With only a third of India's population having access to banking facilities,a study by Delhi-based think today said the task of inculcating financial literacy and awareness remains largely unaddressed. "Stakeholders in the financial inclusion effort need to address this need on an urgent footing if the access to banking services is to have any long-term and meaningful impact," the study by Skoch Development Foundation said. The total number of no-frill accounts (basic banking accounts) as of March 31,2011,stands at 74.3 million,but the number of active accounts reported by various banks varies between a minuscule 3 per cent and 20 per cent,it said. India has a relatively low penetration of bank branches with only 30,000 out of 6,00,000 habitations have a banking presence. In the Budget 2010-11,the government had announced that appropriate banking facilities would be provided to 73,000 habitations having population in excess of 2000 by March,2012. In the last fiscal,about 29,000 villages were covered. The government has set up Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) to strengthen and institutionalise the mechanism for maintaining financial stability,will focus on focus on financial literacy and financial inclusion. President of Skoch Development Foundation Sameer Kochhar said that another disturbing factor is the re-newed skew towards urban centres. Out of a total of 5,165 new branches opened in 2011,only 21.86 per cent are rural branches,he said adding the number of urban households covered by no-frill accounts is almost double than rural households.
