Even after 68 years of Independence there are large sections of the society are still unbanked. The ratio is high in rural areas as poor people and low income groups are untouched with many financial services. They are unaware about different schemes and products which is launched and offered by various banks. 

To provide financial assistance to
every citizen of the country especially to rural people and low income groups
Government and Reserve Bank of India started Financial Inclusion initiative in
the country.

Financial Inclusion – To provide financial services at affordable costs
to every citizen of society where those services are not available or
affordable.

Financial Inclusion, broadly defined, refers
to universal access to a wide range of financial services at a reasonable cost.
These include not only banking products but also other financial services such
as insurance and equity products (The Committee on Financial Sector Reforms,
Chairman: Dr.Raghuram G. Rajan).

Importance
of Financial Inclusion in India –

1. Every citizen will have bank account so they
can save their money.

2. Avail
benefits provided by different banks through various schemes.

3. Weaker
sections of the society can avail loans direct from the banks, they

Financial Inclusion Initiatives in the
country –

1. BSBDA Account – Basic Saving Bank Account can be opened by
poor people and low income groups with a very low minimum balance.

2. Kissan Credit Card issued: Banks have been advised to issued Kissan
Credit Card to small farmers for meeting their credit requirement.

3. Expansion of Bank Branch and ATM network
– Reserve Bank of India has allowed every banks to expand their bank branches
and ATM network in rural areas also so that people can get the financial
services easily.  

Financial
Inclusion Scheme – ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ Scheme for financial inclusion launched
was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28th Aug 2014 to
help the poor open bank accounts. Slogan of the Scheme – Mera Khata –
Bhagya Vidhaata”.                

The scheme has been started with a
target to provide ‘universal access to banking facilities’ starting with
“Basic Banking Accounts” with overdraft facility of Rs.5000 after six
months and RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh
and RuPay Kisan Card.

Under the scheme:

1. Account holders will be provided
zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in addition to accidental
insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh(to be given by ‘HDFC Ergo’).

2. Those who open accounts by January
26, 2015 over and above the 1 lakh ₹ accident, they will be given life
insurance cover of Rs 30,000(to be given by LIC).

3. After Six months of opening of the
bank account, holders can avail 5,000 ₹ overdrafts from the bank.

Jan Dhan Yojana features in Guinness Book of World Records with 11.5 cr bank accounts –

Banks have opened 11.50 crore accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan
Yojana, much higher than the targeted 10 crore, and these accounts would be
used to pass on benefits of various social security schemes to the account
holders

Financial
Inclusion initiative helps people to connect with financial services and
provide better opportunity to avail benefits of various services provided by financial
institutions.