Explanation

Option B is correct: The Service Area Approach (SAA) was introduced in April 1989 as an operational modification of the Lead Bank Scheme (introduced in 1969) to improve rural lending and credit deployment:

– Under this approach, each semi-urban and rural commercial bank branch was designated a defined ‘service area’ comprising roughly 15 to 25 contiguous villages.
– The designated branch was assigned primary responsibility for surveying village credit needs, formulating an annual credit plan, and meeting agricultural credit demands within its service area.

Therefore, it was implemented under the Lead Bank Scheme — Option B.