Advancing Financial Inclusion in India beyond the Jan-Dhan Yojana

The recent policy measures undertaken by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India have provided a much-needed push for financial inclusion in the country. However, there remain some key gaps and concerns that must be addressed for attaining sustained comprehensive financial inclusion. This paper highlights some of these gaps and recommends policies to address them.

KEY POLICY INSIGHTS:

• Promote financial savings of poor households through innovative product design that matches their specific needs
• Bring indigenous ‘bottom-up’ financial institutions such as registered Chit Funds, and the extensive postal network into the fold of national financial inclusion strategy for greater impact
• Extend effort to pilot innovative insurance products and scale up successful insurance instruments
• Encourage technology solutions that reduce operating costs of selling small ticket financial instrument and support innovations in management practices of financial institutions to enable sustainable and robust financial inclusion
• Galvanize financial literacy and awareness for better utilisation of financial instruments and to reduce risks of dubious schemes

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