This book provides a comprehensive analysis of financial inclusion in India, blending empirical analysis with policy evaluation. It showcases the remarkable progress achieved through various financial inclusion initiatives in India, most notably through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), while also addressing the challenges that persist. Drawing on unit-level data from multiple rounds of the NSSO-Debt and Investment Survey, the book offers a rigorous assessment of four core components of financial inclusion: savings, credit, insurance, and remittances. This analysis is further enriched by data from the Reserve Bank of India and the Global Findex, providing a well-rounded analysis. By offering nuanced insights into India’s financial inclusion journey, this work serves as a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, development practitioners, and students working in the domain of financial inclusion.
Shika Saravanabhavan currently works at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore. Her academic training and research are rooted in development economics, with a particular focus on financial inclusion and its impact on economic development. In addition to her academic credentials, she has valuable experience in the development sector, which has further informed her research perspective. Her recent work explores topics such as rural credit, informal lenders, and small enterprises in India.
Dr. Meenakshi Rajeev is currently Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu, and the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru. She held the position of HAG Professor and the Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor and Head, Centre for Economic Studies and Policy, at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. She graduated from IIT Kanpur in Statistics and did her PhD in Economics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. She has worked as a faculty member, and taught at the University of California at San Diego, Central Michigan University, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, and Presidency College, Kolkata. She has published more than 100 articles in reputed journals and as working papers from India and abroad, and has over 10 books and monographs to her credit. Her recent book "Emerging Issues in Economic Development: A Contemporary Theoretical Perspective" from Oxford University Press and "Financial Access of the Urban Poor: A Story of Exclusion" from Springer are worth mentioning. Her areas of research include game theory, banking and credit markets, industrial economics, and development economics. She has visited and taught in a large number of universities in the USA, UK, Germany, France, and Norway, including Cornell University, University of Essex, Central Bank of Norway to name a few. She is in a number of committees of the Government. Recently, she acted as a task force member for the formulation of the R &D policy for the state of Karnataka. She has taken up a large number of research projects from institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Norwegian Research Council, Ford Foundation, Government of India and Karnataka, RBI, and NABARD.
