Perception of Lead Bank Managers about Financial Inclusion Programmes (A Comparative Study of Punjab and Haryana)

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1 Perception of Lead Bank Managers about Financial Inclusion Programmes (A Comparative Study of Punjab and Haryana) Dr.Harpreet Kaur Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce Punjabi University,Patiala Kawal Nain Singh Assistant Professor, Institute of Management Studies,Bhaddal Abstract Financial inclusion refers to timely delivery of financial services to disadvantaged sections of society. These include not only banking products but also other financial services such as insurance and equity products. Access to contingency planning would help for future savings such as retirement savings, buffer savings and insurable contingencies and access to credit includes emergency loans, housing loans and consumption loans. On the other hand, access to wealth creation includes savings and investment based on household s level of financial literacy and risk perception. This effort will certainly go a long way in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty, while mitigating systematic risk and maintaining financial stability.the present paper Endeavour s to study the perception of lead bank managers of Punjab and Haryana regarding Financial Inclusionprogrammes on the basis of various aspects like Marketing, Business Facilitators used to promote Financial Inclusion schemes and Customer Convenience. Keywords: Financial Inclusion,Marketing,Business Facilitators, Customer Convenience. Introduction Financial exclusion of a vast majority represents a missed opportunity of an enormous potential for economic growth. Finance and poverty are highly interrelated terms; financial inclusion of the poor can ultimately result in reduction of poverty instigating inclusive growth. Inclusive growth means growth with equal opportunities which focuses on both creating opportunities and making opportunities accessible to all. Growth is inclusive when it allows all members of a society to participate in and contribute to the growth process on an equal basis regardless of their individual circumstances. Despite making significant improvements in the areas relating to financial viability, profitability and competitiveness, there are concerns that banks have not been able to include vast segment of the population, especially the underprivileged sections of the society, into the fold of basic banking services. Attempts have been made by the policymakers and financial institutions to bring large sections of the rural population within the banking system having realized that financial inclusion is the essence of sustainable economic growth and development in a country like India. Without Financial Inclusion we cannot think of economic development because a large chunk of total population remains outside the growth process. Though our country's economy is growing at a one digit, still the growth is not inclusive with the economic condition of the people in rural areas worsening further. It is well recognized that there are supply side and demand side factors driving inclusive growth. Banks and other financial services players are largely expected to mitigate the supply side processes that prevent poor and disadvantaged social groups from gaining access to the financial system. Access to financial products is constrained by several factors which include lack of awareness about the financial products, unaffordable products, high transaction costs and products which are inconvenient, inflexible, not customized and of low quality. However, we must bear in mind that apart from the supply side factors, demand side factors such as lower income and /or asset holdings also have a significant bearing on inclusive growth. Owing to difficulties in accessing formal sources of credit, poor individuals and small and micro enterprises usually rely on their personal savings and internal sources or take recourse to informal sources to invest in health, education, 315 Dr.Harpreet Kaur, Kawal Nain Singh

