Sustainable Economic Growth Through Financial Inclusion in India
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© 2018 JETIR October 2018, Volume 5, Issue 10 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) Sustainable Economic Growth through Financial Inclusion in India Dr. Brijendra Singh Boudha 1 Bijendra Kumar 2 1Seniour Lecturer, Bundelkhand College, Jhansi. 2Research Scholar, Bundelkand University, Jhansi Abstract: Poverty eradication is consider as an important objective of the financial inclusion scheme since they bridge up the gap between the weaker section of society and the sources of livelihood and the means of income which can be generated for them if they get loans and advances. In order to ensure financial inclusion of the poor, particularly in rural areas, various initiatives have been taken by the government of India and Reserve bank of India (RBI) from time to time. These have included nationalization of commercial bank in 1969 and 1980.The establishment and expansion of rural credit co-operatives, regional rural bank, urban co-operative banks, micro finance and self-help group, mutual fund, and Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yougna (PMJDY), 2014. Multiple steps have been initiated by the RBI over the years to increase credit access to the poor section of the society. Keywords: Financial Inclusion; Inclusive Growth; Financial Services; Indian Financial Services; Indian Economy Introduction The concept of financial inclusion has a special significance for a fast-emerging economy such as India, as it encompasses a large segment of the productive sectors of the economy under formal financial network to unleash their creative capacities. Over a period of time, several financial' and economic policy measures are being taken by the banks in India to improve access to affordable financial services through financial education, awareness generation, business communication networking and leveraging technology. Financial inclusion may be defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost" The essence of financial inclusion is in trying to ensure -that a range of appropriate financial services is available to every individual and enabling them to understand and access those services. Apart from the regular form of financial intermediation, it may include a basic no-frills banking account for making and receiving payments, a savings product suited to the pattern of cash flows of a poor household, money transfer facilities, small loans and overdrafts for productive, personal and other purposes, insurance (life and non-life) etc. While financial inclusion, in the narrow sense, may be achieved to some extent by offering anyone of these services, the objective of comprehensive financial inclusion would be to provide a holistic set of services encompassing all of the above. Review of Literature Harpreet kaur and kawal Nain Singh (2015) studied the recent trends in financial inclusion in india with special reference to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dahan Youjana (PMJDY), highlighting its key area and suggest strategies to ensure maximum financial inclusion for the underprivileged and unbanked areas. Diveyesh Kumar (2014) discussed the overview of financial inclusion inclusion using PMJDY in India. It is revealed that, it is the greastest steps ever taken to eradicate poverty are financial inclusion through PMJDY. It is suggested that, the success of this scheme constant review and regular check is very much essential. Thapar (2013) mentioned that the biggest challenge for the banks is from the people who are not availing the banking services. In present scenario, where people have reached to the space , it is very shameful for our country where neither millions of people have even reached to the banks nor bank are capable to reach to those millions of people. Subbarao, D. (2009), argued that in order to obtain an equitable and sustainable growth, the financial inclusion is most needed. Financial inclusion can benefit the poor by dragging their saving into the formal financial system which grow it over time and increase capital formation. Objective of study 1. To study the Financial Inclusion. 2. To study the Government scheme and RBI in Financial Inclusion. Research Methodology The study is based on secondary sources of data consisting of government publication, RBI report, various committee reports submitted to Government of India on financial inclusion, NABARD report, research articles published in journal, magazines, Ministry of Finance, bank web sources. Measures taken by RBI and Government of India under Financial Inclusion Programmes Several measures have been launched by the government of India and Reserve Bank of India to bring the financial excluded people to the fold of the banking services. The important financial inclusion initiatives of RBI are as under 1 New Pension System (NPS) New reflects Government‟s effort to find sustainable solutions to the problem of providing adequate retirement income. As a first step towards instituting pensionary reforms, Government of India moved from a defined benefit pension to a defined contribution-based pension system by making it mandatory for its new recruits (except armed forces) with effects from January 1, 2004. JETIR1810295 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 574 © 2018 JETIR October 2018, Volume 5, Issue 10 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) Since April 1, 2008, the pension contributions of Central Government employees covered by NPS are being invested by professional pension fund managers (PFMs) in the line with investment guidelines of Government applicable to non-Government provident funds. NPS has been made available to every citizen from April 1, 2009 on a voluntary basis. With the extension of NPS to all citizens, every citizen in the country now has the opportunity to participate in a regulated pension market. This will contribute significantly to old age income in the country. Features of the NPS design are self-sustainability, portability and scalability. Based on individual choice, it is envisaged as a low-cost and efficient pension system backed by sound regulation. As a pure defined contribution product with no defined benefit element, returns are totally market-related. NPS provides various investment options and choices to individuals to switch over from one option to another or from one fund manager to another, subject to certain regulatory restrictions. NPS architecture is transparent and web-enabled. It allows a subscriber to monitor his/her investments and returns under NPS, the choice of PFM and the investment option also rest with the subscriber. The design allows the subscriber to switch his/her investment options as well as pension funds. The facility for seamless portability and switch between PFMs is designed to enable subscribers to maintain a single pension account throughout their saving period. Efforts are under way to extend the reach of the NPS to new segments like Central and State autonomous bodies and the organized sector and introduce micro-pension initiatives focusing on a low cost model of the NPS to be implemented through self-help groups (SHGs) and similar bodies. 2. Swavalamban Scheme: The Government is extremely concerned about the old age income security of the working poor and is focused on encouraging and enabling them to join the NPS. To encourage worker in the unorganized sector to save voluntarily for their old age, an initiative called the swavalamban Scheme was launched on September 26, 2010. It is a co-contributory pension scheme whereby the Central Government would contribute a sum of 1,000 per annum in each NPS account account opened having a saving of 1,000 to 12,000 per annum. The Swavalambban Scheme was initially announced for 3 years for beneficiaries who enrolled themselves in 2010-11. It was extended to 53 years for beneficiaries who enrolled themselves in 2010-11. 3. NPS Corporate Sector Model: A customized version of the core NPS model, known as the NPS Corporate Sector Model was also introduced from December 2011 to enable organized-sector entities to move their existing and prospective employee to the NPS under its Corporate Model. All the public sector banks have been asked to provide a link on their website to enable individual subscribers to open online NPS Accounts. Several State Governments, autonomous bodies, and undertakings are in dialogue with PFRDA for extending the NPS to their employees. In the non-government NPS segment, clearly NPSLite/Swavalamban has emerged as the vehicle of choice. 4. Atal Pension Yojana (APY): Budget for the year 2015-16 unleashes the announcement of a universal social security scheme in the insurance and pension sector for all Indians, named as Atal Pension Yojana (APY), meant primarily for the poor and the under-privileged. Under the scheme, a defined pension would be provided, depending on the contribution and its period. The APY will be focused on all citizens in the unorganized sector, who join the National Pension System (NPS) administered by the pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). 5. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) PFRDA was established by Government of India on August 23, 2003. The Government has, through an executive order dated 10, 2003, mandated PFRDA to act as a regulator for the pension sector. The mandate of PFRDA is development and regulation of pension sector in India. PFRDA, set up as a regulatory body for the pension sector, is engaged in consolidating the initiatives taken so far regarding the full NPS architecture and expanding the reach of the NPS distribution network. AS on January 5, 2015 PFRDA has appointed the following 8 Pension fund managers (PFM) for government and private sector NPS: 1 LIC Pension Fund Ltd. 2 SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Ltd. 3 UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) : Convergence of Aadhaar enrolment with bank account opening. Facilitating the subsidy scheme on procurement of Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS) machines by banks. Fast conversion of EID to UID to ensure faster credit to bank accounts.