A study on the performance of public sector banks towards priority sector advances in Uttarakhand

Priority sectors are the base of any economy. These sectors are most important from the viewpoint of the development of an economy if adequate financial aid is provided. The sectors consist of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, Agriculture, Education, Housing, and other sectors those are weaker in economy. It has been made mandatory by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to all scheduled banks to provide some part of their lending to these sectors. During seventies, government of India and RBI together made guidelines for these sectors. However, the banks could not reach the given target of lending to priority sector. The aim the study is to analyse trends and performance of priority sector lending pattern in the state of Uttarakhand during the period from 2010-11 to 2017-18. A comparative study has been done between total advances and advances of priority sector. The Priority Sector Advances by Public Sector Banks in Uttarakhand is also studied. It was found the achievement fell short of the target.