business. The sector had become mainstream. That means as profits

begin to show, more capital would flow into helping the poor. After all they are

now bankable.

Banks as Financial institutions have helped in the process by providing credit

facilities at concessional rates. The government has implemented a number of

schemes for providing low cost capital to small enterprises and self-employed

person.

Name: Lalit Bhardwaj

Class: 11th

School: SHIKSH NIKETAN HR. SEC. SCHOOL, JEEVAN NAGAR, JAMMU

Consolation prizeRole of Banks in Rural Upliftment

Introduction- A bank is a financial establishment that uses money deposited by

customers for investment and pay it out when required. It provides loan at interest

and exchange currency. A bank generate income from difference between the rate

of interest it pays for deposits to the people and rate of interest charges from

money lenders. It raises funds by attracting people for depositing money in bank

and lends out most of the funds to the borrowers. It is worthwhile to mention here

that the bank do not lend out all the money kept in the bank but it keep reserve a

certain proportion of its funds for depositors who want to withdraw the amountdeposited in their bank account. From the very beginning the Reserve Bank of

India came into existence and established in the year 1935. During British rule and

was functioned as central bank of India. After Independence, with the setting up of

first five year plan government of India felt that the private bank may not extend

the kind cooperation. The government in the year 1954 set up a committee namely

rural credit survey committee for reorganization of bank policy. The committee

submitted its report with the recommendation of creation of strong state sponsored

partnered commercial banking institution with an effective machinery of branches

spread all over the country which lead to establishment of first public sector bank

in the name of State Bank of India on 1st July 1955 with the part of share capitalby Reserve Bank of India also known as Imperial Bank of India. Similarly first five

year plan established during 1956-59 as a result of reorganization of princely state

the associate bank came into fold of public sector banking but still the unorganized

sectors remained untouched by these private banks which controlled and associated

by capitalists leading industrial house in the country with the result farmers, small

entrepreneurs, transporters, professionals and self employed had to depend on


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money lenders who used to exploit them by charging higher interest rates.

In the year 1966 a scheme of social control was set up whose main function was to

periodically assess the demand for bank credit from various sectors of the economy

to determine the priority for grant of loans and advances so as to ensure maximum

and efficient utilization of resources. But this scheme did not yield the fruitful

results. Though the number of branches were opened in rural area also but the

lending activity of private banks were not oriented towards meeting the credit

requirements of the weaker sectors. In the year 1969, 14 leading banks were

nationalized by the government having paid up capital of Rupees 28500 crores,

deposits of Rs 2629 crores, loans of Rupees 1813 crores with 4134 branches

accounting for 80% advances. Similarly, 6 more banks were nationalized in the

year 1980 having 91% of the deposits and 84% of advances in public sector

banking, There are number of banks functioning in the country but Regional Rural

Banks has played a significant role in promoting financial inclusion in unbankedremotest rural areas not covered by other banks. Under 20 point economic

programme the government is going to emerge 196 Regional Rural Banks and

establish Indian National Rural bank out of which the proposal 100 banks is active

consideration of the government. With a view to developing the rural economy

Regional Rural Banks were established in 1976 under the provision of ordinance

promulgated on 26th September 1975 and R.R.Bs Act 1976. The R.R.B. are

jointly owned by government of India. The concerned State government and 27

scheduled commercial banks including two private banks namely Bank of

Rajasthan, J&K Bank and one state cooperative bank. The issued capital of a RRB

is shared by them in the proportion of 50%, 15% and 35% respectively. The area of

operation of the majority of RRB is limited to a notified area comprising a few

districts in the state. The R.R.Bs has spread its branches in 525 districts out of

605 districts in the country and 26 state with a network of 14494 branches as on 31

March 2006. The R.R.Bs have made remarkable achievements during the year

2005-06. The introduction of financial sector reforms and sweeping changes in

their functioning have resulted in significant improvement in performance of

R.R.B.

The rural bank has established a women development cell to create awarenessamong the rural women by organizing meetings, camps and motivation of staff at

different level as a women comprises of 50% of countrys population and lag

behind the rest of the society due to their socially, educationally and economically

backwardness and living in depressed conditions.

The efforts are also made for the women to play the role which is required for the


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development of rural areas and encourage them to show the wisdom and potential.

