The Service Area Approach was implemented under the purview of
Show answer
Answer: B. The Service Area Approach (1989) gave each rural or semi-urban bank branch a set of villages to serve, for planned credit delivery. It worked under the Lead Bank Scheme.
Watch for: IRDP was the big rural programme of the 1980s, so students link SAA to it.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Wrong because IRDP was a poverty scheme; credit planning was through the Lead Bank Scheme.
- C. Wrong because MGNREGS began in 2006 and is a job guarantee scheme.
- D. Wrong because the National Skill Development Mission is about skills, not bank service areas.
Source to check: RBI Master Circular on the Lead Bank Scheme; RBI website, Financial Inclusion and Development section
Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.