What is Financial literacy The Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) defines Financial Literacy as a combination of financial awareness, knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviour necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve individual financial well-being (OECD, 2012). What is Financial Education The Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) defines Financial Education as the process by which financial consumers/investors improve their understanding of financial products, concepts and risks and through information, instruction and/or objective advice, develop the skills and confidence to become more aware of financial risks and opportunities, to make informed choices, to know where to go for help and to take other effective actions to improve their financial well-being” (OECD, 2005). Financial inclusion In the Indian context, financial inclusion is the process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner by mainstream institutional players. Financial inclusion provides an avenue to the poor for integrating with the formal financial system. Financial literacy, Financial Education and Financial inclusion for development As can be seen, the term Financial Education and Financial Literacy are not the same, these are related concepts. People achieve Financial Literacy through the process of Financial Education. The achievement of Financial Literacy empowers the users to make sound financial decisions which result in financial well-being of the individual. The financial service sector in India has undergone significant changes in the last 5 years and the sector has been ever widening. There is a need to increase the size of banking as well as other financial sectors to ensure that the benefits of these developments reach the common masses. Financial inclusion is a National priority of Government of India and the Financial Sector Regulators (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA) as it is an enabler for inclusive growth. While financial inclusion is essentially a supply-side intervention, financial education is a demand side intervention. Apart from these forces operating on the demand side and supply side, there are also other enabling factors on the ground. Achievement of financial well-being of citizens of any country depends on how well these factors and forces are integrated and the extent to which these work in cohesion. Financial education plays a vital role in creating demand side response to the initiatives of the supply side interventions. Financial education initiatives by concerned stakeholders will help people achieve financial well-being by accessing appropriate financial products and services through regulated entities. These efforts will be guided by the National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE). Incidentally, financial education also supports achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 4 on Education which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all (SDG Target 4.6 on Literacy and SDG Target 4.4 on Life Skills under SDG 4 on Education). India has made tremendous progress in bringing its citizens into the formal financial system over the last many years. Since India’s first NSFE was released in 2013, there have been many developments in the financial inclusion scenario of the country. During this period, important financial inclusion initiatives by Government of India such as Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), social security schemes viz. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY), Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mann Dhan Yojana (PM-SYM) and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) have changed the financial inclusion landscape. These initiatives are not only bringing the excluded sections into the financial mainstream but also ensuring access to various financial services such as Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA), need based credit, remittance facility, insurance and pension to the excluded sections. The latest available World Bank’s Findex 2025 Report had brought out that the proportion of adults with a formal account in the country has risen from 35% in 2011, to 53% in 2014, to 80% in 2017 to 89% in 2024. India has also made extraordinary progress in reducing the country’s gender gap in account ownership, from nearly 20% in 2014 to 7% in 2024 (World Bank Group, 2025). Much of this improvement can be attributed to the flagship initiative of the Government of India towards financial inclusion, namely the PMJDY, supported by the conducive ecosystem created by the financial sector regulators. In order to take forward the benefits achieved through the financial inclusion efforts, financial literacy will have to play a central role in ensuring that people use appropriate formal financial services to ensure their financial well-being (Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, 2019).