2 housing and entrepreneurial activities to make use of growth opportunities. The mainstream financial institutions like banks have an important role to play in overcoming this constraint, not as a social obligation, but as pure business proposition. The overall strategy for financial inclusion, especially amongst the poor and disadvantaged segments of the population should comprise : Ways and means to effect improvements within the existing formal credit delivery mechanism. Suggest measures for improving the credit absorption capacity especially amongst the marginal and sub marginal farmers and poor non-cultivator households. Evolve new models for extending outreach. Leverage on technology solutions to facilitate large scale inclusion. Review of Related Literature SubbaraoK. G. K.(2007)stated that the impact of financial innovations implemented from time to time with reference to priority sectors is reflected in the decennial household surveys on debt and investment conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization and periodical survey by RBI throw light on the reliance of these groups on institutional and non-institutional sources of finance. Srinivasan N. (2007)denoted that financial exclusions remains a major issue in organized sector, suggests that while structural solutions are expensive, banks should think of designing a process response to the problem, drawing on experiences and practices of traditional lenders to the unorganized sector. Lawton Kayte and Platt Reg (2010) provide evidence about inequalities and exclusion in access to financial services and affordable utilities. The report uses six measures of financial exclusion: ownership of a current account or other transactional bank account; savings; pensions; home contents insurance; access to affordable credit; and access to financial advice. Financial exclusion can have a negative impact on people s quality of life and the effects can include an inability to take part in day-to-day financial transactions; the inability to cope with unexpected events or planned lifestyle changes and having to pay more for certain products and services. Lead Bank Scheme of RBI for Financial Inclusion in India The lead bank scheme, launched way back in 1969, is an integrated mechanism to extend banking services to the doorsteps of consumers, especially the poor. Stating that there are millions of unbanked people even in urban areas, the Reserve Bank in a significant move has asked banks to bring all districts in metropolitan areas under the lead bank scheme fold.the move is part of increasing the scope of its financial inclusion drive to urban areas on one hand and helping the government realize its efforts to plug the loopholes in subsidy deliveries by transferring all the benefits directly to the bank accounts of the target people. Objectives of the study: 1. To compare the perception of lead bank managers of Punjab and Haryana regarding Financial Inclusion schemes. 2. To examine various aspects regarding promotion and customers convenience for Punjab and Haryana. Sources of data Collection The study is based on primary data which was collected from thelead bank managers of Punjab and Haryana with the help ofself designed structured Questionnaire. The lead banks selected for the study were Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Patiala, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Punjab and Sind Bank. 316 Dr.Harpreet Kaur, Kawal Nain Singh

3 Data Analysis and Interpretation For the purpose of the study a total of 60 lead bank managers were selected which comprises of 27 lead bank managers from Punjab and 33 bank managers from Haryana. Independent samples t-test has been applied to the data along with descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics of usage of Marketing Tools to promote Financial Inclusion schemes Marketing Tools N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Punjab Haryana Table 1.1 Independent Samples t-test Marketing Tools Levene's Test for Equality of Variances F Sig. t df t-test for Equality of Means Sig. (2- tailed) Mean Std. Error Equal variances Equal variances not Table 1.2 Interpretation: Table 1.1 shows the mean difference is (-0.016), implies that the banks of Punjab as well as Haryana used similar Marketing tools for Financial Inclusion schemes. But the mean score of banks in both the states Punjab and Haryana is (2.33) and (2.35) respectively which is on the lower side shows that very less marketing tools are used for promoting Financial Inclusion schemes. Table1.2 shows Independent sample t-test applied to the construct of using various Marketing tools to promote Financial Inclusion schemes with regard to the states of Punjab and Haryana. For the purpose of the study: H0: There is no significant difference between Punjab and Haryana in usage of Marketing tools to promote Financial Inclusion schemes. H1: There exists a significant difference between Punjab and Haryana in usage ofmarketing tools to promote Financial Inclusion schemes. On marketing aspect the Sig. value of the levene s test of equality of variance is (0.938) which is greater than 0.05 so the values of equal variance are taken into consideration. The Sig. value computed for the t- test in this case is (.839) which is greater than 0.05 which states that H0 will be accepted which implies that no statistical significant difference exits between the banks of Punjab and Haryana on the aspect of Marketing of Financial Inclusion schemes. 317 Dr.Harpreet Kaur, Kawal Nain Singh

