The Financial Inclusion Index of Reserve Bank of India in March, 2024 was:
- (a)64.2
- (b)62.4
- (c)53.9
- (d)59.3
Correct — A, 64.2. The Reserve Bank's Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for the period ending March 2024 stood at 64.2, against 60.1 for March 2023 — a rise of about 6.8 per cent. The RBI reported growth across all three sub-indices, with the Usage dimension contributing most to the improvement. The index is published every July for the financial year ending in March, so 'March 2024' refers to the value released in July 2024.
- (b)62.4 — A digit-swap of 64.2 and not a value the RBI has ever published for the FI-Index. This is the pure look-alike option.
- (c)53.9 — A real FI-Index value — but for March 2021, the first year for which the index was published. Right number, wrong year: the classic way this question is spoiled.
- (d)59.3 — Not an FI-Index value for any year. It sits just below the March 2023 figure of 60.1, which makes it look plausible to anyone who half-remembers the previous year's number.
The FI-Index is the Reserve Bank's single composite measure of how financially included the country is. It runs from 0 to 100, where 0 means complete financial exclusion and 100 means full inclusion, and it is built from 97 indicators spanning banking, investments, insurance, postal services and pensions. Three sub-indices make it up, with fixed weights: Access (35 per cent), Usage (45 per cent) and Quality (20 per cent) — the last capturing financial literacy, consumer protection and inequalities in service. The RBI constructed it without any base year, so the value itself, and not a change over a base, is what is reported.
Two features of the index explain the options. First, it is an annual series, so the wrong answers are simply other years' values or look-alikes of the current one — 53.9 is genuinely the March 2021 reading. Second, it rises slowly and monotonically (53.9 → 56.4 → 60.1 → 64.2 → 67.0 for March 2021 through March 2025), so if you remember the trajectory you can place any single year. Remember also that Usage carries the largest weight: the RBI's own commentary each year attributes most of the gain to deepening use of accounts and digital payments, not merely to opening more of them.
- FI-Index for March 2024: 64.2, up from 60.1 in March 2023 — a rise of about 6.8 per cent
- Scale 0 to 100; 0 = complete financial exclusion, 100 = full financial inclusion
- Three sub-indices with fixed weights — Access 35%, Usage 45%, Quality 20% — built on 97 indicators
- Constructed without a base year; published annually by the RBI in July for the year ending March
- The series so far: 53.9 (March 2021), 56.4 (March 2022), 60.1 (March 2023), 64.2 (March 2024), 67.0 (March 2025)
97 indicators, three weighted sub-indices, no base year. Access measures whether the service exists, Usage whether people actually use it, Quality how good the experience is.
- Confusing the Financial Inclusion Index with the RBI's Digital Payments Index — different indices, different scales
- Picking 53.9: it is a genuine FI-Index value, but for March 2021
- Assuming the index has a base year — the RBI states it is constructed without one, so the number is read as a level, not as a change over a base
MPPSC asks the number and the year; UPSC asks the architecture of financial inclusion instead — which scheme or institution promotes it, and what payments banks or NPCI may do. Carry both: the FI-Index series year by year, and the Access-Usage-Quality weights.
With reference to India, consider the following : 1. Nationalization of Banks 2. Formation of Regional Rural Banks 3. Adoption of villages by Bank Branches Which of the above can be considered as steps taken to achieve the “financial inclusion” in India ?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(d) 1, 2 and 3 — all three are recognised steps towards financial inclusion.
The same concept from the policy side — what counts as financial inclusion, which is precisely what the FI-Index is designed to measure.
‘Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana’ has been launched for
- (a) providing housing loan to poor people at cheaper interest rates
- (b) promoting women’s Self-Help Groups in backward areas
- (c) promoting financial inclusion in the country
- (d) providing financial help to the marginalized communities
Answer(c) promoting financial inclusion in the country
PMJDY is the single biggest contributor to the Access sub-index of the FI-Index — the scheme behind the number.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the three sub-indices of the RBI's Financial Inclusion Index carries the highest weight?
- (a)Access
- (b)Usage
- (c)Quality
- (d)All three carry equal weight
Answer(b) Usage — 45 per cent, against 35 per cent for Access and 20 per cent for Quality.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is NOT a parameter of the Reserve Bank of India's Financial Inclusion Index?
- (a)Access
- (b)Usage
- (c)Quality
- (d)Profitability of banks
Answer(d) Profitability of banks — the index is built only on Access, Usage and Quality.