By Newsgram Staff Writer

With an objective to foster financial inclusion, NABARD has started a pilot project for digitization of women's self help groups to improve the quality of interface between SHG's and banks for hassle free delivery of banking services. It is a step taken by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to empower women through IT. The scheme was launched by Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha at Ramgarh in Jharkhand.

"The project will benefit various stakeholders. It will facilitate mainstreaming of SHG members with Aadhar-based financial inclusion and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana enabling access to wide range of financial services," Jayant Singh said.

He also emphasized on the need for higher coverage of women under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana and hoped that this would lay down the basic blueprint for women's participation. Sinha also asked NABARD to also launch a pilot project on credit intensification in select backward districts.

"Digitisation will bring transparency, credibility to operations of SHGs through inbuilt grading MIS and thereby increasing the comfort of bankers in credit appraisal, disbursement and monitoring," he said.

Talking about the importance of capital formation in agriculture, he articulated confidence that NABARD will make best use of Long Term Rural Credit Fund of Rs 15000 crore provided in Union Budget 2015-16.

All the data of SHGs and their constituent members will be fed into tablets and mobile phones which will be uploaded in the secured and dedicated website-eshakti.nabard.org, confirmed, NABARD chairman Harsh Bhanwala.

There are more than 74 lakh SHGs in the country having bank accounts, out of which around 42 lakhs are credit-linked which will benefit from digitization after the implementation of this project all across India.