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No One Left Behind: Leveraging Rural Ent...

Deepa Mani, Richa ...

Case

No One Left Behind: Leveraging Rural Entrepreneurship to Drive Financial Inclusion in India

Deepa Mani; Richa Vera Udayana; Saumya Dhaundyal

ISB380 | Published June 23, 2023 | 22 pages Case

Collection: Indian School of Business

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Learning Objectives

The case covers a specific instance of state-led innovation in the provision of financial services to Indian citizens: through the the "Common Services Centres" (CSC) scheme. The CSC scheme engages a vast network of rural entrepreneurs to drive the delivery of a variety of services, including — in collaboration with banking organisations and bodies in the country — financial services (banking and insurance). This is particularly relevant since India has long suffered from extremely limited financial inclusion of its citizens, especially in rural areas and among marginalised groups and communities. Banking penetration as well as financial awareness too have historically been low. The present scheme has been an effort to combat these (and other related) challenges to bring hitherto underserved regions into the ambit of the formal banking system in India using a combination of locl social networks, innovative use of digital technologies, and iterative policy design.

To help graduate students of public policy, public administration, and business administration learn about the design and implementation of innovative governance solutions to intractible social problems such as expanding financial inclusion to hitherto underserved communities through the use of digital technologies. The case may also be used to explore challenges and bottlenecks to such processes, as well as trade-offs faced while ensuring service delivery.