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Essay: Role Of Selected Commercial Banks In Financial Inclusion: A Critical Study Of Socio-Economic Development Of Rajasthan

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Role Of Selected Commercial Banks In Financial Inclusion: A Critical Study Of Socio-Economic Development Of Rajasthan

Financial inclusion relates to the provision of affordable financial services like, access to payments, remittance facilities, savings, loans and insurance services by the formal financial system to those who tend to be excluded. Inclusive economic growth has been one of the priority agendas of the Government of India (GOI) over the past decade. Financial access will attract global market players to our country and that will result in increasing employment and business opportunities, which leads to economic development of the country. Inclusive growth will act as a source of empowerment and allow people to participate more effectively in the economic and social process.1 financial inclusion needed for equal opportunities to all section of people in country, inclusive growth, economic development, social development and business opportunity. There are three approaches to achieve the inclusive growth: Micro-finance, self help group (SHG), financial inclusion. Socio- economic development is the main pillar of inclusive growth, economic growth depends on the social growth that means social growth is all about the progress of society and if society is progressive than economic growth can be achieved. Around 45% of Indian population suffers from poverty and hunger in which only 31% has access banking services and 80% populations are without life, on-life and health insurance etc. Due to seeking vast opportunity of Growth of Indian banking system India’s national vision for 2020 has mission to open nearly 600 million new customers’ banks account and services through a variety of channels as micro finance, micro insurance, Regional rural banks, NABARD, Self help groups, new bank branches in unbanked areas etc. It is obvious from the RBI annual report that even though various measures have been taken and more flow of credit to various sector of the economy, still majority of the population in rural areas have not come under the concept of Financial Inclusion. Banks especially commercial banks plays a very important role in the augmentation of financial inclusion and also commercial banks are multi tasking in the field of socio-economic development. The roles of commercial banks in socio-economic development are as follows:
‘ Commercial banks provide capital assistance, technical help and other aids for the Development of trade.
‘ A big percentage of Indian economy is based on agriculture, commercial banks provide finance for the agriculture development like: finance for seeds, fertilizer, loans etc.
‘ Commercial banks are very helpful in industrial development as well.
‘ Enhancement of foreign trade is also a part of commercial banks, it helps the traders of two different countries to undertake the business in the form of letter of credit, foreign exchange etc.
‘ Commercial banks are also helpful in transferring money to one place to another which leads to the growth of trade.
‘ Commercial banks also provide a strengthening capital structure.
‘ It enhanced the transport sector as well.
‘ The banks also provide the facility of safe custody like lockers.
‘ Commercial banks also motivate the people to save more with the help of different saving schemes.
‘ Commercial banks also provide the credit facility for the construction of the houses for their customers.
‘ Commercial banks also provide the funds to the government for development programmes.
‘ Commercial banks also provide financial advices to their customers.
‘ Commercial banks are very helpful in mobilize investments of their customers.
‘ In order to boost up the export, commercial banks establish the export promotion cell for the information and guidance of the exporters.
‘ A sound commercial banking promotes the economic prosperity of the country.
‘ Commercial banks also establish the training centers for their employees to modernize the banking system.2
The study is focused on the Rajasthan perspective reason being Rajasthan is one of the least developed states of India and financial inclusion is one of the reasons behind it. The Raghuram Rajan panel report states that Rajasthan is lacking on development indices on government claims.3 According to the report the 28 states are dividing in to three categories: least developed, less developed and relatively developed depending on their MDI (Multi Dimensional Index) scores.
MDI is the index of backwardness and it is based on per capita consumption, poverty ratio, education, health, households amenities, female literacy, percentage of schedule cast, urbanization rate, financial inclusion and connectivity. As per the report, the states with score of 0.6 and above on the index have been classified as least developed , states with score below 0.6 and above 0.4 as less developed and states with score below 0.4 as relatively developed.
Multi Dimensional Index
Relatively developed state Less developed Least developed
Haryana 0.395 Manipur 0.571 Orissa 0.798
Uttarakhand 0.383 West Bengal 0.551 Bihar 0.765
Maharashtra 0352 Nagaland 0.546 MP 0.759
Punjab 0.345 Andhra Pradesh 0.521 Chhattisgarh 0.752
Tamilnadu 0.341 J&K 0.504 Jharkhand 0.746
Kerala 0.095 Mizoram 0.495 Arunachal Pradesh 0.729
Goa 0.045 Gujarat 0.491 Assam 0.707
Tripura 0.474 Meghalaya 0.693
Karnataka 0.453 UP 0.638
Sikkim 0.430 Rajasthan 0.626
Himachal Pradesh 0.404
Source: Raghu Ranjan Panel Report
According to the MDX table the score of Rajasthan is 0.626 which means Rajasthan is categorized as one of the least developed states of India.4 If government want to promote Rajasthan to a developed state from a least developed state than the measures for strengthen the financial inclusion will have to adopted and for this commercial banks will provide a great help and support.

