In a bid to further deepen financial inclusion in thecountry, the NITI Aayog has suggested the creation of a Dak Bank, postal bankby merging the regional rural banks, among other recommendations to thegovernment.
In a recent presentation to the Prime Minister's Office andthe Finance Ministry, the NITI Aayog has suggested the over 1.5 lakh postoffices in the country should be made outlets for the proposed Dak Bank,sources said.
Further, the think tank has also suggested easier norms forgranting bank licenses.
In another major recommendation, it has suggestedprivatisation of three banks, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank and the Bank ofMaharashtra.
The suggestion comes at a time when a new disinvestmentpolicy is in the works and the government is already considering bringing thebanking and insurance sector under its ambit.
The likelihood of the government going for privatisation ofpublic sector banks has also drawn criticism and protests for bank workers'unions.
In the banking space, with the latest merger of publicsector banks coming into effect in April, India currently has 12 public sectorbanks, down from 27 in 2017.
During the announcement of the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'economic package in May, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that theCentre will come up with a new Public Sector Enterprise Policy, and open up allthe sectors to the private sector.