Level of Financial Inclusion in Rural Assam: A Study Based on the Accessibility of Banking Service in the Barbhag Area of Nalbari District, Assam

Abstract

There is a general belief among the economist that financial development stimulates the process of economic growth. They believe that if a country a country is able to have a decent level of financial development than it would lead the country towards a growth which will be inclusive in nature. In this paper an attempt is made to see the level of financial inclusion in the Barbhag area of Nalbari District, Assam. This paper is based on the secondary data collected from the banks, development blocks etc. For the analysis of the data simple statistical tools are used. As the availability of banking services is considered as an important indicator of financial inclusion therefore in our study we are trying to see the level of financial inclusion entirely on the basis of the availability of banking services. Since the inception of the process of financial inclusion through SWABHIMAN campaign various initiatives has been taken by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank from time to time for promoting financial inclusion and as a consequence considerable improvement in the access to the formal financial institutions have been observed in our country. But despite of the efforts made by the govt. to achieve 100% financial inclusion, a large section of the marginalized class are still omitted from financial inclusion. The portion of population who are under the ambit of financial institutions after the implementation of financial inclusion in 2005 are mostly the same who are there before its inception i.e. the basic goal of financial inclusion is still unattained.