Literature Review
A Literature Review is "a systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners’5. Literature review is connected with the research problem, for this purpose, the abstracting and indexing journals published or unpublished bibliographies are the first place to go to. Academic journals, conference proceedings, government reports, books etc., must be tapped depending on the nature of the problem.6
Parmeshwara and Dr. A.Raghurama in their paper entitled, ‘Role of banks in financial inclusion’ highlights the role of government of India, RBI and Banks in Financial Inclusion. In this study the role of banks in financial inclusion have been defined with the help of the two sources, first is Rangrajan’s committee and second is Khan Commission set up by the Reserve Bank of India in 2004. Rangrajan’s Committee on financial inclusion defines it 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. By financial inclusion we mean the provision of affordable financial services like, access to payments, remittance facilities, savings, loans and insurance services by the formal financial system to those who tend to be excluded. The Reserve Bank of India set up the Khan Commission in 2004 to look into financial inclusion and the recommendations of the commission were incorporated into the mid-term review of the policy (2005’06) like Norms were relaxed for people intending to open accounts with annual deposits of less than Rs. 50,000. General credit cards (GCCs) were issued to the poor and the disadvantaged with a view to help them access easy credit. In January 2006, the Reserve Bank permitted commercial banks to make use of the services of non-governmental organizations (NGOs/SHGs), micro- finance institutions, and other civil society organizations as intermediaries for providing financial and banking services. These intermediaries could be used as business facilitators or business correspondents by commercial banks. The bank asked the commercial banks in different regions to start a 100% financial inclusion campaign on a pilot basis. Reserve Bank of India’s vision for 2020 is to open nearly 600 million new customers’ accounts and service them through a variety of channels by leveraging on it. However, illiteracy and the low income savings and lack of bank branches in rural areas continue to be a roadblock to financial inclusion in many states and there is inadequate legal and financial structure.

The Reserve Bank had advised all public and private sector banks to prepare and submit their board approved financial inclusion plans (FIPs) to be rolled out in 3 years from April 2010 to March 2013
These FIPs contained self-set targets in respect of opening of rural brick and mortar branches, deployment of business correspondents (BCs), coverage of unbanked villages through various modes, opening of no- frills accounts, Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) and General Credit Cards (GCCs) to be issued etc. Financial inclusion has been accorded high importance by the Reserve Bank to aid the inclusive growth process for the economy. There have been formidable challenges in this area such as bringing sections of society that are financially excluded within the ambit of the formal financial system, providing financial literacy and strengthening credit delivery mechanisms. Apart from the priority sector lending policy which has been in existence for a long time, a host of initiatives have been taken in recent years which include the rollout of Financial Inclusion Plans and expanding the scope of the Business Correspondent (BC) model, improving credit delivery procedures for the micro and small enterprises (MSE) sectors and encouraging the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions.
The study also states the RBI report which quotes a World Bank study undertaken in April 2012, which stated that only 9 percent of Indian population had taken new loans from a bank, credit union or microfinance institution in the past year with only 35 percent having formal accounts versus an average of 41 percent in developing economies. The penetration of formal banking channel is still particularly poor in rural India that still houses 70 percent of the country’s population further widening rural-urban economic inequality.
The study also reveals the positions of households availing banking services, No. of ATM’s in the country, progress of micro finance programmes. This study explores that the government of India and the banks functioning in India have to play major role in financial literacy.7

