The Service Area Approach was implemented under the purview of

The Service Area Approach (SAA) was introduced in 1989 as an evolutionary step of the Lead Bank Scheme to streamline rural credit by assigning a specific cluster of 15–25 villages to designated bank branches for planned development. While the Integrated Rural Development Programme (Option A) is a tempting choice due to its focus on rural poverty, it is a specific self-employment scheme rather than the structural banking framework used for credit planning. The core concept being tested is the institutional mechanism for rural credit delivery and financial inclusion in India.