Driving Financial Inclusion: IIT Roorkee’s Trailblazing Conference on Digitalization and Inclusive Banking

by Prashant Kapadia/NHN

 

• The session would spread financial education among diverse segments of society will help create financial literacy.

• Presenters discussed their ongoing research and activities, shared knowledge, established relevant networks, and developed collaborative efforts for future research.

• Fostering Financial Literacy and Sustainable Development through Innovative Strategies on Digitalization and Inclusive Banking

Roorkee: 03, 08, 2023: The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) hosts a two-day conference on “Digitalisation and Inclusive Banking: Vision for the Next 25 Years” on 3-4^th  August 2023. Additionally, funding for the conference was provided by the ICSSR (under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav). More importantly, a key focus of the conference will be promoting financial inclusion through digitalisation as part of national and global action plans under the Indian G20 presidency.  There is broad agreement among policymakers that inclusive banking is a powerful tool for reducing poverty, empowering women, meeting the credit needs of agriculture and rural enterprises, and providing direct cash transfers from governments to marginalised groups.

The conference thus supports and aligns the ongoing policy discussions, as part of national global action plans, on promoting financial inclusion through digitalisation under the Indian G20 Presidency. Although the conference broadly aims to cover the following key issues but is not limited to Access to Finance: The role of Banks, Bank Performance, Responsible Lending and Sustainable Finance, Financial Inclusion and Bank Stability, Sustainable Development Goals and Digital Financial Inclusion, Emerging Practices: Digital Revolution, FinTech and Bank Performance, Financial Literacy & Divides (Gender, Regional & Class): Role of Action Plans – Global and National Strategies. The Conference attempts to provide an interactive platform for policy experts, global banking experts, bank managers, academicians, and research scholars working in this subject area to gather and discuss the national and global challenges in achieving the sustainable development goal (SDG) aligned with the goal of inclusive banking and propose solutions towards successful implementation of national and global action plans.

The inaugural session of the Conference was addressed by Prof. K K Pant, Director IIT Roorkee and Dr. Luis E. Breuer, Senior Resident Representative to India, IMF. Dr. Pallavi Chavan, Director, Department of Economic and Policy Research, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai, and Shri. Vinod K. Bist, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Dehradun, delivered the keynote talks in the policy session.

On addressing the session, Prof. K K Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, added, “Implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2019-2024 and the National Strategy for Financial Education 2020-2025 provides an effective road map for a coordinated approach towards financial (banking) inclusion, financial literacy, and consumer protection. Additionally, a robust branch network of banks has also been effectively utilised to provide the doorstep delivery of banking services and open a zero balance “Basic Savings Bank Deposit” account under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).”

Dr. Luis E. Breuer, Senior Resident Representative to India, IMF, said, “India has built a world-class digital public infrastructure that is changing the way economic transactions take place in both public and private sectors. The innovative Aadhar identification system, combined with the unified payments interface UPI and the data exchange systems, have led to the proliferation of new modalities of economic relations and services that are improving the quality of public policies, promoting financial inclusion, and catalysing innovation. There is much that the international community can learn from what India has achieved in this area over the last decade. With this in mind, the conference at IIT Roorkee seeks to derive actionable policy recommendations for enhancing the diffusion of technology-based inclusion practices.”

Dr. Pallavi Chavan, in her address titled “Financial Inclusion: Past, Present and Future”, discussed the global evolution of the concept of financial inclusion. Shri V.K. Bist, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Dehradun, pointed out on the catalytic role of technology in furthering financial inclusion and emphasized that Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs) equip themselves with the latest banking technology.

Dr. Charan Singh, EGrow Foundation and Global Banking Experts from large UK and Australian banks also joined the key sessions. Prof. Mandira Sarma, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, addressed the Valedictory Session of the Conference.

Overall, the conference aims to contribute significantly to ongoing policy discussions and national and global action plans in promoting financial inclusion through digitalisation. It underscores the pivotal role of inclusive banking in reducing poverty, empowering women, supporting rural enterprises, and facilitating direct cash transfers to marginalised groups. The exchange of ideas and experiences during the conference will continue to lead to innovative solutions for successful implementation of inclusive banking strategies aligned with sustainable development goals.