Financial Inclusion in Tripura - An Assessment

Abstract

Financial inclusion may be defined 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. Providing access to basic banking services is the first phase of the financial inclusion process. The relevance of financial inclusion in Tripura carries a lot of points. The economy of Tripura plagued by geographical isolation, poor infrastructure facilities, higher incidence of poverty and high unemployement, etc., is agrarian and more than 80 per cent of population lives in the rural areas. The Census-2001 data reveal that proportion of households availing of commercial banking services in the State was 26.5 per cent compared to all-India level of 35.5 per cent. There are different estimates on the extent of exclusion but most of the estimates establish that the NER region is financially excluded and the region lies at the bottom.

Given the backdrop, the financial inclusion of Tripura is assessed with parameters like the number of branches, number of villages covered, number of accounts opened, expansion of ATM network, credit-deposit ratio, etc., to know the degree of banking penetration in the State. The study shows that physical achievements have reached notable level in Tripura compared with other States but qualitative achievement is still awaited for which banks should emphasise on local opportunities and requirements keeping in view national plan as well as the policy of State government, etc., so that credit penetration reaches the rural poor.