RBI says no to Islamic Banking in India
the central bank was advocating educating children on the subject in schools and colleges.
"One of the most important thing we are doing is to request state governments to introduce curriculum on finance in schools and colleges. We started this as a pilot project four years ago in Karnataka. Since then we have advocated this in several states, including Kerala", the RBI chief said.
The financial inclusion curriculum prepared by the RBI, he added, would be translated in local languages so that it could be introduced in schools and colleges.
People need to understand financial inclusion so that they are able to demand financial services from banks, he said while declaring Ernakulam has become the first meaningful financial inclusion district in the country.
With a population of 32 lakhs, Ernakulam has 37 lakh bank accounts.
Financial literacy, RBI Governor said would also help in directly transferring subsidies and state-sponsored scholarships through bank accounts and prevent leakages.
The main challenge before the RBI, he said, was to tell banks that financial inclusion is a viable business model and people should be encouraged to actively use bank accounts opened as part of the drive.
Referring to Chandy's plea that money deposited in Kerala should be deployed in the state, the RBI chief said he would request the state to promote schemes in various sectors like tourism and manufacturing. "We will do whatever we can from RBI", he added.
Chandy appealed to banks not merely to consider Kerala as a 'fertile' place to raise deposits, but contemplate funding projects in
