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Abstract
Financial inclusion is emerging as a new paradigm of economic growth that plays major role in driving away the poverty from the country. It refers to delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of disadvantaged and low income groups. Financial Inclusion is described as the method of offering banking and financial solutions and services to every individual in the society without any form of discrimination. It primarily aims to include everybody in the society by giving them basic financial services without looking at a person’s income or savings. Financial inclusion chiefly focuses on providing reliable financial solutions to the economically underprivileged sections of the society without having any unfair treatment. It intends to provide financial solutions without any signs of inequality. It is also committed to being transparent while offering financial assistance without any hidden transactions or costs. In the Indian context, the term ‘financial inclusion’ was used for the first time in April 2005 in the Annual Policy Statement presented by Y.Venugopal Reddy, the then Governor, Reserve Bank of India. This paper helps in studying the present scenario of Financial Inclusion in India, and the various efforts and initiatives taken by the RBI, GOI and other banking institutions towards it.