The Banking Industry has shown tremendous growth in volume and complexity during the last few decades. Despite of making significant improvements in all the areas relating to financial viability, profitability, and competitiveness, there are concerns that bank have not been able to include vast segment of the population, especially the underprivileged sections of the society, into the fold of basic banking services. Banking services are essentially for welfare of the public. It is imperative, therefore, that the availability of banking and payment services to the entire populace without discrimination is the avowed objective of public policy. The reasons may of financial exclusion vary from country to country and the strategy to cure may also vary.
The objective of Financial Inclusion is to extend financial services to the large hitherto un-served population of the country to unlock its growth potential. In addition, it strives towards a more inclusive growth by making financing available to the poor in particular. RBI focus on banks as the principal vehicle for financial inclusion also stems from the fact that only they can offer the entire suite of products that would facilitate meaningful financial inclusion.
In this paper we try to analyze the efforts and strategies made by the Reserve Bank and the Banking sector in India for financial inclusion in last 10 -15 years. We also analyze that Financial Inclusion has the potential to bring in the unbanked masses into the formal banking system, channelize their savings, stoke their entrepreneurial ambitions by making available credit and thus give a fillip to the economy.
Keywords: Financial Services, Financial Inclusion, Underprivileged Section.
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