Financial Inclusion — Status, impetus and impediments

Financial Inclusion (FI) is an indisputable strategy for attaining inclusive growth in a developing economy like India. This paper is an attempt to comprehend and distinguish the status of Financial Inclusion among farmers in identified rural pockets. The number of Savings / Credit accounts, the quantum of Savings / savings propensity among other factors have been studied. Contradiction to predictions FI is confirmed to be more prevalent among the farmers with land than land less farmers. The study confirms very low level of influence of the conceptual impediments including income, geographical or physical access, operational rituals of the banking system, infrastructure, and levels of literacy on FI indicating the influence of a host of other unprecedented factors influencing the savings and borrowing behavior among rural households calling for a totally fresh approach towards financial inclusion solutions for rural settings.