The Reserve Bank of India has directed all banks to maintain "no-frills accounts" - a bank account at zero balance - for 100% fi nancial inclusion so as to include all households under the ambit of the formal fi nancial sector. This study conducted in 2008 in Hooghly district of West Bengal reveals that the scheme has been largely unsuccessful in the fi nancial inclusion of excluded categories such as the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Other Backward Classes and those who are less educated.

The paper reports the results of an empirical study on the profitability of rice cultivation in the East Calcutta Wetlands region where untreated sewage water from the city of Calcutta, India, is used for the purpose of irrigation during the winter/summer crop.

Social capital has been defined as a set of informal norms that promotes cooperation among the members of the community.