Naveen Kumar H, S.J. Manjunath and Arun Kumar G in their paper entitled’ Role of Banks in Achieving Financial Inclusion ‘has explored, the measures taken by the banks for financial inclusion and To analyze the difficulties involved in the adoption of financial inclusion. According to the study financial inclusion is a major tool of poverty reduction. The study also admire the RBI vision of 2020 that is to open nearly 600 million new customers accounts and serve them through variety of channels. The study reveals the facts that the banks should motivate the people for banking services and government also motivate the banks to opt the financial inclusion to achieve the inclusive growth. Study also suggests the banks to offer all forms in the regional language of the customers.

The banks must create awareness among the people concerning the significance of banking services by advertisement and financial inclusion campaign. ATMs are one of the most cost effective ways of reaching the rural poor. The banks should constitute Grievance Redressal Machinery to redress the customer’s discontent promptly. Thus, banks should adopt advanced technology to open up new avenues for service delivery. There are also some suggestions for the government that The government should include financial literacy in the curriculum of schools and colleges. The government should also raise the Financial Inclusion Fund and a Financial Inclusion Technology Fund to reach banking services to the unbanked areas. The government should pay all the social security payments through the bank account of the beneficiary.8

Subah singh yadav attempted to develop a case study on ‘Financial Inclusion In Rajasthan : A Case Study of Rajsamand District’ . In the study it was decided to conduct house hold survey and identity families who are not within banking reach. The role of Panchayati Raj institutions was also stressed upon in view of easy access of these units operating at the grassroots level. Fifty nine branches were to cover 1004 villages and 90 wards in their service area targeting 185721 families. The work was co- ordinate by the Lead Bank Managers of SBBJ at Rajsamand. Branches were advised to open no frill accounts as per the Reserve Bank of India guidelines with a minimum of one account per household as per the voter list. A record of families who have migrated to other places or refused to open the account was prepared and duly authenticated by sarpanch. During the study it found that 92.27 per cent households in the villages have a bank account but 52.39 per cent of the households had no transactions in their accounts due to various reasons like, distance of the branch (79.64%), illiteracy(6.60%) and not being interested (10.04%). In towns, 98 per cent households had a bank account and 86.94 per cent not carrying out transactions. Non-availability of passbook (75.47%) was cited as the major reason. Majority of the people contacted were not familiar with the process of opening the account and could not get their passbooks. After the research there were some issues in the Rajsamand district that are: Efficient delivery of services with low cost of intermediation, Substantial upscale of micro credit activities, Change attitude and aptitude of staff posted in rural branches; rejuvenation of rural branches and making the rural posting more attractive, Exploring collaborative support from hybrid channels like NGO’s / NFI’s / post offices / RUDSETI’s / Educational Institutes, Fostering real sector linkage amongst farm activities and leveraging technology to the maximum extent possible.9

Dr. Anupama Sharma and Ms. Sumita Kukreja have examined the relevance of financial inclusion for the developing nations in their paper entitled ‘An Analytical Study: Relevance of Financial Inclusion for the Developing Nations’. The objectives of the study are: To explore the need and significance of financial inclusion for economic and social development of society, To analyze the current status of financial inclusion in Indian economy, To study the access of rural people to bank branches and the number of ATM opened in those areas, To study the progress of State Cooperative Banks in financial inclusion plan. The study focus upon the survey reports on financial inclusion, the reports are, the report on the key statistics on financial inclusion in India, progress of SCB’s in financial inclusion plan, outreach of banking sector country wise position. The study also reveals the forthcoming plans of banks for financial inclusion that are : opening of no-frill accounts, relaxation on know your customer norms, use of technology, simplify branch authorization, opening of branches in unbaked rural areas, engaging business correspondents, adoption of EBT(Electronic benefit transfer).10

