Financial Inclusion for Sustainable Rural Development

The economy of any nation can have inclusive growth if the available resources are properly allocated and accessed by all the people of the nation without any discrimination of any type. Financial inclusion is the initiation where the promotion of banking habits are inculcated to the rural people especially those who are of low income group and vulnerable sections of the society. Basically India is a predominant agriculture based country with more than half of the population is residing in rural areas. Financial inclusion is very important for India to provide the financial services to the rural people in a transparent, affordable, fair and equitable manner. The study is mainly aimed at understanding the importance of financial inclusion, financial literacy, and rural development in the context of India. This study is significant as majority of the people are residing in rural areas and the literacy rates are less especially in the rural areas and among the vulnerable sections of the society. The study focussed on the several financial inclusion initiatives undertaken in the country along with the influence of financial inclusion on the rural development. The study also suggested few measures to attain sustainable rural development. The study also highlighted the status of the scheduled commercial banks in the rural areas, the growth rates of the deposits and credits especially in the rural areas.