Content
- From Cash to Digital: India’s Leap Towards Inclusive Finance
- Soil Health Card
From Cash to Digital: India’s Leap Towards Inclusive Finance
Basics of Financial Inclusion
- Definition: Ensuring access to affordable financial services—savings, credit, insurance, remittance, pensions—for all sections, especially the unbanked poor.
- Significance:
- Reduces dependence on informal moneylenders.
- Encourages savings → capital formation.
- Provides safety net (insurance, pensions).
- Facilitates government welfare delivery (DBT).
- Empowers marginalized groups, especially women.
- Global Context: Seen as a critical enabler of 7 SDGs (poverty reduction, gender equality, decent work, inequality reduction, etc.)
Relevance : GS 2(Governance), GS 3(Finance)
Indicators of India’s Progress
- RBI’s FI-Index (2025): 67.0 → +24.3% rise since 2021.
- Global Findex 2025 (World Bank): Account ownership = 89% (vs 35% in 2011).
- Shift in inclusion model: From “bank-led branch expansion” to “digital-led penetration”.
Key Policy Innovations Driving the Leap
a) PM Jan Dhan Yojana (2014–present)
- Scale: 56.04 crore accounts, ₹2.64 lakh crore balance.
- Social Impact: 55% accounts held by women → women-centric inclusion.
- Features: Zero-balance accounts, Rupay cards, overdraft facility, accident cover.
b) DBT & JAM Trinity
- Mechanism: Jan Dhan (accounts) + Aadhaar (auth) + Mobile (access).
- Impact: ₹45.70 lakh crore directly transferred → reduced leakage, ensured transparency.
c) Insurance Schemes
- PM Suraksha Bima Yojana (accident cover): 50.99 crore enrolled.
- PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (life insurance): 23.59 crore enrolled.
- Social Reach: Nearly half beneficiaries are women, majority rural.
d) Micro & Pension Schemes
- PM MUDRA Yojana: 53.85 crore loans sanctioned, ₹35.13 lakh crore → “Funding the Unfunded”.
- Atal Pension Yojana: 7.65 crore subscribers, corpus ₹45,974 crore → security for unorganised workers.
- Stand Up India: ₹62,410 crore sanctioned, targeting SC/ST & women entrepreneurs.
e) UPI Revolution
- Transactions grew from 92 crore (2017–18) → 18,587 crore (2024–25) (CAGR 114%).Value: ₹1.10 lakh crore → ₹261 lakh crore.
- July 2025: 1,946.79 crore transactions in a single month.
- Significance: World’s most successful real-time payment system → drives cashless economy, reduces transaction costs.
f) SEBI’s CHOTI SIP (2025)
- Entry-level SIP at ₹250 → democratizes investment culture → bridges savings to wealth creation gap.
Grassroots Campaigns
- 3-month Saturation Campaign (Jul–Sep 2025):
- 99,753 camps, 6.65 lakh new PMJDY accounts, 10 lakh+ KYC re-verification.
- Community Banking Approach: Doorstep services, financial literacy outreach.
Transformative Outcomes
- Women Empowerment: Majority beneficiaries of PMJDY, insurance, and pension schemes.
- Rural Penetration: Insurance & pension uptake significant in rural India.
- Entrepreneurship Boost: MUDRA & Stand Up India nurtured millions of micro-businesses.
- Transparency in Welfare Delivery: DBT reduced corruption, ghost beneficiaries.
- Digital Economy Shift: UPI as backbone of fintech-led India.
Challenges & Gaps
- Dormant Accounts: High account ownership, but not all are active.
- Digital Divide: Connectivity, literacy, and device affordability limit full access.
- Cybersecurity Risks: Rise in frauds with digital transactions.
- Credit Access Inequality: Women entrepreneurs & rural MSMEs still face hurdles.
- Financial Literacy: Schemes exist, but awareness and effective use remain low.
Way Forward
- Strengthen financial literacy campaigns at grassroots.
- Promote cyber hygiene and stronger consumer protection norms.
- Leverage UPI cross-border linkages for global remittance inclusion.
- Expand insurance and pension penetration beyond enrolment to regular premium payments.
- Integrate fintech startups with government schemes for innovation in micro-credit & micro-insurance.
Conclusion
- India’s financial inclusion journey (2011–2025) is a textbook case of policy + digital + grassroots outreach synergy.
- From cash dependency → digital empowerment, India has turned financial inclusion into a mass movement.
- The next frontier: moving from access to meaningful usage, ensuring security, literacy, and equity in finance.
Soil Health Card
Background & Rationale
- Pre-2015 Scenario:
- Overuse of chemical fertilizers (esp. nitrogenous urea) → nutrient imbalance.
- Declining soil fertility, stagnant yields, rising input costs.
- Farmers lacked scientific knowledge of soil nutrient requirements.
