Gandhinagar: Though Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala have achieved total financial inclusion, the performance of Gujarat has not been up to the mark. Many districts of the state are still having around 50-60 percent financial inclusion. The State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) is now engaging a private agency to give a necessary boost to this endeavor.

Little World Ltd., the agency identified for this purpose will be entrusted with conducting surveys of households, which can be brought into mainstream banking activities. Information technology enabled customer service points (CSPs) will be established for this purpose, which will cover around 135 villages in its initial stages. These CSPs will have banking facilities and account holders will be able to withdraw up to Rs. 5,000 from these locations. CSPs will also be used to issue smart cards for villagers.

Presently 57% of households are under financial inclusion and with this step SLBC expects to cover the remaining 43% by the end of February. Of the 26 districts in Gujarat, only Gandhinagar  has achieved the distinction of 100% financial inclusion.  Dangs, Kheda, Anand,  Kutch, Navsari and Porbandar districts performed at below average levels of 40-45 percent.

According to SLBC, the second half of this year witnessed the addition of at least 55 new branches and the deposits grew by 4.90%. SLBC has decided to provide a Artisan Credit Card (ACC) in addition to the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) in this financial inclusion drive.