The impact of financial inclusion policy on BPL families of Punjab

Abstract

Financial inclusion is the delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of the disadvantaged and low income groups. The present study has examined the awareness, access, availability, usage and socio-economic benefits of financial inclusion services for the BPL sections of Punjab. It was an exploratory study based on primary data. The study has collected data from 500 BPL respondents from three Note: Research Scholars are requested to please fill this metadata form in MS-Word format andsave it in PDF format in their CD (thesis). Scanned copy of the same is not allowed. (Signature of Research Scholar) districts of Punjab namely Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Sangrur. The study has adopted multistage random sampling technique to draw the sample. The study has applied Percentage Analysis, Chi-square Test, Fisher s Exact Test, Head Count Index and Poverty Gap Index, Binomial Multinomial Logistic Regression to analyze the collected information. The different indicators such as awareness, access, availability and usage have been compared across the districts. The awareness level was found higher in case of Gurdaspur followed by Jalandhar and Sangrur. The study has found, issues with access and availability of financial inclusion indicators such as sometimes help desk availability, difficult loan procedure, uneasy account opening and inadequate overdraft facility.The usage of financial services was also found very low and among small number of respondents. The study has found very low level of material and cognitive changes for the beneficiaries but moderate level of perceptional changes. The study recommended for focusing on financial literacy among the not-so literate respondents as awareness is the key to all problems associated with the unbanked masses. newline