From Access to Accessibility: The Bank Sakhi Model and Women’s Financial Inclusion- A Case Study

Abstract

Notwithstanding prolonged endeavours taken to broaden financial inclusion in India, the involvement of women with the formal financial sector comprehensively is still inconsistent, particularly in rural regions. Despite the increase in institutional access to banks, there are still many women who have difficulty trusting the financial system, feeling comfortable, and interacting with it easily. This case draws attention to financial accessibility as the key element of inclusion and not only the mere existence of the financial services. The situation is the Bank Sakhi model with an inquiry on the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and its impact on women from Self-Help Groups who act as Community-Based Banking Agents. Their people-friendly financial services and their services as trusted intermediaries are ways forward to reduce the social and interactional barriers that prevent the women of our society from taking part in the formal finance business. The study concentrates on the field-based information and comes up with an evaluation of how the model plays a part in making the financial market more reachable, besides detecting critical causes and hindrances in the form of socio-cultural norms, human behaviour, and interaction dynamics. The case finally shows how a management challenge could be because the inclusion of the intermediaries should be made in a way that it is conducive to the developments and women’s accessibility to finance becomes consistent and meaningful.