Financial Inclusion of Tribal Women: Role of Upcoming Womens Banks

A section of Indias population, women from the de-notified tribes remain excluded from the financial system partly because of social exclusion of their community and partly because of the rigid infrastructure of the banking system. While several women in the urban cities hold bank accounts at various banks in India, a section of women particularly those belonging to lower economic strata of society were interviewed. The women belonged to Pardhi Community, a de-notified tribe found in Maharashtra and parts of Madhya Pradesh to understand the problems women faced while accessing formal financial institutions. The paper presents a case of women from marginalized communities and gives recommendations to the upcoming womens banks to adopt various ways through which women living in the fringes can also be included in the financial circulation.