FINANCIAL INCLUSION: ISSUES, INITIATIVES AND PROGRESS IN INDIAN CONTEXTFINANCIAL INCLUSION: ISSUES, INITIATIVES AND PROGRESS IN INDIAN CONTEXT

Financial inclusion as the term suggests is inclusion of each and every section of the society to the access of credit, particularly focusing on the section which remained excluded. Financial Inclusion helps in achieving sustainable development of the country, through making available financial services to the unreached people. Structure of Financial services plays an eminent role in the growth of an economy. In the Indian context, the term ‘financial inclusion' was used for the first time in April 2005 in the Annual Policy Statement presented by Y.Venugopal Reddy, the then Governor, Reserve Bank of India. This paper helps in studying the present scenario of Financial Inclusion in India, and the various efforts and initiatives taken by the RBI, GOI and other banking institutions towards it.