Inclusive

 

SHEER numbers are mind-boggling -- of the massive inclusion of lower layers of the society into the system the Indian economy has made possible in the past ten years. Mudra loans, for example: The Government has given 52 crore loans under this head, totalling Rs. 33-plus lakh crore. It was with reason that Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi felt a great sense of pride and achievement when he said that countless numbers of ordinary people have been able to showcase their skills and capabilities on the strength of the money they got through Mudra loans. The sheer numbers make the story great -- of financial inclusion in modern times.

 

This is true with many other schemes of the Modi Government -- like Jan Dhan Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, toilet in every home, like power connection to people in every nook and corner of the country, like land-mapping especially in rural areas with the help of drones ... ! Each of these schemes is a successful attempt to push the concept of inclusive finance so that all layers of the society are suitably benefitted. When the economy is thus democratised, it touches people’s lives in ways that are not easy to imagine commonly. This Indian experiment has already caught the attention of the world. Thanks to massive and focused effort, India can now boast of being a world leader in digitisation of most economic processes including daily-need payments by small operators including housewives and daily-wagers, vendors and students.

 

These numbers, too, are mind-boggling, to say the least. Many countries are officially seeking India’s help in digitising small payments so that lower layers of the economic activity, too, go cashless there. Unfortunately, there still are some elements in the country finding faults with the Government on this count. They heap senseless and politically-driven criticism on the Government actually achieving nothing. But some of them also talk of giving Direct Benefit Transfer of money to people -- Khataa-Khat-Khataa-Khat. To all such people, the only question should be asked: How is your Khataa-Khat transfer of benefit taking place? -- naturally through the zero-balance accounts the Government has facilitated for the poorest of the poor of the country ! This is inclusive finance. This is a true democratisation of the economy. This is taking the the concept of welfare to its highest and best level. Mudra loans is only one of the measures of success of this approach offering amazing results in multiple domains.

 

Previously, there always was a lot of political tall-talk on this count. Political leaders often spent a lot of their energies talking about how the national economy should bring benefits to the poor. Yet, on the ground, nothing actually happened. The common people, therefore, only laughed sarcastically when such talk came up. An important attribute of the Modi Government is that it took daring steps to close the credibility gap between the talk and the walk in terms of inclusive finance. International financial institutions often emphasised inclusive finance as a major economic goal, but could take only a few steps in the right direction. The real impetus, even internationally, to the concept took place when Mr. Narendra Modi assumed prime ministership. The concept is beyond politics and beyond propaganda. Its actual utility to improving the overall standards of the economy has by now been proved beyond any shade of doubt. Common Indian people (read ‘poor’) have benefitted immensely from an effective conceptualisation and implementation of inclusive finance beyond political biases and ideological prejudices. It is important that the larger Indian society understands this beautiful reality.