Kohima: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday August 23 said that to protect people in the bottom layer of the economy, financial inclusion of all is one of the priority missions of the Central government.
Inaugurating an Axis Bank branch in Mon district of Nagaland, the Finance Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi very strongly takes up to ensure inclusion of all strata of the society through various schemes.
Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland, Phangnon Konyak, several Nagaland Ministers, senior officials, and Axis Bank Vice President Vishal Shah were present in the bank branch opening function.
She stated that financial inclusion provides people access to credit without much security which is very crucial for most people in the bottom layer of the economy who often fall prey to middlemen who charge exorbitant interest rates.
The Union minister, who is on a three-day visit to Nagaland, has also stressed on the importance of connectivity — both physical and digital connectivity to ensure access to facility and security.
Sitharaman thanked and appreciated the Axis Bank and its management for reaching out to people of remote areas to provide space for financial inclusion and access to all kinds of facilities.
She also appreciated the Axis Bank management teams in Assam and Meghalaya which are simultaneously being inaugurated along with the Mon district branch, and conveyed the same message to the people there.
With two important Konyak representatives as Ministers in the state government and a Parliament Member, Sitharaman appealed to the community to ensure inclusion of all the people in the schemes of both the state and central government.
She also appealed to the people to avail the facilities to the fullest and become productive units of the society as job creators.
After interaction with the Konyak tribals, Sitharaman stated that she was impressed by the way they organised themselves and acknowledged that the people living in the international borders (with Myanmar) faced severe challenges.
Axis Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaudhry said that the flow of investments in the northeast was just the beginning and asserted that the desire of the bank is to expand even further and provide banking facilities in all parts of the region.