Dr. Kabita Kumar Sahu, explained on the basis of her paper entitled ‘Commercial banks, financial inclusion and economic growth of India’ the relation of commercial banks, financial inclusion and economic growth in India. The objectives of the paper are to understand the present status of India’s financial inclusion, to estimate the financial inclusion index for various states in India and to study the relationship between Financial Inclusion Index and Socio-economic Variables. It is found that 72.7 percent of India’s 89.3 million farmer households are excluded from formal sources of finance. The C-D ratios of foreign banks is 85.0 per cent, of regional rural banks is 59.9 per cent and of Private sector banks is 74.7 per cent which have increased in 2011 from their levels in the previous year (72.9 per cent, 58.3 per cent and 72.7 per cent respectively). No state in India belongs to high IFI(Indian Financial Index) group. The two states namely Chandigarh and Delhi belong to medium IFI, and rests of the states have low IFI values. According to the study the banking institutions step ahead to solve the issue of banking exclusion because there are some issues in the approach of banking system. When the excluded sections approach financial institutions, they are confronted with problems of accessibility, timeliness, and inadequacy of credit. The study also focus upon the Index of Financial Inclusion (IFI) prepared by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) in which India has been placed 50th position in the list of 100 countries. The Index of Financial Inclusion, which measures the availability and usage of banking services, is based on indicators like the number of bank accounts per 1,000 adults, number of ATMs and bank branches per million people and the amount of bank credits and deposits.

While economic growth in India has benefited a growing middle class, it has also created great disparities between urban and rural areas, prosperous and lagging states, and between skilled and low-skilled workers. Poverty is fuelled by a lack of access to social benefits, productive assets and financial resources. High levels of illiteracy, inadequate healthcare and extremely limited access to social services only aggravate the situation. Credit is one of the very important inputs of economic development. The timely availability of credit at an affordable cost has a big role to play in contributing to the well being of the weaker sections of the society. Proper access to finance to the rural people is a key requisite to employment, economic growth and poverty alleviation which are primary tools of economic development. Micro Finance, Self ‘Help Groups and Financial Inclusion are the three dimensional approach to achieve inclusive growth in the economy. In this context, the objectives of the study are to understand the present status of Indi’s financial inclusion, to estimate the financial inclusion index for various states in India and to study the relationship. The study also describes the regional distribution of financially excluded farmer households in India, commercial banks and averages population per bank as on march 2011, index of financial inclusion for the states of India, IFI socio-economic indicators for the states of India.11

Dr. LailaMemdani and K. Rajyalakshmi in their article entitled ‘Financial Inclusion in India’ discuss about the financial institutions in India, its evolution and the progress so far. The article states the progress of financial inclusion in India is not accelatering because the hugeness of the country so banks and financial institutions need to harmonize their energies towards financial inclusion because the development of the economy depends to a large extent on the extent of financial inclusion in the country. according to the article financial inclusion is very important for the inclusive growth of the India and also for the economic development of the country. The article also states the three evaluation phases of the financial inclusion. the first phase of financial inclusion was form 1969 to 19991, in this phase several initiate were undertaken for enhancing the use of the banking system for suitable and equitable growth, the initiatives were: Nationalization of private sector banks, Introduction of priority sector lending norms, The Lead Bank Scheme, Branch licensing norms with focus on rural/semi-urban branches, Interest rate ceilings for credit to the weaker sections and Creation of specialized financial institutions to cater to the requirement of the agriculture and the rural sectors having bulk of the poor population. The second phase is completed related to The RBI. Financial inclusion is the basic objective of the annual policy statement of RBI in 2005-06.

