Financial Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs in India

  Gurveen Kaur

Abstract Women constituting half of our population represent an untapped source of economic growth and entrepreneurship is one way of using that vast pool of human resource as mediators of that growth. Although India has witnessed a significant rise in the number of women entrepreneurs over the past few decades influencing the demographic characteristics of business yet the entrepreneurial world in the country is still dominated by men. There is ample evidence to suggest that besides cultural constraints, the access to formal sources of credit is one of the major factors stifling the growth of women entrepreneurship in India. While banks do not deliberately exclude women, something in the system is not working. Not only in rural areas but even in big cities there are women with entrepreneurial spirit who cannot realise their full potential in the absence of banking facilities. It therefore becomes imperative that any vision of India's financial system in the coming years takes this financial gap as a matter of concern. A financial inclusion program may not aim exclusively at women, but to ensure that women benefit the maximum from such a programme, it is important to understand why financial exclusion for women is different from that for men. Developing and monitoring financial services designed in accordance with the needs of women entrepreneurs and making them aware of such services through literacy programs not only meets the objective of financial inclusion but also adds to the overall socio-economic development of the country. This paper emphasises on the need for a model of sustainable banking that fosters a more inclusive, environment-friendly, transparent and commercially-viable financial sector and better serving and integrating women is an important part of it. Financial literacy for women is a key, but awareness in society also has to play a big role in bridging this gap and the paper is step in that direction.

Keywords- Entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, financial literacy, collateral, inclusive growth

Unique Identification Number - IJEDR1702241
Page Number(s) - 1529-1539
Pubished in - Volume 5 | Issue 2 | June 2017
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) -   
Publisher - IJEDR (ISSN - 2321-9939)

  Gurveen Kaur,   "Financial Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs in India ", International Journal of Engineering Development and Research (IJEDR), ISSN:2321-9939, Volume.5, Issue 2, pp.1529-1539, June 2017, Available at :http://www.ijedr.org/papers/IJEDR1702241.pdf