##uwalia as a telugu or an andhraite since he lived in hyderabad and had his schooling - perhaps the secret of the solid foundation for scholarship. there are several concerns in relation to rural credit which are generally expressed in terms of inadequacy, constraints on timely availability, high cost, neglect of small and marginal farmers, low credit - deposit ratios in several states and continued presence of informal markets. it is held that while the commercial banks are more focused in improving efficiency and profitability, they have tended to give comparatively less priority to rural credit. regional rural banks ( rrbs ) and co - operatives appear to face serious problems of governance as well as operational efficiency. it is argued that most part of the co - operative credit structure is multi - layered, under capitalized, over - staffed and under - skilled, often with mounting non - performing assets while in a few cases resulting in erosion of public deposits as well. many of the rrbs also appear to share most of these problems, though there are some vibrant and viable institutions in this category. these problems relating to rural credit have been well documented and several policy - approaches were made to remedy the situation. however, there is some element of dissatisfaction that overall situation in regard to rural credit is not improving to the desired level inspite of such a series of actions. it is a matter of concern that cognizable success is eluding the policy - makers, at a time when increasing commercialization warrants a big thrust in institutional credit to agriculture. there is thus a discernible widespread intellectual recognition that while immediate measures are undertaken to increase the flow of credit to agriculture, there is a need to review the policy of rural credit in a comprehensive and thorough manner. the current strategy adopted by rbi to increase the flow of credit may be summarized as follows. first, the coverage of rural credit is extended to include facilities such as storage as well as credit through nbfcs. second, procedural and transactional bottlenecks are sought to be removed, including elimination of service area approach, reducing margins, redefining overdues to coincide with crop - cycles, new debt restructuring policies, one - time settlement and relief measures for farmers indebted to non - institutional lenders. third, kisan card scheme is being improved and widened in its coverage while some banks are popularizing general credit cards ( gccs ) which is in the nature of clean overdraft for multipurpose use, including consumption. fourth,

duvvuri subbarao : looking back and looking ahead welcome remarks by dr duvvuri subbarao, governor of the reserve bank of india, at the grand finale of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the rbi, held at the national centre for performing arts, mumbai, 1 april 2010. * * * 1. we are gathered here to mark the grand finale of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the reserve bank of india. it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome : hon ’ ble prime minister dr. manmohan singh hon ’ ble finance minister shri pranab mukherjee his excellency, governor of maharashtra, shri k. sankaranarayanan ; and hon ’ ble chief minister of maharashtra, shri ashok chavan 2. i also want to acknowledge the presence here on this happy occasion of smt. gursharan kaur, who has accompanied the prime minister, and the reserve bank ’ s former governors and deputy governors and their graceful spouses. 3. and of course, a big and hearty welcome to all our guests – our colleagues in the financial sector, our friends and well wishers, and our former and current staff, all gathered here today to celebrate with us. reserve bank @ 75 4. as an institution, central banks go back several centuries. the first central bank, the riksbank in sweden, was established in 1668, nearly 350 years ago, at a time when much of india was still under the great mughals. the bank of england came shortly thereafter in 1694. by the turn of the century in 1900, there were only 18 central banks. today, there are around 180 central banks, a tenfold increase in the last one hundred years. 5. the intellectual justification for a central bank in india was proposed by big weights such as james wilson, the first editor of the economist, in 1860, and by john maynard keynes in 1913. however, the idea did not turn into reality until many years later. the reserve bank was born as a private shareholders bank in 1935 in the city of joy, what was then calcutta, it moved in 1937 to bombay, the erstwhile name for this great city of mumbai, and was nationalized in 1949. the journey over the last seventy - five years has been eventful for the reserve bank, shaping not only its intellectual evolution, but also securing its preeminent position in the economic policy space of the country. 6. the reserve bank ’ s