Rural India needs solution for cash crunch: BCFI

The 21-day lockdown has posed a major challenge for the business correspondent community, which is the backbone of the financial system in the rural areas:

- Mehul Dani

The Business Correspondent Federation of India (BCFI) has appealed to banks and local authorities to help agents have safe and easy access to cash to extend essential financial services to customers. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has appreciated in a tweet the services rendered by bank mitras and business correspondents across the country and requested all states to remove restrictions in their movements.

RURAL ATM ACCESS

Sasidhar Thumuluri, chairman, BCFI and MD & CEO, Basix Sub-K iTransactions, says the 21-day lockdown announced by the prime minister had severe impact in rural areas as far as financial transactions are concerned. He explains “The new stayat-home appeal has not just panicked grocery orders, but it has also rendered a big question mark on access to essential financial services. The situation is even worse in rural India with limited access to primary banking services such as cash withdrawal, money transfer, etc.”