Abstract
With the winds of economic liberalization and globalization, the banking sector all over the world is re-adjusting its procedures, practices, services and functioning for meeting the new challenges. They are making conscious choices from the alternatives for achieving high growth and socio-economic objectives. Even otherwise, in today’s hi-fi and speedy innovative world, no bank can continue to do what it has been doing for very long. Every bank has either to do new things or do the same things differently by evolving and adopting a strategy of innovating creativity to balance their socio-economic and commercial interests.
In this regard, this book has come up exclusively on financial inclusion. As a concept, financial inclusion may be new for many readers, but its practice has a long history in economic development. It has been a major implied fact of the theories and strategies of balanced growth. Across the globe, the planners and politicians have been advocating directly or indirectly the concept of financial inclusion. In India, too, it has a long history. But its application as an economic development strategy remained quite narrow, slow and sectoral. The major impetus to financial inclusion was given in 1969 when 14 banks were nationalized. Since then, its coverage has been expanding continuously. But still, the target of inclusion is far away from the ideal position. In this regard, the book mentioned above is a systematic and comprehensive composition for the sustainable development planners and politicians, especially the bankers. It provides a path-finding description of financial inclusion of masses in India.
Organization of the Book
In order to focus on different aspects of financial inclusion, this book consists of 29 chapters that are grouped under four parts. Part one, financial inclusion analysed, starts with its definition and covers its long march, its progress and limitations in resource-poor regions, impact on women empowerment and sustainable livelihoods, strategy to extend financial services to vulnerable groups, index for rural India and the institutional changes required. Part II, mapping demand side requirements, covers the role of savings, micro-insurance innovations, safe remittances for the poor, understanding rural debt, emerging trends in microfinance, financial inclusion in tribal areas, inclusion techniques for farmers and technology options and inclusion. Supply side innovations, part III, includes reducing transaction costs for banks and their clients, business correspondent and business facilitator outreach model for banks, the post office model, financial literacy and counselling, micro pension—a safety net for rural India, joint liability groups for farmers, rural infrastructure—the missing link, and joint liability groups for handloom weavers. Part IV, challenges for the future, consists of inclusive growth through rural employment, the micro-enterprises model, unique identification number and financial inclusion, social audit systems—a need, best practices in financial inclusion and case studies, and initiatives for financial inclusion—the road map.
Objective
The book concentrates on facilitating need-based finance for the masses spread over distant places and the proactive attitude of the banks and financial institutions. The book focuses on essentiality of bringing the micro borrowers in the main economic stream by highlighting the demand as well as supply-side constraints and opportunities. The authors have attempted to enrich the customers and bankers to know their respective rights and duties to deal with the socio-economic system most efficiently and effectively. The authors are well versed with banking system and its implications on economic development.
In this regard, the authors have highlighted the root causes of NPAs and provided the way out for overcoming them. The common thread through all these chapters is the banker–customer relationship and each chapter is linked well with the preceding and succeeding chapters. The book has been made more appealing and reader friendly by using appropriate examples, illustrations, tables and figures. Some of the observations pointed out in different chapters do carry weight as sound suggestions for policy reforms. The perceptions and observations highlighted in different chapters of the book do point out the need of change in the current policy scenario. The inclusion of product-wise, purpose-wise, sector-wise and region-wise norms may help the banks, customers, administrators and policy makers take fair, sympathetic and pragmatic decisions.
The interesting as well as important point of the book is that not only the different parts but also each chapter, is an independent and complete entity in itself and can be read randomly. Each topic reflects the socio-economic environment and banking in a particular context and is an independent review of the macroeconomic variables at that time. It is really a good book for all those who are concerned with banking and socio-economic development and policy framework.