It is crucial to address the differential financial needs of women to expand rural entrepreneurship and employment. Substantiate (200 Words)
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IAS Parliament 3 years
KEY POINTS
· Banking should be simple and based on mutual trust. Banks should spend time overhauling their operations, be it for application of a small loan or a more complicated product like micro-insurance or pension.
· The National Family Health Survey Round 5 (2019-2020) reveals that 77.4 per cent of rural women have a saving bank account.
· In rural areas, the loan rejection rate for women-owned enterprises is 2.5 times higher than for men.
· Their accessibility to mobile phones is 20 per cent less than that of men, and as for the Internet, is it 50 per cent lower.
· Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, Pune, a women driven co-operative bank, has been providing small advances for women who have different cash-flow and livelihood patterns.
· Mann Deshi and SEWA Shakari, as women led co-operative banks, have converted financial inclusion into a strong and profitable business proposition, meeting an array of financial needs of rural women and their families through structured, well-designed products.
· It is crucial to cater to the differential financial needs of women to expand rural entrepreneurship and employment. This calls for gender disaggregated data, a larger number of women business correspondents, enhanced digital inclusion.
