The Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC) Bill was introduced in the Parliament on August 21, 1961.

A decade later, in 1971, the Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd was set up. While deposit insurance was introduced to protect depositors, ensure financial stability, instill confidence in the banking system and help mobilise deposits, the establishment of the Credit Guarantee Corporation was to ensure that the credit needs of the neglected sectors and weaker sections were met.

The essential concern was to persuade banks to make available credit to not so creditworthy clients. In 1978, the DIC and the CGCI were merged to form the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.

Image:Indian taxpayers fill in their income tax returns at a special income tax filing facility at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. | Photograph: Manpreet Romana/AFP/Getty Images