It is not possible that a woman can bring empowerment through discussions and

without money but a women need money for their personal, social and emotional

needs. In view of the above as per the need of the hours regional rural bank has

launched below mentioned schemes for their upliftment. 17 schemes for financing

of Dairy activity for women entrepreneurs. 27 schemes for financing cutting and

tailoring for purchasing sewing machines. 37 micro-credit scheme for rural

embroidery/kashidakari for women entrepreneurs. 47 Micro-credit scheme for

Bangle, beauty items store.

The above mentioned scheme go a long way by giving wide publicity so that this

neglected strata of the society can get the benefit out of it. It is also pertinent to

mention here that men and women have their different needs. Men may be

interested in outdoor activities like construction of roads and streets in the village

and likewise women may give priority to water top, Balwari etc. Through moneyself-image of the person can change and he/she enjoys self respect also in the

society. This can be possible only through self-help groups. The self-help group

completion involve three stages namely.

a) Group formation b) Group stablisation c) micro-credit stages. The important

features of Self help Group are as under :-

1) Number of members can be between 10-20. But for irrigation projects there is

no ceiling on number of members. For handicap persons group comprises of 5-20

persons

2) Members are generally the persons below poverty line. Members marginally

above poverty line normally upto 20% can also be included but they will not be

eligible for subsidy.

3) There can be one person from one family in one self-help group.

4) One person cannot be member of more than one self-help group.

5) There have to be regular weekly or fortnightly meetings.

6) The members are to save regularly out of their earnings.

8) Saved funds are meant for lending to members on which decision is to be taken

by all members.


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9) There should be proper record/book keeping.

10) Registration is optional.

11) Bank linkage by way of saving account-6 months.

Besides this under the initiative for doubling of credit flow to agriculture R.R.B

had financed new farmers to the extent of 18.58 lakhs in 2004-05 and 17.03 lakhs

in 2005-06 and also financed share-croppers/tenant farmers/Oral lessees etc.

Restructuring of loan had also helped the defaulting borrowers to become eligible

to borrow afreash. These measures have widened the scope of borrowing and are

helping-towards achieving 100% financial inclusions in the rural areas. Customer

services in the R.R.Bs is very much in the lines with the practices followed by the

sponsor bank. Complaints from the customers are attended to and after redressal ofcomplaint a letter of satisfaction is obtained. If the sponsor bank directly receives

any complaint the same is taken up with R.R.B and followed up to its logical end.

The system of attending customer complaints by the R.R.Bs is as follows.

1) Acknowledgement of receipt of complaint to the complainant

2) Investigation in case of need by head office/regional office of the R.R.B.

3) Take necessary steps for redressing the complaint.

4) Inform the competent authority i.e RBI/GOI/NABARD, if they have forwarded

the complaint.

5) Advice the complainant and obtain a letter of satisfaction from him/her.

Significant improvement in the performance of R.R.B with a view to provide better

customer service, government of India initiated a process for the structural

consolidation of R.R.B sponsored by the same bank within a state in the year 2006.

The amalgamated RRB will reap benefit of staff rationalization, increased quantumof advances and investment on the increased capital base and the benefit of larger

resources and economies of scale.

The increase in branch network of R.R.Bs during the last three years are as under.

March 2004 14446


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March 2005 14484

March 2006 14494

The bankwise branch network varied widely from 8 to 680 among the 133 R.R.Bs

during the year 2005-06. The network of the 43 amalgamated R.R.Bs is quite

diverse, varying from 85 to 680 branches. The Uttar Bihar Kshetriya Gramin Bank

and amalgamated R.R.B has the largest branch network among all R.R.Bs with 680

branches followed by Baroda Eastern Uttar Pradesh Gramin bank with a 539

branches. The R.R.B has also opened No-frill account with low or nil minimum

stipulated balances in order to increase hundred percent (100%) financial

inclusion/banking penetration in the country.

Keeping in view the steps taken up by the rural bank in providing facilities in the

far flung areas. The 100% financial inclusion is possible and bank services will be

reached to common masses who are excluded/deprived of taking of benefit out ofthe schemes launched by the R.R.Bs.

Certified that the essay has been written by me and these are my own thoughts.

