Microfinance In a Spot Of Trouble
I am keen on Microfinance and try to follow related news / articles as much as I can. Last year I had gone on a research project with some fellow students and stayed in villages for about 10 days. From the discussions we had with villagers and MFI operating in those villages, I got a feeling that though there are many MFIs now operating in India, they do not yet have a clear structure or system to operate with. Villagers further showed a tendency to recycle loans, and often waited for the government to waive off loans. Though life style of some of the villagers seemed to have improved, I did not see Microfinance making major impact on their means of income. If income was stagnant, improved lifestyle could mean only one thing - that loan was being used to meet household expenses, and not as working capital. It was thus no surprise when I came across this article: "Ketaki Gokhale in the WSJ: ' A credit crisis is brewing in Microfinance ' Here in Ramanagaram, a silk-ma...
