Several districts in the terror-stricken states of Nagaland, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir are unlikely to be covered by any regional rural banks (RRBs).
Sources said that due to the political unrest in these states, there is no pressure on the government to open RRBs in any of the districts falling in these states.
That apart, 24 districts in Daman and Diu, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Goa, Delhi, Lakshadweep have no RRB coverage.
Sources said that the government would look into the issue of expanding the RRB net in the uncovered areas to carry out the financial inclusion programme. This issue is likely to come up for discussions in the meeting between Arun Ramanathan, secretary, financial sector, RRB representatives and members of the sponsor banks to be held on Thursday.
The All India Regional Rural Bank Employees Association (AIRRBEA) said that the central government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should also chalk out a clear policy directing the government departments and institutions along with state governments to park their funds with the RRBs.
?The government must encourage its departments and the states to park their funds with the RRBs. The deposit base of these banks must increase,? Dilip Mukherjee, general secretary, AIRRBEA said. Finance minister P Chidambaram has already pointed out that the revival of the RRBs would be key to expand financial inclusion especially in the rural and semi rural areas.
Mukherjee added that the the decision to recapitalise the banks is a welcome move, considering that some of them need immediate injection of funds to turn around operations.