Aadhaar will provide a robust foundation for financial inclusion of millions of Indians", Mr. Vijay

July 29, 2013 - PRLog -- Bangalore, July 29, 2013: As a part of its on-going efforts to enhance the knowledge on various economic aspects of domestic as well as global market, Dun & Bradstreet, the world’s leading provider of business information, knowledge and insight and Canara bank organized a seminar ‘Financial Inclusion Conclave’ in Bangalore today. The other partners to this event included United Insurance, BSE, Vijaya Bank and Corporation Bank.

Financial inclusion has a critical role to play in India’s growth story. Capital formation through credit and financial services is necessary for inclusive and sustainable growth and a well-functioning financial system is important for socially inclusive growth. The Financial Inclusion Conclave brought together all the key stakeholders – Government, Banks and Regulators to highlight the opportunities and critical challenges currently faced. The objective of the conclave was to understand how stakeholders co-exist to make the economy financially inclusive and effectively reach the bottom of the pyramid.

Speaking at the event, Ms.Preeta Misra, Head –Learning Solutions, Dun & Bradstreet Corp said, “Financial inclusion has been accorded high importance to aid the inclusive growth process for any economy. In this regard, D&B India has undertaken various capacity building initiatives for Micro, Small & Medium enterprises and has conducted over 250 programs across different clusters. In fact, D&B manages the world’s most valuable commercial database with information on more than 220 million plus companies. Of this, over 80% of the database consists of small businesses. D&B India has over 10.3 million records in its database of which 90% consists of the small and medium enterprises. Through seminars such as the Financial Inclusion Conclave, D&B will continue to be committed to this sector and the development of MSMEs.”

Elaborating on the need of Aadhar in various financial processes Mr. Vijay S.Madan, Director General, Unique Identification Authority of India said,  “One can use this as alternative for proof identity and link the Aadhar number for easy cash transfers. In few months  government is able to disburse around Rs.120 crores of subsidy amount to the subscribers of LPG who linked their Aadhar number with the Banks”

Expressing his view on event theme ‘Journey Ahead: Tie-in Social Obligation & Business Opportunity’, Mr. H. S. Upendra Kamath, Chairman & Managing Director, Vijaya Bank, said, “50% of the rural population has no access to financial mechanism. It is high time to bring all those financially excluded sectors together and create awareness on financial literacy”.

Giving his insights on an effective Business Correspondent Model Mr.S.S.Bhat, GM, Canara Bank said “Majority of our country’s population is in the villages and due to illiteracy there is a lack of awareness about Business Correspondent. We are trying to bridge the gap through communication and training.” The bank has set up 30 centers to create awareness on the importance of financial inclusion for the financially illiterate sectors in the Country. Bank is also planning to launch 65 more centres soon .

Highlighting the role of technology in Financial Inclusion, Mr. Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, BSE Ltd. said “There is an immense potential for technology driven Financial Inclusion in a country like India with a billion plus population. BSE is contributing its part bydirectly educating the investors across India through its vast network and has conducted more than 2800 programs in the last 2 years”

Debating on the challenging yet exciting journey towards direct benefit transfers and the role of technology to enable efficient inclusion, Mr. Dr.Ashok Dalwai pointed out, “UID linked Financial Inclusion and Direct Benefit Transfer is expected to be a game changer and would bring in the next level of inclusive development.

Other eminent speakers present at D&B Financial Inclusion Conclave were Mr. Rajeev Lal, GM, State Bank of India; Mr. V.S.Radha Krishnan, CEO Janalaxmi Financial Services; Mr. Raveendranath Hebbar, Deputy General  Manager – Corporation Bank, Mr.V.Sathya Kumar, Executive Director LIC, Thampy Kurian, Addl General Manager-Federal Bank, Mr.Sunil Kurtkoti, Deputy General Manager – Canara Bank.