ROLE OF DIGITIZATION IN FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF SELF- HELP GROUPS

Abstract

India has always aimed at inclusive growth. A large part of population still resides in rural areas. Economic development of India is not possible without rural development. Several programs were introduced from time to time with the core objective of easing the accessibility of financial services to the poor but with little success. One of the reasons for rampant underdevelopment of rural India is inaccessibility of funds at the grass root level. As the formal credit institutions were considered incapable of dealing with the financial requirements of the poor, microfinance emerged as an alternate credit system. This has further gained momentum by using technology to provide financial services to the poor. This paper would focus on how digitization has influenced financial inclusion and what are the various challenges that must be tackled to make it more effective. As the focus is on SHG- BLP model, this paper would emphasize how the SHGs can utilize digital medium to reap more benefits out of this microfinance model. The paper would give insight into how the impact of microfinance can be enhanced using technology. KEY WORDS: Microfinance, Self Help Groups, NABARD, Digital Inclusion, Digitization etc.