When I recently attended The Second Annual Conference on Public Policy and Management at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, I had not imagined that it will be difficult to summarize it in a blog post. Discussed at the conference - current thinking on the proposed National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, papers on increasing financial inclusion and other issues on policy in practice.

I particularly liked a key note address by Usha Thorat, Deputy Governor - Reserve Bank of India. She spoke of different methods in which financial inclusion could be promoted - providing easier, affordable access to financial services. These include encouraging GCCs (generalized credit cards) for rural customers and recognizing microfinance institutions.

Even with all the euphoria about financial inclusion, it is critical that political leaders do not jeopardize this process. Unfortunately, there have been cases of governments earning favour through loan waiver schemes. There are examples of this in states such as Punjab and Karnataka. This has become less frequent over the last few years – but remains an issue. With the government controlling over 80% of banks, this is not difficult.

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