*  *  *  I wish to thank my colleagues at the Reserve Bank whose research on the labour market I have drawn upon in preparing these remarks, and in particular Miles Parker and Evelyn Truong. References can be found in the footnotes. Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak today.
Starting with the nationalization of banks, priority sector lending requirements for banks, lead bank scheme, establishment of regional rural banks (RRBs), service area approach, self-help group-bank linkage programme, etc., multiple steps have been taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over the years to increase access to the poorer segments of society.