ABSTRACT

Progress and development of the North-Eastern Region of India has been lagging behind the other regions of the country. This is evident from the low levels of per capita income, per capita expenditure, low banking penetration, lower credit-deposit ratio across the states of the region. The present study attempts to look at the relative backwardness of the North-Eastern Region, which may be significantly associated with higher incidence of poverty, income inequality in the region as against the rest of the country. This would be aided with data on regional distribution of credit, share of the region in national income, trend in consumption and expenditure of rural households in the states of North-Eastern Region. We have a closer look at the trend of bank branch outreach, credit deepening, flow of credit etc. Financial inclusion is important for bringing the poor and underprivileged sections of the society within the banking fold and thereby generating and sustaining equitable growth. Significance of the role of access to institutional credit is well established, especially in a resource limited country like ours. Thus a section of the paper has been dedicated to examine the nature and extent of financial inclusion or exclusion in the region. The region specific constraints in expanding reach of institutional credit in this region have also been analyzed in brief. Finally, the progress of financial inclusion initiatives and innovations like micro credit, BC/BF, JLGs, FPOs, PMJDY, and a few suggestions to improve financial inclusion process; thereby, aid to the development of this region have been included.