The first meeting of the committee set for taking forward the motive of financial inclusion was held yesterday to discuss on the current status of the financial inclusion drive in the country. The meeting was attended by Bharti group chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive Chanda Kochhar and RPG Group's chairman emeritus RP Goenka.

The meeting was presided by finance secretary Ashok Chawla.

"There was no agenda for the meeting. All the members were made aware of the facts and the current scenario. It is expected that in the next meeting a consensus will be achieved for setting a framework," said a senior finance ministry official.

"We're looking for integration across all sectors and how it can be used for financial inclusion. For example IT and telecom industry has the reach and the means to expedite the task of bringing a large population under the fold of financial services," the official said.

Currently only 5% of the total habitats in the country are supported by a bank branch.