Financial exclusion is the norm of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Central government, said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday.
Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader shared a media report over the IWG findings, saying that whether small and marginal farmers, small and medium shopkeepers or micro, small and medium business, 'financial exclusion is the norm of the BJP government."
"Financial exclusion is the norm in BJP Govt-: Be it small & marginal farmers,Be it small & medium shopkeepers, Be it Micro, Small & Medium business," he tweeted.
Surjewala's statement comes close on the heels of a report released by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Internal Working Group (IWG), which revealed that lakhs of farmers are yet to be covered by the banking system.
The RBI panel headed by Deputy Governor MK Jain revealed that despite several efforts and schemes aimed at financial inclusion, only 40.90 per cent of Single-Mode Optical Fiber (SMF) could be covered by the scheduled commercial banks (SCBs),
The working group has also raised concerns over SMF seeking funds outside the banking system. A significant portion, approximately 30 per cent of agricultural households, still avail credit from non-institutional sources only which is a "cause of concern," the RBI's IWG said in its report.
( With inputs from ANI )