Stressing the need for inclusive growth, he said several farmers continued to be out of the institutional credit system with many still turning to money lenders for loans.
Banks should attempt to swap money lender loans for bank loans by extending credit to farmers, he said. "Money lenders should be displaced from the system," he said as far as farm lending loans were considered.
He said the credit to farmers which stood at Rs 86,000 crore (Rs 860 billion) when the UPA came to power, has now gone up to Rs 250,000 crore (Rs 2500 billion). Though the current target was Rs 280,000 crore (Rs 2800 billion), he was confident that the target would be exceeded this year with the figure touching Rs 3 lakh crore.
Harping on education loans, he said that no child who gains admission to a stipulated prescribed course in an accredited college should be denied the right to pursue higher education because of his financial inability to do so.
"Every child has a right to education". He said no child could be too poor to be educated. He said outstanding educational loan which stood at Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) when the UPA took over, has now gone up to Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion), benefiting 16 lakh children. He urged all banks to ensure that educational loans were available online.
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