This is what is necessary for poverty alleviation in India, reveals Arun Jaitley

Economies like ours all over the world need a high rate of growth. We want to use growth as a mechanism to pull the maximum number of people out of poverty, improve upon quality of life but we are conscious of the fact that dangers of development and progress benefiting a few and leaving many others out of inclusion system are also there, said Jaitley. Image Source: PTI

Arun Jaitley said that the penetration effect of growth will certainly take place but it will be a slow process and aspirational society is not willing to wait indefinitely. Image Source: PTI

Talking about the financial inclusion drive of the Narendra Modi government since 2014, he said the ultimate objective was to bank the unbanked, secure the unsecured, fund the unfunded and service the unserviced areas. Image Source: PTI

Noting that India predominately is an uninsured and unpensioned society, Jaitley said the government offered insurance at very affordable premium as part of the social security system through the PMJDY account. A total of 141 million people are enrolled under accident insurance while 55 million have availed life insurance under the scheme, he said. Image Source: PTI

Besides, a low premium pension policy called Atal Pension Yojana was launched, targeted at providing sustenance pension after 60 years of age. For funding the unfunded, the government introduced the Mudra scheme. Once these accounts became operational, he said the government moved towards formalising and digitising the economy. Image Source: PTI