Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that leading institutions, especially educational centres, can play an important role in creating mass awareness about financial inclusion programmes.
While launching a financial inclusion initiative of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) - titled 'Vittshala', he said the government has taken various steps in last two and a half years to link every household with a bank account.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan scheme, Mr Jaitley said, the government has been able to open 240 million bank accounts, and now except in certain remote and inaccessible areas, people have a bank account.
He further said that in 2015-16, a provision of Rs 1.20 lakh crore was made under MUDRA Yojana and it has been increased to Rs 1.80 lakh crore in the current financial year (2016-17).
Major beneficiaries under the Scheme were women and those from weaker sections of society, the finance minister added.
Under the MUDRA scheme, small traders, businesses and new entrepreneurs can have access to banking finance without security.
'Vittshala' is a Centre For Community Engagement (CCE) initiative aimed at making communities equipped enough to manage financial resources effectively through community engagement, workshops, seminars and discussions.
Founded by a group of teachers and students, the Cell wants to create an impact through its well-planned, community-oriented projects, a Finance Ministry release said.
Vittshala will act as a multi-faceted programme involving peer-counseling, developing interactive apps and events to promote financial literacy.
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