Interactive Session on Developments in Micro Finance (MF) Sector September 23, 2017
Date: Sep 23rd, 2017
Till couple of decades back, barring crop loans from state supported cooperative institutions in the rural areas, poor in our country were not availing any noteworthy credit product from the formal financial sector. That situation partially changed when GOI launched twin initiatives in mid 90s, e.g. NABARD sponsored Bank-SHG Link (BSL) program and permitting diverse types of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) to penetrate into then un-banked sections of society. With this, poor, particularly women among them, started getting unsecured micro credit. Over the years, annual credit disbursements under both the modes increased substantially, though much less if the total credit requirement of the poor in our country is taken into account.
As a part of the Financial Inclusion vertical of the Right to the City project, the teams are closely researching on similar developments related to the Micro Finance sector. In conjunction with this, an interactive session/ workshop was organized to exchange notes on:
a) The exponential growth of “micro-credit” and its role in serving the purpose of poverty alleviation.
b) The sharp socio-political reactions that have yet again invoked in the recent period.
c) To explore possibilities of creating a network of concerned MF practitioners, academicians, journalists, bankers, advocates within our network.