RBI will soon be launching Mission SAKSHAM (Sahakari Bank Kshamta Nirman)- a sector-wide capacity-building and certification framework
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 6 February 2026: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held its 59th meeting from February 4 to 6, 2026, under the chairmanship of Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, Reserve Bank of India. The MPC members Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Shri Saugata Bhattacharya, Prof. Ram Singh, Dr. Poonam Gupta and Shri Indranil Bhattacharyya attended the meeting.
The RBI Governor today made a Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies. This Statement sets out various developmental and regulatory policy measures relating to (i) Regulations; (ii) Payments System; (iii) Financial Inclusion; (iv) Financial Markets; and (v) Capacity Building.
Review of Lending norms for UCBs
In the recent past, several regulatory measures have been undertaken with the objective of providing greater flexibility to UCBs in their lending operations. It is now proposed to rationalise the extant regulatory norms applicable for unsecured loans by UCBs; limits for lending to nominal members; and the tenor and moratorium requirements for housing loans. The proposed review shall adopt inter alia, a tiered and simplified approach while maintaining prudential discipline, taking into consideration the growth in total loans and advances of the UCBs over the past few years. Draft directions in this regard will be issued shortly for public consultation.
Mission Saksham – Capacity Building for the UCB Sector
Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) are vital institutions for promoting financial inclusion and serving the unbanked. Securing their next phase of growth would depend on developing stronger skills and competencies, along with technical capabilities and operational resilience in them. To serve this objective, the Reserve Bank will soon be launching Mission SAKSHAM (Sahakari Bank Kshamta Nirman)- a sector-wide capacity-building and certification framework. The capacity building of the sector would be implemented through a large number of physical training programmes as well as a scalable learning platform, to cover about 1.40 lakh participants, across all functions. The Reserve Bank shall endeavour to conduct these training programmes at locations close to participating UCBs, with content delivery in regional languages to the extent feasible. The Mission will be pursued in partnership with the Umbrella Organisation of UCBs and National / State Federations.