RBI exhorted the banks, with a view to achieving greater financial inclusion, to make available a basic banking ‘no frills’ account either with nil or very minimum balances as well as charges that would make such accounts accessible to vast sections of the population. The nature and number of transactions in such accounts would be restricted and made known to customers in advance in a transparent manner. All banks are urged to give wide publicity to the facility of such no frills account so as to ensure greater financial inclusion. RBI came out with a report in 2005 (Khan Committee) and RBI issued a circular in 2006 allowing the use of intermediaries for providing banking and financial services. Through such policies the RBI has tried to improve Financial Inclusion. Financial. RBI has realized that a push is needed to kick start the financial inclusion process. Some of the steps taken by RBI include the directive to banks to offer No-frills account, easier KYC norms, better customer services, promoting the use of IT and intermediaries etc. third phase of financial inclusion was famous because of Rangrajans committee, the Committee recommended the set up a mission, National Rural Financial Inclusion Plan (NRFIP) with a target of providing access to comprehensive financial services to at least 50 per cent (55.77 million) of the excluded rural households by 2012 and the remaining by 2015. The major recommendations relating to commercial banks included target for providing access to credit to at least 250 excluded rural households per annum in each rural/semi urban branches; targeted branch expansion in identified districts in the next three years; provision of customized savings, credit and insurance products; incentivizing human resources for providing inclusive financial services and simplification of procedures for agricultural loans. The major recommendations relating to RRBs are extending their services to unbanked areas and increasing their credit-deposit ratios; no further merger of RRBs; widening of network and expanding coverage in a time bound manner; separate credit plans for excluded regions to be drawn up by RRBs and strengthening of their boards.In the case of co-operative banks, the major recommendations were early implementation of Vaidyanathan Committee Revival Package; use of PACS and other primary co-operatives as BCs and co-operatives to adopt group approach for financing excluded groups. Other important recommendations of the Committee are encouraging SHGs in excluded regions; legal status for SHGs; measures for urban micro-finance and separate category of MFIs. Banks have been mandated to open 25 % of all new branches in unbanked rural centers. The study also shows the progress of financial inclusion from march 2010 to June 2012.12

Ms. Chitra Saruparia focused on the inclusive growth of India in her paper entitled ‘financial inclusion for inclusive growth in India’. The study considered the financial inclusion is to be important determinant for social inclusion for poor vulnerable. Study also suggest how financial inclusion cab be facilitated: Restructuring financial architecture fitting to the needs of inclusive growth, Usage of Mobile Banking, More use of Business Facilitator and Business Correspondent, Micro Finance Institutions, Active role of educational institutes for furthering financial inclusion. The study also describes the measures taken from RBI & GOI for financial inclusion that are as follows:
‘ Introduction of ‘No frill accounts’: In November 2005, the banks were advised to open no frill accounts with minimum balances.
‘ Relaxing Know your customer (KYC) norms: KYC norms for account holder with Balances not greater than Rs 50000 has been simplified. Ration card and voter Id are taken as KYC norms. Bio-metric cards have been issued.
‘ General Purpose Credit Card Schemes : revolving credit facility in the form of General Purpose Credit Card (GCC) with Rs 25000 as credit limit has been sanctioned. Overdue loans up to Rs 25000 are eligible for one time settlement. The borrowers availing one time settlement schemes are very much eligible for fresh loans.
‘ Intermediaries: From January 2006, banks were permitted to take assistance from non government organizations; Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) and other societal association as business facilitator. SHG are the association of women who contributes their savings to extend loan to the members against the guarantee of members.
‘ Business Facilitator and Business correspondent model: RBI based on the recommendations of the Internal Group on Rural Credit and Microfinance adopted the ICT based agent bank model for ensuring door step delivery of financial products and services.
‘ In the Union Budget 2007-08, the government announced the creation of two funds- Financial Inclusion Fund and Financial Inclusion Technology Development Fund for meeting the costs of development and promotional and technology interventions.
‘ Project Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy and Credit Counseling were set up.13

