Government Initiatives for Financial Inclusion in India

India is a rapidly developing economy. However the benefits of its financial services are not enjoyed by its mass population. It is imperative that there should be a balance between the rural and urban economic growth for achieving long term sustainable growth in the economy. Financial inclusion can help to achieve this objective. In the recent years the Indian Government and the Reserve Bank of India have been making rigorous efforts to improve financial inclusion and lower social exclusion.

The objective of this research paper is to analyse and highlight the major initiatives taken by the government to foster financial inclusion. It also gives a review of the implementation plan of ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana ’, the biggest initiative of government for promoting financial inclusion. Giving a brief description of various schemes of government for financial inclusion in the country, the author also highlights the progress of various banks on various inclusion indicators after the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. The author concludes that these new initiatives by the Indian government will definitely help to enhance the level of financial literacy as well inclusion among the financially excluded population of India and help them to achieve its desired objective of socio-economic equality and inclusive growth.