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BOOK REVIEWspecial featurespecial featuredriving in the costliest imported cars through the squalor of the slums. Gandhiji would havegone on hunger strike, if he were to visit one of our mega cities today!Financial Inclusion and All ThatCommenting on the stress on financial inclusion and the pyramid of rural lendinginstitutions, the author raises the question. “Is universal coverage or 100 percent of coverageof households by banks, as the RBI seems to interpret it, the answer? I, for one, woulddemur” (page 65). Dr. Mujumdar has raised a fundamental question. Apart from itsfeasibility within a short time span, can it per se eradicate poverty? The Census 2001 hasrevealed that only 35 percent of the rural households could avail banking facilities. It isdifficult to predict as to what the Census 2011 data would indicate.The pathological symptoms of poverty are too deep-rooted to be cured by small dosesof credit. Micro credit may provide temporary relief to the painkillers but may not givepermanent relief from the pains of chill penury. The high cost of the capsule adds to thepatient's misery, though the vendors refuse to accept the clinical results. It is better toconcede the ineffectiveness of micro credit alone in eradicating poverty. The proponentsof some of the financially successful micro credit institutions in India, who boast of raisingpoor women above the poverty-line, should take note of this revelation.Besides the issues analysed above, Dr. Mujumdar has touched many relevant issuespertaining to different segments of the Indian economy in this little volume. He hasquestioned the wisdom of the policy-makers in some cases and offered his own candidviews on others. These issues are able to stimulate fresh thinking.The Journal of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance July - September 2011 57