Do Financial Inclusion Initiatives Empower Women? Evidence from Indian Banking Sector

Do Financial Inclusion Initiatives Empower Women? Evidence from Indian Banking Sector | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Do Financial Inclusion Initiatives Empower Women? Evidence from Indian Banking Sector Ritu Vats, Reeta Clonia, Shelly Gupta This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8738644/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Financial inclusion has emerged as a key development strategy for enhancing economic participation and reducing gender disparities in developing countries. In India, several banking sector initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Self-Help Group–Bank Linkage Programme, Direct Benefit Transfer, and digital financial services have been introduced with the objective of improving women access to formal financial systems. Against this backdrop, the present study examines whether financial inclusion initiatives have contributed to women empowerment in India. The study is based on secondary data collected from reliable sources including the Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, National Family Health Survey, World Bank reports, and Government of India publications for the period 2015–2023. A descriptive and analytical approach has been adopted to analyse trends in women financial access, usage of banking services, and participation in economic activities. The findings indicate a substantial increase in women bank account ownership, participation in self-help groups, and access to digital financial services. These developments have positively influenced savings behavior, financial awareness, and economic decision-making among women. However, the study also reveals that challenges such as limited access to credit, low financial literacy, and digital exclusion continue to restrict the full realization of empowerment outcomes. The study concludes that while financial inclusion initiatives have created a strong foundation for women empowerment, sustained policy support, gender-sensitive financial products, and targeted awareness programs are essential to translate financial access into meaningful and long-term empowerment. Financial Inclusion Women Empowerment Banking Sector Self-Help Groups Digital Financial Services PMJDY Economic Participation. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 01 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 12 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 09 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 02 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 02 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 30 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8738644","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":604915385,"identity":"e9698721-8cff-48a4-9b28-8493b084b464","order_by":0,"name":"Ritu Vats","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgYGhgobZn4QO6GAOC2NDQxn0tglG0BaDIi1hrHtML/BARCbGC3ysw+3P+Y5c1ja+PzqxA8PDBjk+cUO4NdicC6xsZmnIt3Y7MbbzRJAhxnOnJ1AQAsPI1DLGetksxtnN4C0JBjcJqBFvgeohbeNuX7zjLObfxClheEMWIszswF/7zbibDEAapk550was8QN3m0WCQYShP0i38P+4MMbUFT2n91880eFjTy/NCGHwYEEWKUEscpBgP8AKapHwSgYBaNgJAEAySdFCKyzNIkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ritu","middleName":"","lastName":"Vats","suffix":""},{"id":604915386,"identity":"f3cfde6e-f0b6-400c-8043-6f12528b66d1","order_by":1,"name":"Reeta Clonia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Reeta","middleName":"","lastName":"Clonia","suffix":""},{"id":604915387,"identity":"fef4795b-868f-40b6-85e2-f9fc821116b8","order_by":2,"name":"Shelly Gupta","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shelly","middleName":"","lastName":"Gupta","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-30 07:54:01","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8738644/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8738644/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104782602,"identity":"6cf38d21-db81-496f-8b42-390b44993402","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 07:57:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":424579,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"DoFinancialInclusionInitiativesEmpowerWomen.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8738644/v1_covered_e732b30f-03f9-4a85-a7d0-302645750e47.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Do Financial Inclusion Initiatives Empower Women? 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