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Abstract
Financial inclusion, broadly defined refers to universal access to wide range of financial services at a reasonable cost. These include not only banking products but also other financial services such as insurance and equity products (The Committee On Financial Sector Reforms, Chairman : Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan) The broad objectives of financial inclusion for the poor are to address their needs through the formal financial system; transform money lender dependent rural poor into a highly bankable group; eliminate the high-cost interest regime; stop the resource drain from the poor; build up diversified and multiple livelihoods and inculcate a strong savings culture among them. In India, access to institutional credit is one of the important indicators of financial inclusion.