SUN- FORUM

For Prelims: Financial Inclusion, Initiatives to Promote Financial Inclusion, RBI For Mains: Significance of Financial Inclusion Index Why in News? The Reserve Bank of India has released the Composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for the year ended 31st March 2022. What are the Findings? • India’s Financial Inclusion Index has improved to 56.4 from 53.9 in the previous year 2021. • The improvement has been seen across all its sub-indices (Access, Usage and Equality). What is the Financial Inclusion Index? • About: • It is a comprehensive index incorporating details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as the pension sector in consultation with the government and respective sectoral regulators. • It was developed by the RBI in 2021, without any ‘base year', and is published in July every year. • Aim: • To capture the extent of Financial Inclusion across the country. • The FI-Index is responsive to ease of access, availability and usage of services and quality of services, consisting of 97 indicators. • Parameters: • It captures information on various aspects of financial inclusion in a single value ranging between 0 and 100, where 0 represents complete financial exclusion and 100 indicates full financial inclusion. • It comprises three broad parameters (weights indicated in brackets) viz., Access (35%), Usage (45%), and Quality (20%) with each of these consisting of various dimensions, which are computed based on a number of indicators. • The index is responsive to ease of access, availability and usage of services, and quality of services for all 97 indicators. What is the Significance of FI Index? • Measures Level of Inclusion: • It provides information on the level of financial inclusion and measures financial services for use in internal policy making. • Development Indicators: • It can be used directly as a composite measure in development indicators. • Fulfil the G20 Indicators: • It enables fulfilment of G20 Financial Inclusion Indicators requirements. • The G20 indicators assess the state of financial inclusion and digital financial services, nationally and globally. • Facilitate Researchers: • It also facilitates researchers to study the impact of financial inclusion and other macroeconomic variables. What is Financial Inclusion? • Financial inclusion is defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost. • In a diverse country like India, financial inclusion is a critical part of the development process. Since independence, the combined efforts of successive governments, regulatory institutions, and civil society have helped in increasing the financial-inclusion net in the country. • Being able to have access to a transaction account is a first step toward broader financial inclusion since a transaction account allows people to store money, and send and receive payments. A transaction account serves as a gateway to other financial services. What are the Initiatives to Increase Financial Inclusion in India? • Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana • Digital Identity (Aadhaar) • National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) • Centre for Financial Literacy (CFL) Project • Expansion of financial services in Rural and Semi-Urban Areas • Promotion of Digital Payments