Jovy Decanay, explored the relationship between micro finance, financial inclusion and financial development in his paper entitled ‘Micro finance, financial inclusion and financial development: An empirical investigation with an international perspective’. According to the study microfinance is a tool to alleviating the poverty and to strengthen the low income households. Microfinance is helpful to struggle with financial exclusion and promote the financial inclusion. The basic objectives of the research are: to state the relation of micro finance & financial inclusion and to state how micro finance influence financial inclusion. The aim of the study is to answer how micro finance promotes financial inclusion and financial development. the study is a cross country analysis incorporating international data limited to the numbers of countries with available indices of financial inclusion developed by the world bank 2007, a total of 38 countries were considered in the sample including Argentina, Bangladesh, bolivia, bosnia, herzegovia, brazil, bulgeria, chile, Colombia, Dominican republic, Ecuador, Egypt, gautemala, honduras, hungary, Nigeria, Pakistan, panama, peru, Philippines, Romania, south africe, Thailand, Tobago, turkey, Uganda, Venezuela, Zimbabwe. These countries were choosen just because of the data availability.14
www.academia.edu/1543132/Microfinance_Financial_Inclusion_and_Financial_Development_An_Empirical_Investigation_with_an_International_Perspective?login=tanugeetagupta@gmail.com&email_was_taken=true

Atul Raman focused on the relationship between financial inclusion and growth of India in his study entitled ‘Financial Inclusion and Growth of Indian Banking System’. The study is an attempt to analyze the role of Reserve Bank of India in promoting the financial inclusion. According to the research there are three major aspects of financial inclusion that are:
‘ Access financial market.
‘ Access credit market.
‘ Learn financial matters.
The study also reveals that the government and RBI has taken various steps to increase the banking penetration in the country, nationalization of banks, establishment of RRBs, introduction of SHG and strategy of one person one account for accessing financial market. Accessing credit facilities improving interest rates, know your customer process are major steps because nearly 80% of the population in India is without life, health, nonlife insurance cover. RBI has also adopted two strategies to generate great awareness and expand the reach of banking services which can be termed as empowerment and protection.

Study depicts that there are 403 million mobile users in India in which 54% has bank account. In which rural average among the adult population is 39% against 60% in Urban India. Himanchal Pradesh is only state to achieve full financial inclusion. According to the study financial inclusion plays a major role in driving away the poverty from the country. The research also state an equation regarding the financial inclusion that is:
NFA + Banks+ OFIs+ MFI+ IT = Financial Inclusion
Where, NFA ‘ No frills account
OFIs ‘ other financial institutions
MFI – Micro financial Institutions
IT ‘ Information Technology
So financial inclusion is very important for inclusive growth, economic development, social development and business opportunity. The study also states that Around 45% of Indian population suffers from poverty and hunger in which only 31% has access banking services and 80% populations are without life, on-life and health insurance etc. Due to seeking vast opportunity of Growth of Indian banking system India’s national vision for 2020 has mission to open nearly 600 million new customer’s banks account and services through a variety of channels as micro finance, micro insurance, Regional rural banks, NABARD, Self help groups, new bank branches in unbanked areas etc. For this purpose there are three major aspects has taken: access financial market, access credit market, learn financial matters. The study also focused on the initiatives of government and banks for financial inclusion literacy that are as follows:
‘ RBI launched multilingual websites in 13 languages on all matter concerning banking. RBI has also created a sub-site for the common person to give him the ease of access information for use in dealing with banks.
‘ The community finance learning initiative (CFLIs) were also introduced with a view to promote basic financial literacy.
‘ State bank of India has set up 100 centers in Agri-lending branches for agriculture counseling.
‘ Union bank of India and Indian overseas bank use of handheld and biometric cards in village of Tamilnadu.
‘ Union bank of India and Dena bank introduced 198 village knowledge centers for imparting knowledge to farmers. These centers also provide basic infrastructure, internet connection and updated libraries.
‘ Union bank of India introduced ‘Union Mitra Scheme’ for providing financial education and debt counseling services to rural population free of cost.
‘ Dena bank introduced ‘Dena Bhoomiheen Kisan Credit Card’ for tenant farmers, share croppers and landless labourers.
‘ In financial year 2009-2010, the government has announced the ground level credit target for agriculture at Rs.3,25,000 crore. For the financial year 2010-2011, the Government has set agriculture credit flow target at Rs. 3,75,000 crore.15

