financial inclusion and financial literacy. their outreach has also increased through banking correspondents ( bcs ). in such a scenario, some may argue against the multiplicity of formal credit delivery channels in general and existence of co - operative banks in particular. but keeping in view the vast unbanked and heterogonous population of this country, there are stronger arguments in favour of giving people a menu of choices. the co - operative banking channel, being essentially a community based banking model, is more suited to design customized products and services to cater to the specific needs of different ethnic and social groups that exist in this country. the existence of different forms of non - formal credit channels and chit funds, particularly in the north eastern provinces, clearly underscores the need for customized banking products and services for different population groups. the commercial banks have had to undertake this responsibility in the absence of adequate efforts by the co - operative banking systems. i underscore the huge business opportunity for the co - operative banking in this segment. accessibility and availability of financial services although the issues of accessibility and availability of financial services in rural vis - a - vis urban areas are hugely different, unfortunately, the scenario of financial exclusion, more or less, remains the same. while in remote areas, banking services are neither adequately available nor accessible ; in urban areas, however, they are available in good measure but are not accessible by the poor. people living in urban slums are as financially excluded as their counterparts living in unbanked villages. this brings into focus the demand side issues of financial inclusion. i believe credit co - operatives, being member driven organisations, are more suited to handle the demand side issues like financial literacy and skill development. in fact, education, training and information is one of the internationally accepted principles of co - operation and addressing the demand side issues would go a long way in achieving our goal of financial inclusion. co - operatives for people of small means indian co - operative banks are characterised by huge asymmetry of size ranging from balance sheet size of a few lakhs of rupees to thousands of crores. however, whether big or small, co - operative institutions are by default meant for people of small means. the market segments commercial banks are catering to, as part of their priority sector obligations, credit bis central bankers ’ speeches co - operatives are supposed to have them as their niche markets. if this noble cause is served by smaller entities among co - operatives, one may be tempted

is “ geography ” that determines the rise and fall of civilizations. this “ geography is destiny ” theory which ruled for much of our recorded history is now seriously challenged by the latest sweep of it - enabled globalization. received wisdom today is that geography is irrelevant. no longer is a country ’ s destiny tied down to its geographical location or its physical resources. in the era of knowledge - propelled globalization, it is possible for countries to overcome handicaps of geography by exploiting their comparative advantage in human resources. that blue - collar jobs shift across geographic boundaries in pursuit of cheap hands has long been part of conventional wisdom. but what is new is that increasingly white - collar jobs, once considered safe from foreign competition, are now being offshored. hence, the new catch phrases such as “ death of distance ” and “ conquest of location ”. the shifting comparative advantage is most visible in the services sector. no longer is it just low - end services such as data processing and call centres that are outsourced, but high end, skill - intensive services. thus it is that financial analysts in chennai provide tax consultancy to clients in chicago ; engineers in buenos aires design roads and bridges for berlin ; and radiologists in manila provide medical diagnostics for patients in manchester. on the other hand, it is low - end services such as laundry, janitor services and taxi driving that remain location tied. this trend, running counter to the compulsions of geography, could have significant implications for globalization. the theory has been, and still is, is that mature economies will outsource low end jobs to emerging and developing economies, and will themselves move up the value chain to more productive jobs. the outsourcing of high end jobs implies that this story is not running according to script. the number of jobs actually outsourced may be small, but the mere possibility that they could be outsourced has upset an unwritten social contract. this is because the very possibility of outsourcing erodes the bargaining power of workers and forces them to keep their wage demands subdued. for example, in the us, over the last decade, the share of bis central bankers ’ speeches wages in national income has steadily gone down while the share of corporate profits has increased, evidencing the declining bargaining power of workers. if this trend is not corrected, workers could get restive and demand protectionist measures. what this means is that free trade has the potential to raise global welfare, but its progress could be impeded