Financial inclusion and a well-functioning financial system are the hallmarks of any developed economy. India, for the last 73 years has been trying to solve the problem of providing access to financial services. While we are almost there now, what next? How do we make sure this access translates into benefits? How will our country now step on the path to prosperity? These are some of the broad themes we cover in this episode. We talk to Beni Chugh, a senior research associate at Dvara Research about what financial inclusion really means, how the idea has evolved, and what we can do as a society to make financial services more inclusive. In the course of the conversation, we also discuss the role of each of the stakeholders in the process, what the capacity constraints are, and the regulatory barriers that currently exist.

Show notes:

1. Dvara Research
   
2. Last-mile Delivery of PM Garib Kalyan Yojana Benefits during the COVID-19 Pandemic - Aarushi Gupta, Anupama Kumar, Janani A.P, Social Protection Initiative, Dvara Research
   
3. When Microcredit is unsuitable - Vaishnavi Pratap and Rachit Khaitan, Dvara Research
   
4. Household Finance in India: Approaches and Challenges -  Vishwanath C, Monami Dasgupta & Misha Sharma, Dvara Research
   
5. The Risk Aggregator Model in Banking for India - Madhu Srinivas & Deepti George, Dvara Research
   
6. Artificial Intelligence in Digital Credit in India - Anubhutie Singh & Srikara Prasad, Dvara Research
   
7. Let’s stop kicking the can down the road: Highlighting important and unaddressed gaps in microcredit regulations - Nishanth K & Deepti George, Dvara Research
   
8. Financial Regulation of Consumer-facing fintech in India: Status quo and Emerging Concerns - Beni Chugh, Dvara Research
   
9. Report of the Household Finance Committee - Reserve Bank of India
   
10. Who is inclusive fintech really including? - Devraj Hom Roy
    
11. Fintech for Financial Inclusion - AFI