of the population. the national sample survey data ( 2002 – 03 ) revealed that nearly 51 per cent of farmer households in the country did not seek credit from either institutional or non - institutional sources of any kind. a number of rural households are still not covered by banks. they are deprived of basic banking services like a savings account or minimal credit facilities. the proportion of rural residents who lack access to bank accounts is nearly 40 per cent, and the figure rises to over three - fifths in the eastern and north - eastern regions of india. accordingly, our primary objective is to take banking to all excluded sections of the society, rural and urban. a more focused and structured approach towards financial inclusion has been followed since the year 2005 when reserve bank of india decided to implement policies to promote financial inclusion and urged the banking system to focus on this goal. our focus has, specifically, been on providing banking services to all the 600 thousand villages and meeting their financial needs through basic financial products like savings, credit and remittance. the objectives of financial inclusion, in the wider context of the agenda for inclusive growth, have been pursued through a multi - agency approach. in 2006, the government of india constituted a committee on financial inclusion, 5 which made a wide range of recommendations on the strategies for building an inclusive financial sector and gave a national rural financial inclusion plan. government of india has set up the financial stability and development council ( fsdc ), which is mandated, inter alia, to focus on financial inclusion and financial literacy issues. in order to further strengthen the ongoing financial inclusion agenda in india, a high level financial inclusion advisory committee has been constituted by rbi. the committee would pave the way for developing a viable and sustainable banking services delivery model focussing on accessible and affordable financial services, developing products and processes for rural and urban consumers presently outside the banking network and for suggesting appropriate regulatory framework to ensure that financial inclusion and financial stability move in tandem. financial sector regulators including rbi are fully committed to the financial inclusion mission. i will cover this in more detail in a subsequent section. framework for measurement and data analysis requirements – conceptual issues an essential pre - requisite for measurement is to understand the context and framework of financial inclusion. any effort to measure the various dimensions of financial inclusion is not possible without explaining the context and framework. the basic framework for measurement of financial inclusion should cover some important dimensions. first, financial inclusion, financial literacy and consumer protection are the three major planks of financial stability.

bis central bankers ’ speeches of experts from both institutions who are scheduled to speak over the course of the next two days, especially madam first deputy governor, i am sure that the seminar will prove to be very useful in sharing of knowledge and experience among the participants. i wish the seminar all success and hope that our guests from the banque de france have a pleasant stay in india and do find time to get a feel of the rich cultural cocktail that this country presents. ladies and gentlemen thank you for your patience. merci. selected references • cartwright, peter : the vulnerable consumer of financial services : law, policy and regulation • kopke, kerry : a fair bit of confusion : treating customers fairly in south africa http : / / www. bowman. co. za / news - blog / blog / treating - customers - fairly - in - south - africa • lumpkin, stephen : consumer protection and financial innovation : a few basic propositions. • sergeant review of simple financial products – interim report http : / / www. eacg. co. uk / sergeant - review - of - simple - financial - products - interim - report • farnish, christine : the silent majority http : / / www. icaew. com / en / technical / financial - services / regulation - guidance / the - silentmajority bis central bankers ’ speeches