Name: Lalit Bhardwaj

Class: 11th

School: SHIKSH NIKETAN HR. SEC. SCHOOL, JEEVAN NAGAR, JAMMU

Banking and Common Man

'BANK' as per the Oxford Dictionary means 'a public place' where money can be

deposited, withdrawn or borrowed. Truly, bank is a place where a person can keep

his savings and live peacefully and withdraw it as and when required. Banks to

facilitate the needs of people have different types of facilities like depositing

money in the bank, borrowing money in the form of loan, overdraft facilities etc.

2. Banking originated in the 18th Century in India with the opening of 'General

Bank of India' in 1708. The oldest bank in existence is the 'State Bank of India'

which was established as 'Bank of Bengal' in Calcutta. The first Indian owned bankwas the 'Allahabad Bank'. The Reserve Bank of India' came into existence in 1935.

After the Independence, the Reserve Bank of India was nationalized and it was

owned by the Government of India. In 1949 an act was passed which enabled the

Reserve Bank of India to look into the services provided by other banks.


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3. In todays era, bank has become as important as the other basic necessities of life.

As Bernar said "Those who are rich, they think love is most important but a

common man knows its money". Truly, money has become necessary in todays

world. So a common man to save his money, deposits into the bank and lives a

relaxed life. Bank provides different types of facilities. Not only money, one can

keep even precious articles, such as gold Jewellery etc. safe in banks. Banks

provides lockers for such articles. To save money, one can open a saving account

or a fixed deposits. Bank provides interest on the money which encourages people

to keep their life savings safe in banks. Looking at the increasing and changing

needs of the people, banks have also started providing additional facilities like

loans - educational loans, home loans, agriculture loans, vehicle loans, business

loans etc., overdraft facilities, Mutual funds etc. Every now and then schemes and

plans are introduced to encourage people to invest in their banks. It also provides

pension for old people.

4. Gone are those days when people had to wait in queues for 20-30 minutes to

withdraw cash, 2-4 days to get their cheques cleared, 1- 2 days for demand drafts

to be made to wait for long hours for their pass books to be taken by reluctant

bankers. With fast needs of people, their growing demands, and provate banks like

ICICI, HDFC etc. are coming up. The Government banks have also started

providing better facilities to their people. Now the services rendered by them are

comparatively faster than before. With changes in technology, advanced facilities

are also provided to its customers. Now at a flick of card you can withdraw your

cash from ATM. Internet banking that is e-banking and mobile banking have also

come up. If your bank provides Mobile / phone banking you can even get yourcheques delivered at your door step. Debit cards and Credit cards have also made

out lives quite easy. Now we don't have tension of carrying too much Money with

us. Just a small card serves the purposes. E-banking can help you to deposit or

withdraw your money in which ever part of the world you are. ATM provides you

cash at any day or any hour of the year. With the use of computers and electronic

gadgets any problem regarding money can be solved for a common man by banks

easily.

"Every Coin has two sides"

Similarly, some services provided by the bank should also be improved, Eventoday, in some banks the customers are not being properly attended and they are

treated as if they are being obliged. Even today, there are delayed payment of

cheques, late demand drafts, inconvenience in withdrawing cash etc. Every now

and then, customers are disturbed by the banks by calling them and informing

about the new schemes and plans which annoy the customers. If a person from

other city, gets settled in another city, while opening a saving account needs to give


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a verification address of the previous city. Thus for clearing of verification, bank

takes over a month which causes a lot of inconvenience. Even for old people,

getting pension requires a long procedure and the inconvenience caused to them is

often troublesome.

"Money is the sixth sense without which the other five cannot be used"The increased need of money and poverty prevailing in India and the increased

'Man's greed' also forces a man to commit crimes such as theft. Thefts in bank have

become a very common aspect. Hacking has become very popular. A person good

at hacking (that is- a hacker) often hacks the account of other people and transfer

all the money into his account. This has now-a-days become a very serious

problems, threatened by which a person sometimes hesitate to deposit his money

into the bank.

