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Abstract
Banks were nationalized four decades ago with the hope and promise that their products and services would reach the poor and provide benefits to stable themselves. But that goal is not even close to being met today as expected previously. With 52,000 plus commercial bank branches, 14,522 plus branches of regional rural banks and 100,000 plus cooperative bank branches, the country is teeming with institutions that should be able to meet the credit needs of the people. Consider these numbers: 75 plus million households in India depend on moneylenders to meet financial needs; almost 90 percent of the people in rural India have no access to insurance and other related investment and security things.