ROLE OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN PROMOTING INCLUSIVE GROWTH: A CASE STUDY OF JHARSUGUDA & SUNDARGARH DISTRICTS OF ODISHA

Financial inclusion is the delivery of financial services at reasonable costs to sections of underprivileged & low-income segments of the society. Financial inclusion in simple sense is incorporating more & more people within the financial system from all the section of the society in the form of accessibility like having bank accounts, access to formal credit, making people financially literate & so on. The present paper examines the pattern & extent of financial inclusion in rural Odisha. The primary data are collected from six villages of Jharsuguda & Sundargarh districts of Odisha. The data are analyzed through Multivariate Analysis, Probit Models. From the analysis it has been observed that the persons having bank account & their formal savings are positively & significantly related to financial literacy index. However, borrowings are negatively related to civic index. There exists a number of no-frills account holders who do not operate their account regularly.