Financial inclusion has become a very crucial issue for Indian economy as there is a lack of financial literacy and awareness among the people hindering the orderly growth of the economy. The announcement of Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) appears as a silver lining in the cloud of poverty and economic depression. Financial inclusion empowers communities with well functioning financial system thus improving the lives of individual, families and small business .It creates economic opportunities leading to economic outcomes in the form of development and growth.
At present the financial inclusion in India targets at bare minimum access to banking accounts for all the people but we have to look upon the multilevel inclusion which includes access to basic financial services to each individual. Central Bank plays a very important role in creating an environment for accessing the financial services but the regulatory framework of the government should ensure supervision for minimizing risk of debt distress. This will ensure financial stability for the country.
The most challenging constrain to achieve inclusion is creating awareness as the lack of education makes the citizen susceptible to false information and false practices. Secondly technology up gradation is the biggest challenge to reach on mobile banking and human less payment procedures thereby reducing the cost and enhancing convenience and speed of reach.
Relevant implementation of existing policies rather than too many stringent policies may lead towards complete inclusion which will help in creating assets for individuals or groups and ensure the development of infrastructure and social sector services for capacity building of public utilities.
Nidhi Mathur
Associate Professor
She is BSc, M.B.A., NET and has overall 17 years of experience in academic.