Lok Sabha Question No. 4029 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-18
Subject: Financial Literacy
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Shri Ananta Nayak

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4029

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, 18 AUGUST, 2025/SRAVANA 27, 1947 (SAKA)

## FINANCIAL LITERACY

## 4029. SHRI ANANTA NAYAK:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether financial literacy of the Scheduled Tribes in the country is very low, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to prevent financial exploitation of tribal communities; and
- (c) the details of the Government schemes and entitlements to create financial freedom for the most vulnerable sections of the society to empower them to break free from the cycle of poverty?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (c) It has been the endeavor of the Government to increase financial literacy of all sections of the society including the Scheduled Tribes. Various financial literacy measures being undertaken, inter-alia, are as under:

- i. The Centre for Financial Literacy (CFL) Project has been initiated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  since  2017  with  an  objective  to  adopt  community-led  innovative  and  participatory approaches to financial literacy. A total of 2,421 CFLs have been set up across the country, as on March 31, 2025, with one CFL covering three blocks on an average.
- ii. As  part  of  broader  efforts  to  empower  tribal  communities,  National  Centre  for  Financial Education (NCFE) has conducted 54 Financial Education (FE) programs dedicated to women in tribal areas in FY 2024-25.
- iii. Banks conduct camps through their Financial Literacy Centres (FLCs) on "Going Digital" through UPI and *99# (USSD) for general public and tailored camps for different target groups.
- iv. Rural branches of banks are required to conduct one camp per month covering all the messages that are part of the Financial Awareness Messages (FAME) booklet, which, inter alia, contains messages on various facets of financial literacy including basic banking, digital financial literacy, consumer protection etc.
- v. Financial  Literacy  Week  (FLW)  has  been  conducted  every  year  since  2016  to  propagate  the message  of  financial  education  on  various  themes  among  members  of  the  public  across  the country.
- vi. RBI's multi-media, multilingual public awareness campaign, titled "RBI Kehta Hai" uses various mediums to promote financial literacy and to educate the public on safe banking practices.

Banks provide credit support to disadvantaged sections under various schemes, which are as detailed below:

- Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM): The scheme promotes poverty reduction by building strong institutions of the poor, especially women, and enabling access to financial services and livelihoods. It targets sustainable livelihoods for women SHGs and ensures coverage of vulnerable groups-50% SC/STs, 15% minorities, and 3% persons with disabilities-aiming for 100% coverage of eligible households on the basis of SocioEconomic and Caste Census (SECC).
- Priority Sector Lending (PSL) Guidelines: RBI has framed PSL guidelines with a view to delineating a framework for ensuring adequate flow of credit from the banking system to the different  sectors  of  the  economy  which  is  crucial  for  their  contribution  to  socio-economic development, with focus on specific segments whose credit needs remain underserved despite being credit worthy. The PSL guidelines prescribe targets and sub-targets under PSL. A sub-target for lending to Weaker Sections has been prescribed with Scheduled Tribes included as part of Weaker Section category.
- Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) Scheme: Under the DRI Scheme, banks provide finance up to ₹15,000/- at a concessional rate of interest of 4 per cent per annum to the weaker sections of the community for engaging in productive and gainful activities. In order to ensure that persons belonging  to  SCs/STs  also  derive  adequate  benefit  under  the  DRI  Scheme,  banks  have  been advised to grant eligible borrowers belonging to SCs/STs such advances to the extent of not less than 2/5th (40 percent) of total DRI advances.
- Further, Stand-Up  India  Scheme was  launched  on  5 th April  2016  with  aim  to  promote entrepreneurship among the SC/ST and Women by facilitating bank loans of value between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one SC/ ST borrower and one-woman borrower per bank branch of Scheduled Commercial Banks for setting up Greenfield enterprises in trading, manufacturing, services sectors & activities allied to agriculture. A total of 16,991 accounts with an amount of Rs. 3,613 crores have been sanctioned to the borrowers belonging to the ST communities since launch of the scheme.

****