According to Dr. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, "Economic growth in India has not been inclusive; unemployment and poverty remain high and a vast majority of the population remains excluded from health and education facilities." The financial literacy agenda has no effect on the likelihood of opening a bank savings account, but has modest efforts for uneducated and financially illiterate households. In contrast, small subsidy payments have a large effect on the possibility of opening a savings account. These payments are more than two times more cost-effective than the financial literacy training.16

Research Gap
The above review of literature proves beneficial in identifying the research issues and research gaps. It is found that most of the papers highlight the role of banks in financial inclusion, relevance of financial inclusion in the development of nation, correlation of inclusive growth and financial inclusion, relationship of financial inclusion, financial development & micro finance, and role of financial inclusion in Indian banking system, and international perspectives of financial inclusion but there is no study based upon the amalgamation of commercial banks, financial inclusion and socio-economic development. Very few papers and research have cited the role of commercial banks in financial inclusion and their impact on socio-economic development. And most important that there is only one case study related to the financial inclusion of Rajsamand district in Rajasthan. It is obvious that there is a lack of the research upon the financial inclusion in Rajasthan. In this regard this study is an attempt to fill the gap by explaining the role of selected commercial banks in financial inclusion in socio-economic development of Rajasthan.

Statement of the research problem
The research problem is to study the role of SBI & ICICI Banks in financial inclusion and its impact on socio-economic development.
The focus of the study to see the progress of the status of financial inclusion and advancement of socio-economic position of Rajasthan.

Objectives of the study
The following are the objectives of the study.
1. To study the status of financial inclusion in Rajasthan.
2. To evaluate and analyze the contribution of financial inclusion on the socio-economic development of Rajasthan.
3. To analyze the role of SBI & ICICI banks in financial inclusion in Rajasthan.
4. To study the various measures and initiatives taken by SBI & ICICI banks for financial inclusion in Rajasthan.
5. To study the progress of financial inclusion plan of SBI & ICICI Banks in Rajasthan.

Scope of the study
There are various types of banks like: saving banks, exchange banks , cooperative banks, development banks, land development banks, indigenous banks, central banks, commercial banks which operate in our country to meet financial requirement of people. The study only focused on commercial banks in Rajasthan.

Hypothesis of the study
Hypothesis is simply a mere assumption or some supposition to be proved or disproved. But for a researcher hypothesis is a formal question that he intends to resolve.17To study the above mentioned objectives and resolve the research problem the following hypotheses are formulated:

H1: There is significant role of SBI & ICICI bank in the financial inclusion of Rajasthan.
H0: There is no significant role of SBI & ICICI banks in the financial inclusion of Rajasthan.
H2: There is significant impact of financial inclusion on socio-economic development of Rajasthan
H0: There is no significant impact of financial inclusion on socio-economic development of Rajasthan.

Significance of the study
‘All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to enquiry and enquiry leads to invention’ is a famous Hudson Maxim in context of which the significance of research can well be understood. Increased amount of research make progress possible.18
The significance of this study is very broader and covers the financial inclusion. The study covers up the role of selected commercial banks(SBI & ICICI) in financial inclusion and it critically evaluates the socio-economic development of Rajasthan. It also describes the motives of financial inclusion, the involvement of financial inclusion on the socio-economic development of Rajasthan, various measures of commercial banks for financial inclusion, and the advancement of financial inclusion plan in the state. The study would also be helpful for the further studies on the ideas that will be explored. Therefore the present study is quite beneficial to gain knowledge regarding the role of commercial banks in financial inclusion and it’s critically evaluation of socio-economic development of Rajasthan.

Limitations of the study
1. Only SBI & ICICI Banks are chosen for the study.
2. The sample taken for the study comprises only 2 commercial banks.
3. Research is based on the availability of the data.
4. Bias of the interviewed may present the wrong data.
5. Bias of the interviewer also can affect the results of the study.

