An Empirical Study on the Barriers to Financial Inclusion

Access to finance or financial inclusion plays a crucial role in order to attain rapid and disciplined growth. The challenge for the administrators is to take the levels of economic growth to all sections of the society and to all parts of the country. However, for achieving the target of inclusive growth there is a need of resources and for resource generation and mobilization, financial inclusion is required. Financial inclusion may be defined as the process of facilitating banking and other financial services to the low-income group and unprivileged section of the society at an affordable cost (Rangarajan Committee, 2008). The successful achievement of financial inclusion can be done by ensuring most effective and transparent financial services. In India, GOI and RBI has taken several steps to strengthen the process of financial inclusion but there are some barriers from the supply side that are faced by the commercial banks and other financial institutions that hinder the pace of financial inclusion in the country.