Financial Inclusion in India: An Empirical Study

Financial inclusion is providing access and usage of financial services at affordable costs to rural and urban poor people, who have not been able to participate in the mainstream financial system of a country. The book 'Financial Inclusion in India: An Empirical Study' focuses on the conceptual framework of Financial Inclusion in India, the various initiatives taken by RBI through branch expansion in rural areas, and Government initiatives through Swabhimaan and - Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Based on a comparative empirical research undertaken in Gujarat, the author suggests that Financial Inclusion by banks cannot be achieved by any one approach. The author has created a coordinated, inter-dependent, comprehensive, Integrated Model of financial inclusion for banks comprising of Four Pillars namely - Digital Penetration, G2P (Government to Person) Payment Facilitation, Efficient BC (Business Correspondent) Network and Financial Literacy. All the Four Pillars are critical forany Bank's financial inclusion success. All the four fronts need to be harmonised in tandem with the larger objective of achieving Financial Inclusion and eradicating financial untouchability.