Which one of the following is not the objective of financial inclusion?

The correct answer is C. Shrinking banking infrastructure is the opposite of financial inclusion, which means bringing excluded people into the formal financial system with access to affordable savings, credit, insurance and payment services.

The other three are genuine objectives:

• A: Extending services to the poor is the core idea. The Committee on Financial Inclusion (Rangarajan, 2008) defined it in these terms.
• B: Access to credit and savings lets weaker sections build assets and take up productive activity, which is the growth argument.
• D: Rural extension was the central gap. Banking correspondent (BC) models, permitted by RBI from 2006, and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (launched 2014) were designed to reach villages where branches were thin.

The concept links to inclusive growth and to direct benefit transfers, which need bank accounts to work. In Mains GS-III, expect questions on how Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and mobile (JAM) and BC agents have changed access, and where the gaps remain.

Trap: candidates sometimes read C as a cost-cutting measure and treat it as a neutral choice. Branch rationalisation by individual banks is a real debate, but shrinking infrastructure works against the objective of inclusion.