5. To end up with, in a nutshell, banking is a service rendered with an object to

help common man. It has become a basic necessity in the life of common man.Banks previously were concerned with withdrawing, borrowing or depositing

money but as per the needs of people it has altered itself and no wit provides every

help related in terms of money. The common parlance followed by bank is 'service

with a smile'. Common man has now learned to link itself to the bank and bank to

the needs of common man. Banks are really good service providers for people who

want to save their life savings. There is a bit of lenience in services provided by the

banks but after all nothing in this universe is perfect. In short, one can conclude

that 'banks are the real service provider as per the needs of people in this country."

Group III

Third Prize

Tejasi Satish Atre, Class XII


I SEE A BANK EVERYDAY AND GO ON WONDERING IN MY WAY;

LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, WAITING PATIENTLY IN A QUEUE;

ITSELF DEFINING THAT IT ADD'S TO PEOPLE'S LIFE, BEAUTIFUL

HUE ;

IT GIVES LOANS TO FARMERS, AND FOR EDUCATION;

RELIEVING PEOPLE FROM THEIR, WORRIES AND TENSION

BANK IS A BLESSING FOR MANKIND, AND BY ITS RULES WE MUST

ABIDE


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As a corporate social responsible citizen, banks, under the Government of India

undertaking, have been serving common man since their inception and as part of

their core founding principles. Banks today, epitomize a fine blend of socially and

economically responsive banking. It is evident from a slew of initiatives, banks

have undertaken such as providing self-employment training to rural-youth,

address poor drinking water facilities and providing Medical facilities in the

countryside.

1) RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Various Banks have sponsored a number of self employment training institutes

under schemes like "Indian Rural Development Planning (i.e. IRDP)" which

provide training to rural youth as well as women. Under schemes like 'Jalayoga' the

banks have started a number of projects in order to provide pure and safe drinking

water facilities to the people living in rural areas. Banks also extend their support

to organizations like "Society for Educational and Economical development"(SEED), working for the welfare of socially marginalized children.

Banks also sponsor various social service activities like organization of blood

donation camps, assisting physically and mentally challenged persons, helping

poor students, honouring teachers and the best Government Schools.

2) Enterpreneurship for Woman -

Banks provide self-employment training to women. Various banks have started

'Mahila Banking branches as well as 'Mahila Banking divisions' which are

benefiting lots of women across the country. These banks provide training to the

women for their jobs thus making them skilled and confident in their work.

Banks develop a sense of using money cautiously among people so that people

save their excess money by depositing it in the banks and plan to use this saved

money for their future.

Some banks have also started some scheme for students through which the students

can also have their own account in a bank and develop the habit of saving money

instead of wasting it. Students also realize the importance of money with the help

of banking.

3) Commitment towards Customers -

Banks have brought up a booklet on 'Code of commitment to customers', for the

customers as well as the staff for understanding the fair code used as a standard

benchmark for customers.

4) BANKING FACILITIES -


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Banks provide a lot of Facilities to common man. These facilities include, housing

loans, loans for vehicles, personal loans, educational loans etc. All these loans

prove greatly beneficial to common man for fulfilling his basic as well as other

necessary requirements. Educational loans given by the banks are a boon to

students who wish to study abroad as well as in India for the courses which require

much more money than the students have.

Banks also provide loans to farmers for buying land or any other agricultural

equipment.

Apart from these, Banks provide services and credits to SC/STs.

5) Security Services -

For security in banks people have been provided with saving accounts, recurring

accounts and fixed deposits. Modern security equipments have been introduced in

the banks.

Now-a-days, several banks have also started 'Internet Banking Services' and'Anywhere Banking' services with the help of which people can get the whole

information about their accounts via internet even when sitting at home.

6) Right to Information -

Under the 'Right to Information Act, 2005' Banks have started a new 'Right to

information' outfit by which people can get the desired information and there is

transparency in the banking process.

7) BANKING PROCEDURES -

After taking a survey of all the banking processes, simplification has been made inseveral procedural norms such as documentation of housing finance.

Banks also keep a strict vigil to avoid any unfair practice in the bank and strictly

prevent fraud.

Banks are in real sense greatly benefiting and helping common man in every aspect

of his life.

But apart from all these facilities, Banks must also take a step forward in fulfilling

their commitment of providing rural areas with the needed infrastructure and

providing funds to the Government schools to have modern infrastructure and newstudy equipments.

