Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 9 Jul: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reviewed banking services, loan disbursements, financial inclusion, and various self-employment schemes at the 97th meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) at the Secretariat, here, on Thursday. The Chief Minister stated that the banking sector plays a crucial role in the state’s economic development. He directed banks to facilitate access to credit for the general public, farmers, youth, women, and entrepreneurs.
He urged special attention to increasing the credit-deposit ratio in the state. Expressing displeasure over the low credit-deposit ratio in Bageshwar, Pauri, Almora, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh, and Tehri districts, he directed that regular camps be held in these districts. The district administration, lead banks, and relevant departments should work together to identify eligible individuals and ensure timely access to loans. He urged efforts to achieve the goal of bringing the state’s credit-deposit ratio to the national average.
The Chief Minister said that no eligible person should face any difficulty in availing the benefits of the government’s public welfare schemes. If an application has any deficiencies, instead of rejecting it solely on technical grounds, the person concerned should be guided and the deficiencies should be rectified. He urged banks to play an active role in ensuring eligible beneficiaries receive the benefits of the schemes.
The Chief Minister stated that the achievement of approximately 96 percent under the Annual Credit Plan and 111 percent in the MSME sector in the financial year 2025-26 is a sign of the state’s improved economic progress. The increase in the state’s credit-deposit ratio is also positive, but all banks will need to work together to improve it further.
The Chief Minister directed that eligible individuals be given priority access to loans under schemes such as the Chief Minister’s Self-Employment Scheme-2.0, the Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Self-Employment Scheme, the Home-Stay Scheme, the Prime Minister’s Vishwakarma Scheme, the Prime Minister’s Mudra Scheme, and the Kisan Credit Card. He also emphasised the need to increase banking support to promote agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, tourism, and enterprises based on local products.
The Chief Minister stated that it is essential to extend digital banking and digital payments to every village. He directed that financial inclusion be further strengthened and that the benefits of other schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, be extended to as many people as possible.
The Chief Minister stated that the banking sector plays a crucial role in building a developed Uttarakhand. If the government and banks work together, employment, self-employment, and entrepreneurship will gain new momentum, and the state’s overall development will accelerate.
At the meeting, Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan stated that representatives from the State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank should also be added to the helpline number 1930 to effectively control cybercrime, ensuring prompt action in cyber fraud cases. The Chief Secretary also stated that regular sub-committee meetings should be held before the State Level Bankers’ Committee meeting to thoroughly review various issues and ensure timely resolution of problems. He urged banks to focus on livelihood promotion and providing loans to the industrial sector. He urged that employment generation and economic activity in the state should be further accelerated by increasing credit flow to self-employment, small industries, MSMEs, and other productive sectors.
Present on the occasion were Principal Secretaries RK Sudhanshu, Dr R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretaries Dilip Jawalkar, Nitesh Jha, Dr BVRC Purushottam, Vinay Shankar Pandey, SN Pandey, Sridhar Babu Adanki, Dhiraj Garbyal, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Arvind Kumar, Chief General Manager Harsh Kumar Gautam, General Manager, NABARD, Pankaj Yadav, President, Industries Association of Uttarakhand, Pankaj Gupta, Chief General Manager, State Bank of India, New Delhi, Prabhas Bose, General Manager Shailesh Kumar, Deputy General Manager, SBI Dehradun, Rajiv Ranjan, Deputy General Manager, SBI Haldwani, Rajiv Ranjan Ratan, Assistant General Manager, SLBC Uttarakhand, Shailendra Kumar Uniyal and others were present.
