Advisor to Hon’ble LG, Ladakh Dr Pawan Kotwal Chairs 7th UT-Level Bankers’ Committee Meeting

Releases the UT Focus Paper of Ladakh 2023-24 by NABARD

Leh, July 18: Advisor to Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, UT Ladakh, Dr Pawan Kotwal chaired the seventh meeting of the Union Territory Level Bankers Committee (UTLBC) of Ladakh for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023.

The Assistant General Manager, State Bank of India, Convenor UTLBC of UT Ladakh, Tsering Morup gave a detailed presentation about the achievements of Banks under various schemes up to the quarter ended March 2023. The Banks achieved 108% by disbursing total credit of Rs.728.93 Crore under Priority Sector advances against the Annual Credit Target of Rs.673.51 Crore. The overall achievement under Priority and Non-Priority sector advances by all banks in UT Ladakh is 179%.

The chairman Dr Pawan was informed that the total deposits as on 31^st March 2023 stood at Rs. 8593.25 Crore as compared to Rs.7762.03 Crore as on 31^st March 2022, with the deposit’s growth of 11.70% on a year-on-year basis. The total credit as on March 31, 2023, stood at Rs. 3618.63 Crore as compared to Rs.2905.78 Crore as on March 31, 2022, with a credit growth of 24.53% on a year-on-year basis in UT Ladakh. The overall CD Ratio of UT Ladakh is 42% for the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

Advisor Dr. Pawan Kotwal observed that some banks had improved their Credit Deposit (CD) Ratios while others have shown subdued Credit Deposit Ratios. He directed that the CD Ratio of these banks must improve. Further Kargil district has been identified for providing with 100% digitally enabled ecosystem by providing at least one digital product to all the eligible operative saving bank account and current account customers and the district should be declared a 100% digitally enabled ecosystem by December 31, 2023.

The house was also informed about the performance of the Social Security Scheme (SSS) status in UT Ladakh. The Chairperson advised all the banks to cover and saturate all the eligible individuals by 30^th September 2023. Other important issues discussed were the achievements in lending under Government Sponsored Schemes like MUDRA Scheme and other financial schemes.

Dr Kotwal emphasised the importance of banks in far-flung areas, online transactions, outreach programmes, schemes, etc to make them economically & socially vibrant envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Vibrant Village Programme. Financial lending institutions provide concession of loan rates to women beneficiaries with a significant impact on EMI and make repayment stress-free and hassle-free for women, which makes it more affordable for women to borrow the loan and repay it, stated Dr Pawan Kotwal.

‘Sustainability of every self-employment venture must be ensured besides its viability after proper identification of the beneficiaries’ needs and skills during the campaign. All these things need to be dovetailed into a comprehensive actionable plan with a target of saturating self-employment in Ladakh” Advisor specified during the release of UT Focus Paper of Ladakh 2023-24 by NABARD. Stating that saturation of self-employment is at the heart of the Government’s efforts and the financial sector needs to put in place an actionable mechanism to saturate self-employment in Ladakh.

Commissioner Secretary Padma Angmo advised the bankers to empower and motivate women by offering social and financial support through term loans and she also urged the bank fraternity to design schemes related to skill development and higher education loan easy for beneficiaries of Ladakh. Angmo emphasized the house to advertise and publicise insurance schemes to ICDS, Asha workers and workers of organized and unorganized sectors.

The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary (Technical Education & Skill Development Department/Social & Tribal Welfare Department, UT Ladakh), Padma Angmo; Deputy Commissioner (Leh); Nodal Officer for Ladakh UTLBC; Director of concerned departments; Regional Director (J&K & Ladakh), Chief General Manager, NABARD, Jammu; General Manager, State Bank of India, Local Head Office, Chandigarh; and representatives of different concerned departments, the member banks and financial institutions. While Regional Director (J&K) Reserve Bank of India, R.O. Jammu; DGM (FIDD) Reserve Bank of India, R.O. Jammu; Deputy Commissioner (Kargil) joined the meeting through video conference.