Annual Policy Conference Greater Inclusion: Possibilities & Prospects Introduction to Annual Policy Conference 2007 on Greater Inclusion: Possibilities & Prospects 17-18th January 2007 Mathew Titus

Current debate on Financial Inclusion Inclusion of poor critical in the mainstream programs for economic advancement from social, economic & political perspective In recent times, efforts on policies for holistic inclusion – Committee on financial inclusion: Dr. C. Rangarajan Working group in Planning Commission Task force under National Commission of Enterprises Reserve bank of India committee on financial inclusion The work requires – revisiting and redefining present day approaches, institutional frameworks from the perspective of demand and supply stream in the economy Challenge for Institutions – To remain efficient, competitive & sustainable while serving the poor

Integration with Livelihoods Livelihoods issues for the poor are complex Need for creating new opportunities for employment and entreneurship Creating markets and providing linkages Supporting and upgrading skills to develop markets without destroying traditional occupations Livelihood – finance integration

Social Security Degree of vulnerability in poor – very high No access to social security products makes them even more vulnerable Social security is important for them as an alternative to provide a safety net to their lives and endevaours The availability and suitable of these product still in the experimental stage Pension remains a distance dream Need for institutional infrastructure and facilitative environment for reaching out with social security measures to the poor

Collective efforts needed for inclusive financial markets Provision of credit, savings and insurance especially health and asset insurance need to be made accessible For vibrancy of the market economy – livelihood promotion and market linkages are crucial This requires collective effort from all stakeholders in the form of effective collaboration and role distribution

Institutional Preparedness Are our institutional structures, systems and processes equipped for financial inclusion of marginalized population? Indian Financial Infrastructure Public sector banks, RRBs, three tier cooperative structure [down sized to meet the needs of small farmers through PACS] Under liberalization – entry of many private sector banks However, the incremental outreach – far from satisfactory

Therefore, the Focus of Conference Dynamics of INCLUSION Inclusive LIVELIHOODS Social SECURITY Challenges for Nation in Greater Financial Inclusion Development and COOPERATION Institutional PREPAREDNESS CONVERGENCE

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