4 Descriptive statistics of usage of Business Facilitators to promote Financial Inclusion schemes Business Facilitators N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Punjab Haryana Independent Samples t-test Business Facilitators Levene's Test for Equality of Variances Table 2.1 F Sig. t df t-test for Equality of Means Sig. (2- tailed) Mean Std. Error Equal variances Equal variances not Table 2.2 Interpretation: Table 2.1 shows the mean difference is (-0.373), implies that the banks in Haryana are using Business Facilitators for Financial Inclusion Programs more than that of banks in Punjab.As the mean scores of banks in both the states Punjab and Haryana are (2.71) and (3.08) respectively which is on the lower side for the banks in Punjab and on the higher side for the banks in Haryana according to the perception of lead bank managers. Table 2.2 shows Independent sample t-test applied to the construct of using various Business Facilitators to promote Financial Inclusion schemes with regard to the states of Punjab and Haryana. For the purpose of the study: H0: There is no significant difference between the banks of Punjab and Haryana in usage of Business Facilitators. H1: There exists a significant difference between the banks of Punjab and Haryana in usage of Business Facilitators. On Business Facilitator aspect the Sig. value of levene s test of equality of variance is (0.350) which is greater than 0.05 so the values of equal variance are taken into account. The Sig. value computed for the t- test in this case is (.013) which is less than 0.05 which states that H1 will be accepted which implies that a statistical significant difference exits between the banks of Punjab and Haryana on the aspect of usage of Business Facilitators. Descriptive statistics of Convenience to Customers while implementation of Financial Inclusion schemes Convenience N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Punjab Haryana Table Dr.Harpreet Kaur, Kawal Nain Singh

5 Independent Samples t-test Convenience to Customers Levene's Test for Equality of Variances F Sig. t df t-test for Equality of Means Sig. (2- tailed) Mean Std. Error Equal variances Equal variances not Table 3.2 Interpretation: Table 3.1 shows the mean scores of banks in both the states of Punjab and Haryana are (2.914) and (3.293) respectively which, implies that the customers of banks in Haryana are better in term of Convenience than that of banks in Punjab according to the perception of lead bank managers. Table 3.2 shows Independent sample t-test applied to the construct of Convenience to customers while implementation of various Financial Inclusion schemes with regard to the states of Punjab and Haryana. For the purpose of the study: H0: There is no significant difference between the banks of Punjab and Haryana with regard to convenience to customers. H1: There exists a significant difference between the banks of Punjab and Haryana with regard to convenience to customers. On Convenience to customers aspect the Sig. value of levene s test of equality of variance is (0.228) which is greater than 0.05 so the values of equal variance are taken into consideration. The Sig. value computed for the t-test in this case is (.001) which is less than 0.05 which states that H1 will be accepted which implies that a statistical significant difference exits between the banks of Punjab and Haryana on the aspect of Convenience to customers. Findings and Suggessions The perception of lead bank managers implies that similar Marketing tools were used for promoting Financial Inclusion schemes for both the states of Punjab as well as Haryana. In promotion aspect banks of both the states of Punjab and Haryana are suggested to launch customer awareness drives and put emphasis on advertisement. The perception of lead bank managers implies that the banks in Haryana are using Business Facilitators more than that of banks in Punjab for promoting Financial Inclusion schemes. In this case it is suggested to the banks in Punjab to improve and enhance the use of Business Facilitators. The perception of lead bank implies that the customers of banks in Haryana are better in term of Convenience than that of banks in Punjab while implementation of various Financial Inclusion Schemes. In this case it is suggested to the banks in Punjab to improve the level of Convenience to the customers so that the objective of increasing penetration of financial services to lower income groups will be achieved. 319 Dr.Harpreet Kaur, Kawal Nain Singh

6 References SubbaraoK. G. K. (2007). Financial Inclusion: An Introspection. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42(5) Feb Srinivasan N. (2007). Policy Issues and Role of Banking System in Financial Inclusion. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42(30) Aug AnantJayantNatu(2008) Linkingfinancialinclusionwithsocialsecurityschemes WorkingPaperseries,CenterforMicroFina nce,iifmr ChakrabarthyK (2009) Financial Inclusion, RBI Initiatives at National Conference on National initiative for financial inclusion organized by DFS Govt. of India March 22 : Gujarathi D (2012) Analysis of Various Initiatives on Financial Inclusion. Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 1(7): Paramasivan C and Ganeshkumar V (2013) Overview of financial inclusion in India. International journal of management and development studies, 2 (3): Dr.Harpreet Kaur, Kawal Nain Singh