Financial Inclusion-A Road towards Development

Abstract

Financial inclusion can be defined as a process of providing broad range of financial services at affordable costs to poor and low income households and their micro enterprises so that large sections of society can be served. RBI along with Government of India has taken initiatives for financial inclusion like Providing Banking outlet in un-banked villages, Engagement of Business Correspondents (BC), use of Smart Card Banking (SDB) and so on. Now the question is can this lead a society or a nation as a whole towards development? Answer to an extent is yes! But what if; a person may have a bank or financial institution next to his door but what if he is not able to buy a loan for his own benefit? This means merely providing financial services to the door of weaker section will not solve the problem but the need is to make them capable to use the benefits. With this view, an attempt is being made to highlight the present scenario of Financial Inclusion in India.