1Department of Farm Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 560065, Uttar Pradesh, India
2Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi, 110012
3IDBI Bank, Hassan Branch, Hassan-57320, Karnataka, India
Online published on 30 November, 2016.
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. In India, about 649.54 lakh farm households are excluded from formal sources and 55 per cent of marginal farmers are excluded from both formal and informal sources. RBI has taken up several measures such as No-frill accounts, relaxation of KYC norms, use of the services of NGOs/SHGs, MFIs and other civil society organizations as intermediaries in providing financial and banking services and as business correspondents and business facilitators. NABARD has constituted two funds viz., Financial Inclusion Promotion (FIF) and Financial Inclusion Development Fund (FIDF) to support developmental and promotional activities with a view to securing greater financial inclusion.
Financial inclusion, risk, small farmers and marginal farmers
