Agriculture Credit Reform and Financial Inclusion in India

Development Studies

Financial Inclusion is a flagship programme started by the RBI to bring people under the ambit of formal financial inclusion. It is now an established fact that without access to formal finance at an affordable cost, inclusive growth is not possible. In order to provide credit to the agriculture sector, which has the potential for employment generation in rural area, the RBI has initiated several programme including revising priority sector lending guidelines. Under this scheme RBI has adopted a policy of providing credit through multiple channels and simplifying procedure for small and marginal farmers. Since 2004, there has been a spurt in agricultural credit due to Govt. of India initiatives such as doubling of Agriculture Credit in 2004-06, Debt Waiver Scheme and Strengthening of Co-operative. Thus, agricultural credit scenario has been good in past years but the average agriculture GDP growth declined to around 2 percent. Although agricultural credit flow data is impressive but the small and marginal farmers are unable to get credit easily. Therefore more innovative models are needed to reach small and marginal farmers in rural areas for the success of financial inclusion programme.

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