Banks should also assist doctors in opening new clinics in rural areas through

schemes like 'Rural Clinical Services', as the people in rural areas face a difficulty

of inadequate Medical Facilities as the hospitals from the villages are also at far-

away distances, which creates problems during an emergency.


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Although banks have started a large number of ATMs, but they must enhance the

strength of their ATMs and open them at off-sites and general places like railway

stations for customer convenience.

Banks must also reduce the rate of interest as sometimes it becomes very difficult

for a common man to cope up with the loan he has taken for fulfilling hisrequirements and on the top of that, to tackle with the rate of interest he has to pay.

*8. Again, the facilities like 'Life Insurance Policies' are very beneficial for

common people. And the 'Pension' provided to the retired people is a boon for

them as with this pension as their own income they can spend life more

comfortably and peacefully.

Thus, Banks are in real sense

SERVING TO GROW

ANDGROWING TO SERVE

Group III

Special Consolation Prize

Nupur Khare, Class XII


Scene 1 ( An year ago)I witness a poor illiterate farmer of Rudauli village, a remote village of U.P. at the

bank. He is here to send money to his son Ram who is studying at G.K. Raisoni,

Nagpur.

Farmer Bholu : Saab, Mujhe apne bete ko 10,000 rupaiyya bhejna hai, ek draft

banva dijiye. Kitne din lag jayenge ?

(Sir, I have to sent money to my son Rs.10,000.00. Please get a

draft for me. How much time will it take?)

Bank Manager: Bholu bhai ! Bees din to lag jayenge

(Bholu, it will take at least 20 days)

Scene 2 ( After 4 months)

I saw Bholu farmer with his friend. In his hands were few brochures of a computer

company. His friend works in a bank (computerized branch)


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Bholu Farmer : Hamare bete ne kaha hai ki ek computer khared lo ! Ab net se hi

paisa bhej dena.

(My son has advised me to purchase a computer. He says that I

can send money through the internet)

Bholu and friend walks away after purchasing a computer. The computer isinstalled, but Bholu does not even know how to press a button.

Scene 3 ( After 10 months)

I met Bholu beaming. So I asked him compassionately.

Me : Bholu bhai ! Ab to tumhe computer chalan aa gaya hoga?

(Bholu, now you must be able to operate the computer?)

Bholu : Arrey, memsahib, ab to ye hal hai, ki agar aap keyboard bhi hata do, to

hum mouse se chala lenge. Hum to internet bhi lagwa rahe hain.

(Now, Madam, it is the situation that even if you take away the keyboardI can operate the computer with the mouse. I am getting an internet

connection too.)

This is Banking and Common Man

Banking is the backbone of any economy. No business, trade, commerce can

flourish for a long time without the aid of the banking. Banking in some or the

other form has existed even in ancient times. When Jesus was against the money-

changers in the temple of Jerusalem, he was protesting against the evil practices of

banking at that time. When Prophet Mohammed forbade the use of usuary, he wascondemning the evil practices of the then existing bankers who sucked the last

drop of blood from their helpless victims through exorbitant interest.

The commercial banks are a very important institutions of finance in Indian

Economy. A banking Industry is the one that accepts the deposits of money for the

purpose of lending, repayable on notice and withdrawals through cheque, draft etc.

Commercial Banks deal in money there by regulating the economic activities.

Banks also earn margin of profit by lending these money. Banking service

especially are of great importance and usage to the trading persons.

The banks can be mainly classified as - Commercial Banks, Central Banks, Co-operative Banks and Specialized Banks. Commercial Banks are those which carry

the banking business of accepting the deposits of money for the purpose of

lending. Commercial Banks are mainly governed by the Indian Banking

Regulation Act of 1949. Commercial Banks are further classified as Public Sector

banks in which the govt. has the major stake and the emphasis is more on the social

objectives than that of profitability. Examples of leading public sector banks


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include Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India. Private Sector Banks are

owned, controlled and managed by private individuals and they are free to operate

as per the market forces. Examples of private sector banks include - ICICI bank,

HDFC bank etc.

Central Bank is the main bank of any country. It controls and regulates the workingof other banks. It is also the government bank and is responsible for the credit

policies of nation. The Reserve Bank of India is the Central bank in our country.

Specialised bank include Exports and Imports bank, foreign exchange bank

catering to the need of these specialized services. Co-operati

banks and women empowerment

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