Sponsor banks set up panel for massive tech upgrade at RRBs

Regional rural banks (RRBs) and their sponsors have decided to set up a working group under Karnataka Gramin Bank chairman Shreenath H Joshi to firm up a road map to undertake a massive technological upgrade at RRBs and bring them on a par with commercial lenders on this front, official and banking sources told FE.

Amithabh Banarjee, chairman of Aryvart Bank, will be the “alternate chairman” of the group. It will also have a senior representative from Nabard, which is a supervisory authority of RRBs, one of the sources said.

The move comes after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, at a meeting with chiefs of various public sector banks and RRBs last month, asked sponsor banks to “formulate a clear road map in a time-bound manner to further strengthen the RRBs and support the post pandemic economic recovery”, given their crucial role in boosting credit flow in rural India.

The Indian Banks Association was impressed upon to take the initiative to ensure technological advancements at RRBs, which is a key prerequisite to modernising them.

The working group will comprise senior representations (general manager level) from sponsor banks, heads of select RRBs and those heading IT operations at some of them.