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Looking Ahead

What will it take for micro credit to become a mainstream mode for lending? One option is to provide other financial services similarly built around small
amounts of money, such as micro insurance. There is tremendous scope to design well-adapted insurance products for the poor in the insurance sector as well. A number of initiatives that should be taken in this area as :

Mothering of Development Innovations

The institution aims to promote and nurture new ideas on different development themes, which have larger potential to address the livelihoods and development of the poor in a region viz., microfinance, small scale irrigation, dry land agriculture, ICT for poor, working with panchayats.

Promoting Institutions to reach Scale

Exclusive thematic organizations will be promoted to undertake development work with a sub-sectoral focus. The primary role of the institutions is promotional and to ensure that benefits reach a large number of poor with quality.

Human Resource Development

The institution would bring young professionals into the development sector and provide them an opportunity to practice and develop relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills to work long term in the development sector.

Self help groups today handle Rs.5600 crores of disbursement. Over a quarter of poor Indian households will by 2009 likely have access to formal financial services if current trends continue. Hence, with proper regulation and a major thrust given by the govt to provide a suitable environment for micro-financing, it would certainly bring out the most optimum results in alleviating poverty from the country and allowing the poorest on Indian in joining the bandwagon of prosperity and growth, that India is poised to achieve in the years to come.

Concluded.

* Contributed by: -
Varun Ahuja,
Student Manager,
MBA (IB) - Finance,
Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad.