Bengaluru,Sep 03: The State Level Bankers’ Committee, Karnataka, reviewed the state’s banking and credit delivery performance with a focus on agricultural finance, financial inclusion, women’s empowerment, digital financial literacy and strengthening of banking infrastructure.
The meeting, was chaired by Smt Uma Mahadevan, ACS&DC; Sri Bhavendra Kumar, Executive Director, Canara Bank, representatives of NABARD, RBI and various banks, convened by Convenor bank ; Canara Bank.
The chair emphasized the need for faster and more inclusive credit delivery, particularly to vulnerable sections and climate-affected communities.
The meeting took note of the severe climate-related challenges affecting agriculture, including drought conditions and the anticipated impact of extreme weather events. With a significant share of the population dependent on agriculture, participants stressed the need for proactive financial support to farmers and vulnerable households.
Field-level stakeholders were advised to explore greater credit support for animal husbandry, poultry & fisheries, with particular attention to landless farmers and other bottom-of-the-pyramid groups.
Focused round-table discussions involving progressive farmers, agriculture officials, FPOs and women’s self-help groups will also be undertaken to identify bottlenecks and develop gender-responsive agricultural projects.
The Committee expressed concern over the gap between loan sanctions and actual disbursements. While overall priority-sector credit growth was encouraging, cases pending beyond 30 days—and particularly those exceeding 60 days—were viewed seriously.
Banks, including those reporting significant pendency, were directed to identify the causes of delays and take corrective action. Lead banks were asked to closely monitor sanction and disbursement timelines and ensure that no cases remain pending beyond 60 days without appropriate justification.
Banks were also advised to include legends or footnotes in their reports wherever discrepancies occur between sanctioned and disbursed amounts, ensuring transparency and accurate monitoring.
The meeting noted substantial progress in women’s access to banking services, with women’s bank-account ownership having increased significantly. Participants emphasized the need to further strengthen women Business Correspondent networks and support women-led enterprises and street vendors.
Banks were encouraged to increase the share of women BCs and provide appropriate incentives to improve their effectiveness. Efforts will also be undertaken to promote credit support for women street vendors under relevant schemes.
The meeting also proposed a joint study by RBI and stakeholders to understand why cash outflow is growing faster than digital payment usage and to recommend measures to encourage greater adoption of digital transactions.
The Committee reviewed the underperformance of education and housing loans against targets. Banks were urged to simplify application and disbursement processes and improve outreach.
Higher education authorities and colleges will be encouraged to facilitate bank loan desks during admission periods, while SLBC, KEA and banks will organize student-loan awareness programmes and roadshows.
Banks were directed to improve coverage of unbanked revenue centres and promptly update details of newly opened fixed banking outlets on the designated portal.
A campaign will be launched to leverage data of approximately 17 lakh PM-KISAN beneficiaries for focused Kisan Credit Card outreach. Lead banks will provide bank-wise and fortnightly targets to LDMs to ensure systematic progress.
The meeting concluded with a call for coordinated action by banks, government departments, RBI, NABARD and district-level institutions to accelerate credit delivery, strengthen financial inclusion and build a more resilient and responsive financial ecosystem across Karnataka.