Methodology
Research is a common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of current English lays down the meaning of research as ‘a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch knowledge’. Redman and Mory define research as a ‘systemized effort to gain new knowledge’. Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the known to the unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery. D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the encyclopedia of social sciences define research as ‘the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art’. In short, the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution to a problem is research.19

Types of Research
The basic types of research are as follows:
Descriptive vs. Analytical Research: Descriptive research includes surveys and facts and findings enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of the state of affairs as it exists at present. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables, he can only report what happened or what is happening. In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher has to use facts or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.
Applied vs. Fundamental: applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business organization, whereas fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalization and with the formulation of a theory. Research concerning some natural phenomena or relating to pure mathematics are examples of fundamental research. Similarly, research studies concerning human behavior carried on with a view to make generalization about human behavior are also examples of fundamental research, but research aimed at certain conclusions facing a concrete social or business problems is an example of applied research. Research to identify social, economic or political trends that may affect a particular institution or marketing research or evaluation research are examples of applied research. The central aim of applied research is to discover a solution for some pressing practical problem.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research: Quantitative research is based on measurement of quantity or amount on the other hand qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena. For instance , when we are interested in investigating the reasons for human behavior we quite often talk of Motivation Research, an important type of qualitative research. This type of research aims at discovering the underlying motives and desires, using depth interviews for the purpose.
Conceptual vs. Empirical Research: Conceptual research is that related to some abstract ideas or theory. It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret the existing ones. On the other hand empirical research relies on experience or observation alone , often with due regards system and theory. It is data based research, coming up conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment.20
These are some various types of research but the present study is concerned with Descriptive and Analytical research, descriptive because the researcher has no control over the variables and the study is only a description of state of affairs at present, analytical because study is concerned with the critical evaluation on the basis of available facts or information.
Research Design
Sample Design
A sample design is a definite plan determined before any data are actually collected for obtaining a sample from a given population. Sample can be either probability samples or non-probability samples. With probability samples each element has a known probability of being included in the sample but the non-probability samples do not allow the researcher to determine this probability. Probability samples are those based on simple random sampling, systematic random sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling on the other hand non-probability samples are those based on convenience sampling, judgment sampling and quota sampling.
Sampling Method
The sample will be collected by the convenience sampling method and simple random sampling method.
Sample Size
The study will collect information on commercial banks chosen to represent the public and the private sector commercial banks.
It is proposed to study State Bank of India and ICICI in Financial Inclusion of Rajasthan and its impact on socio-economic development of Rajashan.
Universe
The universe of the study consists of commercial Banks operating in Rajasthan.
Data Collection
Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one to answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes. The data collection component of research is common to all fields of study including physical and social sciences, humanities, business, etc. The goal for all data collection is to capture quality evidence that then translates to rich data analysis and allows the building of a convincing and credible answer to questions that have been posed. There are various ways to represent data representation like graphical, tabular etc by which any situation can be shown.
There are two types of data collection methods they are primary & secondary method. Primary data are those which are collected for very first time by the researcher himself like interview, questionnaire, observation etc. secondary data that are already have been collected by the others, they are usually journals, periodicals, research publications etc
For this study data can be collected by both the methods:
‘ Primary method
‘ Secondary method
Primary data
Primary data will be collected directly by questioner method, interview method and review of concerned literature. The officials will be asked about the financial inclusion in the state as well its progress, initiatives taken by banks for inclusion, financial inclusions plans of the banks and their opinions on the impact of financial inclusion on socio-economic development of Rajasthan. The questioner will be divide in two parts first part will be related with the Bank professionals in which the questions will be based on the schemes of financial inclusion, action taken towards financial inclusion, progress of financial inclusion and their contribution towards socio-economic development of Rajasthan through financial inclusion and second is associated with the general public, the questions will be connected with their expectations from banks regarding financial inclusion.

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Essay Sauce, Role Of Selected Commercial Banks In Financial Inclusion: A Critical Study Of Socio-Economic Development Of Rajasthan. Available from:<https://www.essaysauce.com/finance-essays/role-selected-banks-financial-inclusion/> [Accessed 28-03-24].

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