- Global Context: 2015 declared as International Year of Soils by FAO → India launched Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme on 19 Feb 2015 (Suratgarh, Rajasthan).
Relevance : GS 3(Agriculture) , GS 2(Schemes)
Objectives of SHC Scheme
- Provide soil health cards to all farmers every 2 years.
- Test soil samples on 12 parameters (macro, micro nutrients + soil quality indicators).
- Recommend crop-wise & region-specific fertiliser use.
- Promote balanced & integrated nutrient management → reduce excess chemical usage, encourage organics/bio-fertilisers.
- Build capacity of soil testing labs, agriculture students, SHGs, FPOs.
- Support data-driven decision-making in agriculture → reduce costs, increase productivity, ensure sustainability.
Implementation Architecture
- Soil Sampling:
- Depth: 15–20 cm.
- Sampling grid: 2.5 ha (irrigated), 10 ha (rainfed).
- Tools: GPS-based mapping, revenue maps.
- Carried out by trained agri-staff/students.
- Testing Infrastructure (as of Feb 2025: 8,272 labs)
- 1,068 static labs.
- 163 mobile labs.
- 6,376 mini labs.
- 665 village-level labs (VLSTLs).
- Digital Backbone:
- Soil Health Card Portal → centralised, multi-lingual (22 languages + 5 dialects).
- SHC Mobile App: GPS-based sampling, QR-code tagged results, automatic geo-tagging.
- Developed by NIC for nationwide use.
Achievements (2015–2025)
- Distribution: Over 25 crore Soil Health Cards issued (as of July 2025).
- Financial Support: ₹1,706.18 crore released to States/UTs.
- Soil Mapping:
- 290 lakh hectares mapped (1:10,000 scale) in 40 aspirational districts.
- 1,987 village-level fertility maps for 21 States/UTs.
- Village-Level Labs (VLSTLs): 665 set up → run by SHGs, FPOs, rural youth (18–27 years).
- School Soil Health Programme (2023–25):
- 1,021 schools implementing soil labs.
- 1,000 labs established in schools.
- 1.32 lakh students enrolled, trained in soil testing → farmer awareness multiplier.
Case Study – Mr. Mahendra Kumar Singh (Nalanda, Bihar)
- Pre-SHC: High chemical dependency, low yields (27.5 quintals/ha).
- Post-SHC testing: Identified nutrient deficiency (low N, P, Boron, organic carbon).
- Recommendations: Compost + cow dung + balanced fertiliser use.
- Results: Yield improved by 16% (to 32 quintals/ha).
- Key Takeaway: SHC can reduce input cost & increase yield simultaneously.
Technological Advancements
- GIS Integration (since April 2023) → nationwide interactive soil fertility maps.
- Geo-tagging of samples → ensures authenticity & prevents data tampering.
- Unique QR codes → direct linkage between farmer, sample & results.
- Digital Portal → real-time monitoring of SHC issuance & fertiliser use trends.
Benefits & Impacts
- Economic:
- Reduced fertiliser input cost by 20–25% (RKVY reports).
- Yield improvements in cereals, pulses, oilseeds reported.
- Environmental:
- Decline in excessive urea usage, balanced NPK ratios.
- Reduced risk of groundwater contamination & soil degradation.
- Social:
- Empowered farmers with scientific knowledge.
- Involvement of schools, SHGs & FPOs → community-driven approach.
- Governance:
- Integrated under RKVY (2022–23 onwards) as “Soil Health & Fertility” → sustainable funding & institutional support.
Challenges & Gaps
- Awareness & Adoption: Not all farmers follow recommendations → behaviour change is slow.
- Coverage vs Quality: 25 crore cards issued, but follow-up usage data limited.
- Infrastructure Gaps: Some labs underutilised; rural labs face manpower issues.
- Fertiliser Policy Disconnect: Subsidy regime still urea-heavy, limits SHC’s balanced fertiliser push.
- Monitoring: Difficulty in ensuring 3-year update cycle for all farmers.
Way Forward
- Link SHC recommendations with fertiliser subsidy delivery → incentive for balanced use.
- Expand VLSTLs & school labs → ensure last-mile coverage.
- Encourage organic inputs & bio-fertilisers in SHC prescriptions.
- Strengthen fertiliser use monitoring through digital platforms.
- Integrate SHC with PM-KISAN & crop insurance schemes → holistic farmer support.
- Promote AI-driven soil analytics → predictive fertility maps at village/block level.
Conclusion
- Soil Health Card Scheme = landmark policy for scientific, sustainable, data-driven agriculture.
- Shifted narrative from “blind fertiliser use” → “informed soil stewardship”.
- Empowered millions of farmers to reduce costs, increase yields, and preserve fertility.
- By combining lab infrastructure, digital platforms, and community outreach, SHC has become a pillar of climate-resilient Indian agriculture.
- Continued focus on quality adoption, fertiliser policy reform, and farmer training will determine its long-term success.
