Role of public sector banks towards financial inclusion during pre and post introduction of PMJDY: a study on efficiency review

Abstract

Purpose – An inclusive financial system is essential to develop the country’s economy. A massive shift in financial inclusion was observed by the initiative of government to include financially excluded into the formal financial system by launching Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in 2014. This paper aims to attempt to examine the efficiency of public sector banks in financial inclusion during pre and post introduction of PMJDY. Design/methodology/approach – The data envelopment analysis is used to measure the efficiency of the banks towards financial inclusion for the periods, 2010–2011 to 2013–2014 as pre-introduction and 2014–2015 to 2017–2018 as post-introduction phase. For this study, supply-side parameters of financial inclusion considered as input variables and demand-side parameters as output variables. Findings – The study finds that overall average efficiency towards financial inclusion increases significantly during post-phase, though all the public sector banks are not performing equally. There is a significant variation in efficiency level between them and even between the two periods. Further, there is a huge opportunity to enhance technical efficiency with the same quantity of input which will help to achieve the target of financial inclusion. Originality/value – A comparative study between the two phases has taken place to analyse the impact of the scheme on the technical efficiency of banks. One of the notable innovativeness of this study is that, unlike most of the previous studies which are mostly theoretical and conceptual, the present study may place itself as a unique inquiry in the domain of efficiency review of public sector banks during pre and post introduction of PMJDY.

Keywords

• data envelopment analysis
• technical efficiency
• financial inclusion
• public sector banks
• g21
• g29