Rotary willing to promote microcredit groups

CHENNAI: Rotary International Foundation will be glad to provide matching and 3H grants to its clubs willing to start microcredit groups, Rotary International president Wilfrid Wilkinson said here on Wednesday.

Ministra indiana propõe um sistema de crédito específico para mulheres

Nova Délhi, 27 jul (EFE).- A ministra da Mulher da Índia, Renuka Chowdhury, propôs hoje a criação de um sistema de crédito específico para as mulheres, para que elas possam ter mais poder e ajudar no desenvolvimento econômico da região do sul da Ásia.

“Os legisladores da região deveriam aprovar um sistema de crédito amistoso aos diferentes gêneros, já que é essencial para a região as mulheres adquirirem poder econômico”, afirmou a ministra durante a reunião da Associação para a Cooperação no Sul da Ásia (Saarc, na sigla em inglês), que aconteceu nesta sexta-feira em Nova Délhi.

Women power in Vir village to bring education, healthcare

Aiswarya Ananthapadmanabhan

Pune, July 23: Alka Dhumal’s farmer husband uses a fertilizer made in his own backyard, a skill he learnt from the do-it-yourself book housed in the modest library started in Purandar district’s Vir village, a year ago. Swati Kshirsagar, who started with a flour mill progressed to a cloth shop. These are success stories from a village that grapples with a host of problems— bad roads, a collpased bridge, poor educatin facilities.

Nabard to launch NBFC for microcredit

Targeting the microcredit space, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is launching a non-banking financial company (NBFC).

To be christened as Nabard Financial Services (Nabfins), the institution will have an authorised capital of Rs 100 crore and an issued capital of Rs 20 crore. While Nabard will subscribe to the extent of 51% equity, the remaining is expected to be held by banks, and state governments among others.

Financial inclusion via exclusion?

The government is about to come out with a microfinance Bill which will be infructous from the very start. The Micro Financial Sector Development and Regulation Bill, about to emerge from the parliamentary standing committee on finance, seeks to do three things.

It seeks to allow microfinance institutions (MFIs) to offer the valuable financial service of providing an outlet for the savings of their poor clients, without which MFIs are not really carrying out microfinance at all, but only microcredit.

Bandhan provides financial services to more than 50,000 working poor

With 800mn of India`s 1bn people living on less than $2 a day, Bandhan is bringing economic opportunity to a huge underserved market

Bandhan, a Kolkata-based microfinance institution and Unitus, Inc. partner, on Tuesday announced that it is now providing life-changing financial services to more than 500,000 of India’s working poor. With about 350 branches across five states – West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura and Assam – Bandhan has disbursed loans totaling Rs4.13bn, with a portfolio outstanding at Rs1.66bn.