Financial Inclusion as an Economic and Public Policy in India: Its Reach in the State of West Bengal

Abstract

Financial inclusion, an economic and public policy much beyond instilling bank account ownership of the unbanked people dwelves in the present paper around Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a flagship scheme of the present government. The paper reports about a survey which could examine the reach of the scheme in respect of offering bank overdraft, life insurance cover as an early bird benefit and general insurance cover to the people in the state of West Bengal. It is observed that overdraft-enabled small entrepreneurship, more insurance benefits or the much hyped happiness could hardly be achieved. Severe lack of awareness of the people has also been noticed. The paper concludes on the need of looking into the qualitative aspect of any such policy.