Microloans In India
Micro Loan Role In India
The role of Micro loans in India: A boon
Most people have heard of Micro finance and micro loans in India, but very few actually give serious thought to it. The truth is that micro loans have changed the way the rural community lives. Once upon a time, someone from a low- income background without any verifiable credit history couldn’t dream of getting a loan fro a bank, but due to government initiative the person can have access to a micro loan without any collateral. Poor disadvantaged people can now set up small cottage industries and earn a decent living for themselves and their families. That is the case in Krishnakari in Tamil Nadu.
With the help of the Mahalir Sangam, a Self Help Group initiative by the state and central government, the economic condition of the people of Krishnakari is changing. Many SHG’s have been formed with the help of the money got from micro loans and poor women and men are earning a livelihood as employees. One such success story is of an SHG which sells ‘Chapatis’. With a micro loan of Rs 22,000 from a Micro Financing Institution (MFI), this SHG started a smart Chapati- making service. They even bagged an order for making 3000 Chapatis for TVS employees everyday. The SHG has not only repaid the micro loan fully, but are making a decent profit as well.
The role that micro loans in India have played is truly commendable. As awareness about micro loans grow, so does the rural economy.
About Micro Loans In India
The truth about Micro Loans in India
When the government introduced various initiatives for starting Self Help Groups (SHG’s) in the 1990’s, a lot of people were skeptical as to how it would be possible for poor women to find the money to start such businesses. Micro loans came to the rescue. The government started allowing Micro Financing Institutions (MFI’s) to make micro loans available to poor rural women who had no verifiable credit history. Though the amount available through a micro loan was not big, it was enough to start SHG’s dealing with home- based, small- scale businesses.
In Punjab, using the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozagar Yojana (SGSY), one of the programs brought out by the government, rural women were given assistance with how they could start their own SHGs’. They were given vocational training in how to make stuffed toys, do embroidery, stitching and knitting tasks, etc. The Mukstar district in the state of Punjab has presently 330 SHGs’ who have been helped by this program. What’s more, the women are also made to understand how they could avail of a micro loan from an MFI.
The success of Kuldeep Kaur, one of the women who have taken part in the government initiative and now runs her own SHG shows clearly on her face. She is a differently- abled woman who learnt the tricks of the trade and finally started her own SHG employing other women. She availed of a micro loan which gave her the initial capital investment she required.
Micro loans in India truly deserve the accolades it gets.