Financial Inclusion through Micro Finance

Despite the rapid spread of financial and banking system in India after Independence in 1947, a large segment of the society—particularly low-income households in rural areas—has very little access to financial services. As a consequence, many of them have to depend either on their own or high cost informal sources of finance, such as moneylenders. Hence, financial inclusion of the disadvantaged and marginalized sections of society is a prerequisite for healthy development. The present work is an attempt to emphasize the importance of financial inclusion of the poor and underlines the role of micro finance and SHGs in this endeavour.