Blitz Bureau
LUCKNOW: Enterprising women business correspondents, known as BC Sakhis, have facilitated transactions worth Rs 27,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, earning Rs 75 crore in commission over the past four and a half years.
BC Sakhis, appointed under the nationwide women empowerment programme, are members of selfhelp groups (SHGs) who are trained and certified to provide banking and financial services in rural areas, according to Business Standard.
Since the programme’s official launch in May 2020, nearly 40,000 BC Sakhis have played a pivotal role in driving financial inclusion in the unbanked and under-banked regions of Uttar Pradesh, a senior State Government official said. There were 36,000 BC Sakhis in the state in September 2023.
Uttar Pradesh leads the nation in the number of BC Sakhis, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan with nearly 19,000 and 10,000 correspondents, respectively.
The initiative, which operates in partnership with various banks, such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and Union Bank, provides livelihood opportunities for literate women in rural areas while offering doorstep banking services in the absence of physical bank branches. Women from families of ex-servicemen, bankers, and teachers are given priority when being recruited as BC Sakhis. The programme is credited with keeping the non-performing assets of women SHGs down compared to the NPAs of public sector banks
