Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman directed the banking sector in Nagaland to conduct outreach programmes in all districts starting from the 1st of September and enrol as many eligible farmers for Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme by November 30.<br />''<br />''Sitharaman said this during the inaugural programme of the Banker's Conclave/Credit Outreach Programme held at Capital Cultural hall Kohima today. She said, the banks have to go the extra mile in advocating the schemes and identify eligible beneficiaries. In this, she suggested the banks to engage the local representatives to understand who the beneficiaries are.<br />''<br />''Sitharaman said the state government and district administration system should also help the banks to identify the eligible people who need to get benefit from the scheme.<br />''<br />''Sitharaman said, despite 70 per cent of the population of Nagaland engaging in Agriculture, the state is unable to achieve its targeted KCC beneficiaries of 2.3 Lakhs and that only 70,927 were sanctioned with the KCC.<br />''She said KCC is not just for persons who cultivate crops but also covers those who are into livestock and fisheries. To this, she said, of the 70 per cent of farming in the state, only 1.3 lakh are involved in animal husbandry and fisheries which needs to be improved. Sitharaman, therefore, suggested the banks to saturate all the schemes by district and take more banking correspondence if necessary.<br />''The Finance Minister also made an appeal to the Banks to provide advance announcements for the outreach programmes while focusing one district after another, so that it can achieve saturation.<br />''<br />''On the occasion, Sitharaman along with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio jointly launched the CM's Micro Finance initiative.  She also handed over cheques of 11 major schemes with a total value of 205 crore rupees to 3422 borrowers. The Union Minister also launched two projects with grant assistance of 2.84 crore rupees under the Tribal development fund of NABARD and virtually launched Nagaland Rural Bank branch in Chessore district.  She also handed a sapling and plague to beneficiaries under KCC in two project areas in Wokha and Phek districts by Nagaland State Cooperative Bank.<br />''<br />''Earlier, Sitharaman flagged off the Mobile ATM van of Nagaland Rural Bank funded by NABARD under the Financial Inclusion Fund.<br />''Speaking at the event, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said, the State Government has been encouraging and facilitating the people of the State to take up private enterprise. He said, through this credit outreach, the banks will be extending credit of 223 crore rupees under various schemes as well as retail loans to people of Nagaland.  The Chief Minister thanked the Union Finance Minister, for initiating and getting this program organized, and setting into motion a bouquet of initiatives which will move Nagaland towards 100 per cent financial inclusion.<br />