Skip to main content

Government to rope in banks, financial institutions to push Swachh Bharat

By
Government to rope in banks, financial institutions to push Swachh Bharat
The government is looking at roping in state-run banks and financial institutions to give a push to its Swachh Bharat campaign. The finance ministry will prod lenders to increase credit towards industries, especially small and medium enterprises, involved in sanitation products."DFS (department of financial services) & MDWS (ministry of drinking water and sanitation) join hands to increase rural sanitation credit," financial services secretary Rajiv Kumar stated in a tweet.
The department held a video conference with all public sector banks and financial institutions to step up lending for rural sanitation under priority sector lending to households, self-help groups, and small and medium enterprises.State-run banks and financial institutions have been asked to use their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds towards Swachh Bharat in the next financial year. The finance ministry has also directed all state-run lenders and insurers to provide access to clean toilets to their customers. Public sector banks have over 80,000 branches.
The government will also give a Swachh Bank award to the bank which works the most for this initiative. "DFS & MDWS to jointly institute Swachh Bank / FI Award. Selection through competition," Kumar noted in his tweet.The finance ministry will closely work with the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation to ensure the success of this campaign.Under the Swachh Bharat campaign more than 75% households in rural India have got toilets compared to only 43.27% in 2014 when the mission kicked off.
On Thursday, the government will begin the largest-ever exercise to rank cities on cleanliness parameters, covering more than 40 crore people from 4,041cities.In his monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat, prime minister Narendra Modi said 'Cleanliness Survey 2018', the largest in the world, will be conducted from January 4 to March 10, 2018 to evaluate cleanliness levels of urban areas.

The Economic Times, New Delhi, 03rd January 2018

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Govt’s gamble on GST cuts: What do the bond and currency markets signal?

By
  It’s not just humans who suffer from cognitive biases; markets do too. Interestingly, different financial markets exhibit distinct biases, each interpreting events through its own prism of prejudice. Take the recent announcements on GST reforms: equity markets have chosen to view them through the lens of growth, while bond and currency markets are focusing on potential macroeconomic risks—fiscal pressures and current account challenges. So, which lens captures the true pulse?Equity markets may be right in expecting GST reforms to revive consumption, which has remained lacklustre for a while. But the key question remains—will this revival come at the cost of broader macro stability?It is well known that consumption stocks have rallied since the GST rationalisation announcement. But what about bond markets? What signals are they sending since this rejig was announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort?The signs aren't encouraging. Bond prices have slumped and yields have surged sinc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Luxury carmakers urge clarity on GST rates to boost festive season sales

By
  A clear picture regarding new GST rates at the earliest will help the overall auto industry, including the luxury car segment, to regain momentum in the ongoing quarter, which generally sees enhanced sales on account of the festive season.The high-powered GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet on September 3-4 to discuss moving to a two-slab taxation.In an interaction with PTI, BMW Group India President and CEO Hardeep Singh Brar said the recent speculation about the change in GST rates has caused uncertainty in the minds of consumers.Consumer interest and demand is strong, but they (prospective buyers) have adopted a wait-and-watch approach, and this delayed decision-making is impacting new vehicle sales at a certain level, he noted."Expediting clarity on GST rates is essential to get back to speed and ensure the auto sector's contribution to economic growth during this quarter is robust," Brar stated.He also hoped that the sustainable p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sebi proposes tighter norms for green bond third-party reviewers

By
  Sebi on Friday said it has proposed to tighten the norms to appoint independent third-party reviewers or certifiers for green debt securities to align them with requirements for other ESG-linked bonds.In a draft circular, Sebi said that the current norms for green bonds, introduced in February 2023, lack detailed requirements around reviewer independence, conflict of interest mitigation, and disclosure standards that are now in place for other ESG-linked securities under a June 2025 circular.The regulator's latest proposal seeks public comments on a revised framework that would bring parity by incorporating comprehensive criteria for third-party certifiers of green bonds on non-convertible securities.Under the proposed norms, issuers of green debt securities will need to appoint reviewers who are independent of their management, directors, and key managerial personnel. These reviewers will be remunerated in a way that prevents any conflicts of interest and possess relevant expert...
Post a Comment
Read more