K'taka Urges Banks to Appoint 5,000 Trained Women as Business Correspondents

By: WE staff | Friday, 27 June 2025

• The Karnataka government has asked banks to hire more than 5,000 Sakhis, or trained women, as Business Correspondents (BCs)
• The objective is to increase women's financial inclusion, particularly for those who receive free bus travel (Shakti) and Gruha Lakshmi (₹2,000/month) benefits

The Karnataka government has asked banks to onboard over 5,000 trained girls—called “Sakhis” as Business Correspondents (BCs) to reinforce women’s participation inside the formal economic system, especially beneficiaries of schemes like ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ and ‘Shakti’, a top professional confirmed.

Under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), five,007 women from self-assist organizations have been trained and certified by using the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF) to provide closing-mile banking offerings, specially in rural areas lacking formal financial institution branches.

“With a licensed Sakhi in every panchayat, monetary inclusion for women becomes less complicated,” stated Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner Uma Mahadevan, who proposed the plan throughout a latest State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting.

The initiative “One Gram Panchayat, One BC Sakhi” ambitions to install the women BCs through September 2025, with the nation imparting area and infrastructure in panchayat homes. Currently, Karnataka has 93,173 energetic BCs, however most effective thirteen, 676 are IIBF-certified.

The National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), additionally called Aajeevika, is a poverty alleviation initiative launched by way of the Ministry of Rural Development in 2011. Its number one aim is to empower rural negative ladies via promoting self-controlled and financially sustainable network institutions.

Over the years, NRLM has mobilized millions of rural women into self-assist businesses (SHGs), forming a strong grassroots network. This has led to accelerated family incomes, improved get entry to to monetary services, and greater social empowerment. Additionally, NRLM promotes convergence with other government schemes to beautify its impact and make sure comprehensive development in rural regions.