The Economy has moved to a higher growth trajectory like ‘never before’ under the Congress-led UPA Government, but such a performance would have no meaning if the benefits did not reach those at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.
During the last three years of the UPA Government, the Economy had moved to a high growth trajectory as the average growth touched 8.5 per cent. During the period, the Economy had grown from 7.5 per cent to 9.6 per cent, he said.
"This growth will have no meaning if it does not benefit a large number of people," he said in his inaugural address at the formal launch of 'Janasree,' a sustainable development mission.
The Finance Minister said the UPA Government was ‘concerned’ that a large section of the people were not part of the financial system. Over 50 per cent of the people in the country have no bank accounts and do not deposit money or borrow from the banks, he said.
"The heart of an Economy is a financial system and heart beat of the Economy is the banking system," he said, adding the self help groups and NGOs have a great role to play in this regard.
India had the largest number of SHGs numbering about 30 lakh and banks had given credit to the tune of Rs 80,000 crore. In Kerala, 1,19,182 SHGs were there and about Rs 800 crore credit had been disbursed, he said.
He said the Micro Financial Development and Regulating Bill, seeking to regulate not-for-profit organisations, was pending before Parliament. It tends to regulate such organisations "very lightly" and once the bill was passed, movements like Janasree would gain legitimacy, he added.
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