International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology
MenuISSN ONLINE(2319-8753)PRINT(2347-6710)
ISSN ONLINE(2319-8753)PRINT(2347-6710)
| Dr. V.P.Katti1 Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India1 |
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The Indian economy is growing at a healthy pace after adopting the new economic policy. However, there is widening the gap between the rich and poor. The challenge before the country is to make the growth inclusive. Financial inclusion is now on top of the development agenda of both the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. According to the Rangarajan committee report, “NSSO data reveal that 48% of the households do not have access to banking services, majority being rural population. 26% of the population lives below poverty line and just 21% of the rural household have access to bank credit. The banking sector is able to meet only 20% of the credit needs of the rural poor. A robust and comprehensive measure of financial inclusion is important in order to know the current state of affairs with respect to financial inclusion in an economy and to monitor the progress of the policy initiatives undertaken to promote financial inclusion. In this paper, an attempt has made to examine the extent of Financial Inclusion at Micro level from several dimensions. The study reveals that the rural customers are not satisfied with general banking services and the extent of use of innovative services is dismal at grass root level.
Keywords |
| Financial Inclusion, SCBs, BC, ATM, JEL Classification: E5, E52, C12, G21 |
INTRODUCTION |
| The study of financial inclusion is highly important for the society because consequences of financial exclusion may be quite harmful. Financial exclusion may generate lower investment resulting from difficulties in getting access to credit or gaining credit from informal sector at very high interest rates. A well-developed financial system is highly important for economic development. The academic literature has adequately discussed the close relation between financial development and economic growth. Thus, an all inclusive financial system enhances efficiency and welfare by providing avenues for secure and safe saving practices and by facilitating a whole range of efficient financial services. The Indian economy is growing at a healthy pace after adopting the new economic policy. However, there is widening gap between the rich and the poor. The challenge before the country is to make the growth inclusive. Financial inclusion is now on top of the development agenda of both the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. The financial exclusion is measured in terms of minimal access to banking tremendous growth in the volume of credit and geographical reach. However, despite making significant improvement in all the areas relating to financial viability, profitability and competitiveness, banks have not been able to include vast segment of the financial exclusion population. A robust and comprehensive measure of financial inclusion is important in order to know the current state of affairs with respect to financial inclusion in an economy and to monitor the progress of the policy initiatives undertaken to promote financial inclusion. In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the extent of Financial Inclusion at Micro level on several dimensions. |
II. MEANING OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| The Government of India‟s „Committee on Financial Inclusion in India‟ in its report defined financial inclusion “as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as the weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost” (Rangarajan Committee 2008). For the purpose of this paper, we define financial inclusion as a process that ensures the ease of access, availability and usage of the formal financial system for all members of an economy. This definition emphasizes several dimensions of financial inclusion, viz., accessibility, availability and usage of the financial system. These dimensions together build an inclusive financial system. As banks are the gateway to the most basic forms of financial services, banking inclusion/exclusion is often used as analogous to financial inclusion/exclusion. In this paper also, we will use banking inclusion as analogous to financial inclusion. In short Financial inclusion ensures 5 A‟s - Adequacy Availability Accessibility Awareness and Affordability Since 2005 RBI has under taken new steps to improve access to rural finance in India under Financial Inclusion drive. The following are notable steps. |
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| After the recommendation of Rangarajan committee and implementation of financial inclusions drives by the RBI, supply side efficiency of the organized financial institutions has been changing very drastically. The rural people are now getting access to credit at affordable cost through various alternative banking modes. However still these modern banking instrument especially made for the financial inclusion are suffering from various drawbacks. Hence, the main research problem arises to find out, how to implement these modern banking instruments in rural areas and what appropriate policy to be implemented by the RBI and Government of India, to improve the level of financial inclusion. Under this overall backdrop, present study tries to examine the extent of success of financial inclusion at grass root level by taking into |
III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY |
| Following are the major objectives of the present study. |
| 1) To review various alternative banking services extended by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) under Financial Inclusion Drive. |
| 2) To examine the extent of success of Financial Inclusion Programmes at Grass root level of Kolhapur District. |
| 3) To study the reasons for partial success of SCBs in the context of Financial Inclusion. |
IV. DATA BASE AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY |
| The study at macro level is mainly based on secondary data taken from the reputed published sources. Such as Report on Currency and Finance, Trend and Progress of Banking in India published by RBI etc. A study at Micro level is based on primary data. The researcher has selected six branches of SCBs in Kolhapur district out of which three belong to hilly area and remaining three to non-hilly area constituting ten percent of total branches of concerned two tehsils. Sample selected for the study is-10 Customers, 3 Business Correspondents and one Manager from each branch. (60+18+6=84) In the present research work, necessary statistical tools such CGR, SGR, and Z-test are used. |
V. NATIONAL SCENARIO OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| According to the Rangarajan committee report “NSSO data reveal that 48% of the households do not have access to banking services, majority being rural population. 26% of the population lives below poverty line and just 21% of the rural household have access to bank credit. The banking sector is able to meet only 20% of the credit needs of the rural poor. The gap between the rich and poor is wide. 51.4% farmer households in the country do not access credit, either from institutional or non-institutional sources. Further, despite the vast network of bank branches, only 27% of total farm households are indebted to formal sources (of which one-third also borrow from informal sources). Many household not accessing credit from formal sources as a proportion to total farm households is especially high at 95.91%, 81.26% and 77.59% in the North Eastern, Eastern and Central Regions respectively. Thus, apart from the fact that exclusion in general is large, it also varies widely across regions, social groups and asset holdings. The poorer the group, the greater is the exclusion.” (Government of India (2008), the Committee on Financial Inclusion (Chairman: C. Rangarajan).) |
VI. MICRO LEVEL STUDY OF FIANANCIAL INCLUSION IN KOLHAPUR DISTRICT |
| The Financial Inclusion Programme implemented at District level shows partial success. To find out the impact of Financial Inclusion at grassroots level a pilot survey has been made in Kolhapur District. The study focuses on all the segments covered under the programme viz. Banks, BCs and Customers. |
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| Note: Figures in the parenthesis are the % to total. Source: Computed from Primary Data. |
VII. FINDINGS DRAWN FROM TABLE 2, 3 4 AND 5 |
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VIII. CONCLUSION |
| Financial Inclusion of those who are excluded is a huge task. There is vast business potential for banks provided all eligible people are included in the development process by creating awareness through financial education, training, information about various services and offering them suitable products and services. This is not the job of banks alone but it should be Collective efforts of banks, Government, B/Cs/B/Fs, SHGs, and NGOs. Positive attitude on the part of bank staff is essential. Devices of alternative banking business should be so simple to suit the illiterates in the rural areas. Awareness about alternative banking products should be created amongst excluded groups. The real success of the financial inclusion drive should be measured not by the number of accounts opened but by the actual quantity and quality of usage of the newly opened no frills accounts and other devices. Hence, the first step to achieving 100% financial inclusion is creating financial awareness and financial literacy among people. Any step taken by RBI or the government of India in this direction would be fruitful if the people themselves understand the value of being a part of the financial system of the country. |
References |
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