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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Madurai chosen for rural pension scheme

-The Hindu
 
Madurai has been chosen as one among eight districts in the country by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for implementing a micro pension project for the rural poor.

As part of the launch preparations, a stakeholders' workshop was held here on Monday. Representatives of State Bank of India (SBI), Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Tamilnad Merchantile Bank (TMB), Union Bank of India (UBI), Pandyan Grama Bank and Madurai District Co-operative Bank, besides Farmers Clubs, self-help groups and non-governmental organisations took part in it.

R. Shankar Narayan, Assistant General Manager, NABARD, said that Madurai was one among the two districts chosen in South India for this project with Cuddalore being the other one. At least 5,000 beneficiaries would be identified in the district. “A majority of the working poor and low-income women workers in rural India are excluded from formal pension schemes. This segment is vulnerable to old age poverty as barely 5 per cent of it has saving habit. This scheme aims to focus on this segment,” he said.

Banks and NGOs should enter into a synergetic partnership to ensure the benefits reach the hitherto unreached segments. The services of Business Correspondents appointed by various banks should be utilised to maximise enrolment.

He added that the poor definitely deserved the safety basket of pension which would presuppose regular payment of premium over a long period of time. It was better to enrol into micro pension at a young age so that reasonable monthly returns could be enjoyed.

‘Financial inclusion'

S.K. Kale, General Manager, NABARD, Mumbai, said that ‘financial inclusion' did not mean just opening ‘no frills account' but extending other facilities such as obtaining remittances, getting loans and coverage under rural insurance in addition to getting a safety basket in the form of rural pension.