SAGE Publications Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore DOI: 10.1177/097380100800200202 Financial Growth in India: Whither Financial Inclusion?

Abstract

Ever since the enactment of the Cooperative and Regional Rural Banks Acts and nation-alisation of scheduled commercial banks, fi nancial inclusion measures in India have led to physical expansion in the country. Unfortunately, the expansion has not brought about the necessary change in the backward and rural areas as fi nancial services are yet to reach a vast majority of the population. The fi nancial exclusion is characterised by limited service providers, limited goals and limited lending, besides a huge area of operation and missing linkages between fi nancial institutions and local organisations. Demand-side factors have also contributed to the present dimension of fi nancial exclusion, the result of which is that over two-thirds of the under-served segments resort to high-cost fi nancial services from informal sources, which are present in every nook and corner. This paper considers a number of alternative initiatives to increase access to institutional fi nancial services for the under-served population