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Rethinking and Revitalising Our Pathways of Financial Inclusion and Microfinance in the Era of Digitalisation from Sustainable Development Goal Perspectives
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The spirit behind the financial inclusion and microfinance intervention in unbanked area has been existing in Indian banking sector since 1969. In the last two decades, innovative strategies such as institutional adaptation to the micro economy and digital financial services have been adopted towards further intensification of the inclusion of the excluded poor people and deepening the micro financial services on the rural front. Although a well regulated governance system in the banking sector is present, there are some formidable risks in the development pathways impeding the achievement of sustainable financial inclusion goals. This paper, therefore, attempts to identify the contemporaneous issues, and to suggest the ways and means for revitalising our pathways for sustainable financial inclusion. The study brings out the presence of issues such as multiple financing, over indebtedness, ineptness of the products, digital divide, cybercrimes, exclusion after inclusion, diversion of credit, gender gap, disconnection with green finance, etc. For challenging these issues, a slew of strategies, namely, credit plus financial inclusion, green linked financial inclusion, digital literacy through financial literacy campaigns, and a robust monitoring and evaluation system are recommended.
Keywords
Financial Inclusion, Microfinance, Digital Literacy
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