Banking sakhis have a key role in India's financial inclusion efforts

They have taken banking services to rural regions and we now need to strengthen their network

- CHARANJIT SINGH

The job profile of Sarika Arjun Chauhan, a banking correspondent (BC) Sakhi from Barwani district, Madhya Pradesh, offers a shining example of grassroots financial empowerment.

As a trained member of a self-help group (SHG), she delivers doorstep banking services to rural Indians—from opening bank accounts and handling cash transactions to Aadhaar seeding. She handles ₹1.5-2 crore worth of transactions monthly and has completed over 62,000 of them worth a cumulative ₹65.15 crore.

Chauhan's work is part of a transformation driven by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), which promotes financial inclusion by linking SHGs to banks. With over ₹1 trillion in loans disbursed and nonperforming assets (NPAs) below 2%, the programme has built a strong cadre of community resource persons, including Krishi Sakhis (for agriculture), Pashu Sakhis (livestock) and BC Sakhis for digital finance.

The need for BC Sakhis is evident in credit distribution patterns. According to SBI Research, metro areas receive 60.6% of bank credit, while rural areas get just 7.7%. States like Tamil Nadu and Telangana exceed the national credit-deposit ratio average of 79.9%, while Jharkhand, Bihar and the Northeast lag. For rural women, banking often means long travel barriers (and lost wages) that BC Sakhis help eliminate.