Financial Growth in India: Whither Financial Inclusion?
M. Mahadeva

Ever since the enactment of the Cooperative and Regional Rural Banks Acts and nation-
alisation of scheduled commercial banks, fi  nancial inclusion measures in India have led
to physical expansion in the country. Unfortunately, the expansion has not brought about
the necessary change in the backward and rural areas as fi  nancial services are yet to reach
a vast majority of the population. The fi  nancial exclusion is characterised by limited
service providers, limited goals and limited lending, besides a huge area of operation and
missing linkages between fi  nancial institutions and local organisations. Demand-side
factors have also contributed to the present dimension of fi  nancial exclusion, the result
of which is that over two-thirds of the under-served segments resort to high-cost fi  nancial
services from informal sources, which are present in every nook and corner. This paper
considers a number of alternative initiatives to increase access to institutional fi  nancial
services for the under-served population.
Keywords: Exclusion, Finance, Growth, Inclusion Options