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Abstract Poverty alleviation is a key objective for many countries. At the beginning of the new millennium, 260 million people in the country did not have incomes to access a consumption basket which defines the poverty line. Of these, 75 per cent were in the rural areas. India is home to 22 per cent of the world's poor. 22 % Indian population live below poverty line whereas 32 % population lives below poverty line in Assam (Economic Survey of Assam, 2013-14). Such a high incidence of poverty is a matter of concern in view of the fact that poverty alleviation has been one of the major objectives in the 21st century. Financial inclusion can serve the purpose to a greater extent. Increasing access of financial services to deprived section of society is the main motto of Financial Inclusion in India. A major section of rural population is deprived of financial access in the form of bank accounts, financial advice, financial services etc. According to census 2011, only 58.7 % of households are availing banking services in the country whereas the percentage of household availing in Assam is only 44.1%. The main problem is the provision of financial services to those living in poverty are excluded from the financial system. These people do not have income nor own a property and therefore, are unable to provide Bank guarantees, as a result of which they are generally forgotten by financial Institutions and Banks. The concept of Financial Inclusion has gained a lot of importance and momentum in this regard in the last decade. Financial inclusion may be defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost (Rangarajan 2008). To make growth inclusive for all sections of the society, initiatives have been taken to make banking and other financial services easily accessible. The first such initiative was the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy statement of 2005-06 to achieve 100% financial Inclusion. One of the measures that followed the initial guideline directed commercial banks to open "no frills accounts", i. e, accounts requiring no minimum balance, aimed at the poor. Simplification of KYC norms, Introduction of BC/BF model, Electronic Benefit Transfer(EBT), introduction of KCC/GCCs, Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana, Jan Suraksha Bima Yojana are the important initiatives undertaken by the Government if India. Over the years, along with SCBs, RRBs, Co-operative Banks and Societies, Post Offices and Insurance companies have also played an important role in meeting the financial needs of the people. In this paper an attempt is made to explore the available statistics to investigate the level of financial inclusion or access at the household level in Assam from three different aspects- availability of financial services at village level (physical access), access of households to bank accounts and utilization of financial resources and services by households from formal system. The study is a desk study based on secondary sources of data. The scope of study is the state of Assam. Available up-to-date data have been used. They include Basic Statistical Returns of SCBs, Various reports of RBI, NSSO, All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS), Economic Survey of Assam etc. The study found that Assam and especially rural Assam has performed poorly in all three dimensions of financial inclusion- availability, accessibility and usage of financial services. In all the parameters, Assam has been much below the all India average. As far as district-wise banking parameters are concerned, the study indicated a wide variation in all the parameters. No district has performed well in all indicators. The survey data and statistics of banks and other institutions on various dimensions of financial inclusion while expose some significant aspects of the success of financial inclusion drive, when seen individually these fail to give a wholesome picture. Lack of financial literacy is considered as one of the important hurdles in expanding the coverage of financial services to the marginalized sections of the society. Barriers to access both on demand side and supply side require to be removed to achieve greater financial inclusion. Instead of confining to the schemes recommended by the official committees, banks may adopt some innovative schemes for making financial inclusion more meaningful as well as successful.