Skip to main content

Economic Survey: Gujarat a poor performer in saving account coverage, direct bank transfer preparedness

By Our Representative
The recently released Government of India’s (GoI’s) “Economic Survey 2015-16” has come up with a major revelation: That Gujarat, which claims itself to be the financial capital of the country, has, ironically, one of the poorest saving bank penetration in the country, adversely affecting the GoI’s direct bank transfer (DBT) thrust.
In fact, the Survey also finds that Gujarat has one of the poorest DBT penetration index, too, whether it is rural areas or urban areas. No explanation has been given as to why the "model" state's banking sector is relatively poor spread. 
The Survey says that, in Gujarat, what it calls “basic saving account coverage” is just about 40 per cent, less than the national average of 46 per cent. The two-volume report, in fact, finds that as many as 15 other major Indian states out of 20 have a higher “basic account coverage” than Gujarat’s.
Pointing out that the basic account coverage is particularly important because of the Government of India’s thrust on direct bank transfer, the Survey says, “After identifying beneficiaries, the government must transfer money to them. Every beneficiary needs a bank account and the government needs their account numbers.”
While claiming that “this constraint has been significantly eased by the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, under whose auspices nearly 120 million accounts were created in the last year alone— at a blistering, record-setting pace of over 3 lakh accounts per day – the Survey says, “despite Jan Dhan’s record-breaking feats, basic savings account penetration in most states is still relatively low – 46 per cent.”
Pointing out that it is “above 75 per cent in only two states (Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh)”, the Survey says, “Policymakers thus need to be cognizant about exclusion errors due to DBT not reaching unbanked beneficiaries.”
“In rural India, the Survey says, “There is a serious last-mile problem of getting money from banks into household’s hands: only 27 per cent of villages have a bank within 5 km.”
Coming up with yet another inter-state comparison – direct bank transfer (DBT) index, the survey, simultaneously, finds that Gujarat is one of the poor performing states. Thus, with 27 per cent DBT preparedness score in urban areas and a mere 2.19 per cent in the rural areas, the Survey says, “The binding constraint (for DBT) is basic bank account penetration—paying beneficiaries is the issue, not identifying them.”
Among urban areas, the Survey says, “There is significant variation across states. Some, like Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, show preparedness scores of about 70 per cent. Others, like Bihar and Maharashtra, have scores of only about 25 per cent.”
Coming to the rural areas, the survey says, “The DBT rural preparedness scores are significantly worse than the urban scores, with an average of 3 per cent and a maximum of 5 per cent (Haryana).”
Interestingly, the Survey finds that in urban areas, as many as 14 major Indian states have a better DBT preparedness than Gujarat. As for the rural areas, the Survey reveals that as many as 16 out of 20 major Indian states have a better DBT penetration than Gujarat.

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

'Very low rung in quality ladder': Critique of ICMR study on 'sudden deaths' post-2021

By Bhaskaran Raman*  Since about mid-2021, a new phenomenon of extreme concern has been observed throughout the world, including India : unexplained sudden deaths of seemingly healthy and active people, especially youngsters. In the recently concluded Navratri garba celebrations, an unprecedented number of young persons succumbed to heart attack deaths. After a long delay, ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) has finally has published a case-control study on sudden deaths among Indians of age 18-45.

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”