Mumbai, 7 September 2023

 

The Central Government is making efforts to see that Fintech is used optimally to take various government schemes to poor people in rural areas, stated Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad in Mumbai today. The Union Minister was delivering the keynote address at the Global Fintech Fest 2023, organized by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Payments Council of India (PCI) and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).

MoS (Finance) Dr. Karad said that the JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhar, and Mobile) trinity is the key enabler of India’s transformed and well-developed digital landscape. It is a prime example of how fintech can benefit people. He said that more than 50 crore people have benefited from Jan Dhan Yojana and Jan Dhan account holders have deposited more than 2 lakh crore rupees in these accounts. In this context, he informed that India has so far issued 1.35 billion Aadhaar identities and has around 800 million active mobile users.  He said that fintech is proving to be very useful in taking banking towards far-flung, remote, and tribal areas. Initiatives like Micro-ATMs is an example of that, he added. These initiatives lead to 13.5 crore coming out of poverty in last few years in the country, he added. Dr. Karad further stated that digital payment aggregators play an important role in implementation of DBT schemes, financial inclusion and spread of financial literacy.  

Underscoring the importance of fintech for implementation of government’s schemes, MoS (Finance) Dr. Karad stated, for schemes like PM SVANidhi, beneficiaries apply for loans in the portal and later the government makes digital payments through DBT to hawkers and small traders. Fintech is also proving helpful for sending Kisan Samman Nidhi amount twice a year to farmers’ accounts through DBT. Similarly, 43 crore people have benefited from PM MUDRA Yojana.

MoS Dr. Karad also said that fintech will play a crucial role in making India the third largest economy from its present position as the fifth largest economy. He further said that building trust is very crucial in finance sector and fintech can play a role in it. More awareness about use of fintech is needed and fraud prevention is also an area which requires more attention, he added. 

Dr. Karad complemented the organizers of Global Fintech Fest and said that it is heartening to note that the number of delegate have increased from last year in this annual event. The Union Minister further said that the Central Government has always been supportive of innovations and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi always tries to boost morale of scientist and researchers. 

 

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