Financial inclusion -evidence from sample surveys and banking statistics

Financial Inclusion, aimed at improving the financial status of the weaker sections of the society, gained considerable momentum during the last two decades. The impact of the policy decisions on Financial Inclusion is reflected from the demand side in the results of the decennial All-India Debt and Investment Surveys (AIDIS) of the Households conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and the All-India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey recently conducted by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The supply aspect is covered in the Banking Statistics released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and also detailed tabulations of the Small Borrowal Accounts (SBA), available from the RBI annual publication “Basic Statistical returns (BSR) of Scheduled Commercial Banks in India”. This paper analyses the data from these diverse sources mainly focusing on the debt/credit aspects, though Financial Inclusion covers other services as well. Incidence of debt and the reliance of the Households on institutional and non-institutional sources are discussed from results of the surveys under reference. The status of SBA is examined from the data available from the BSR information System.