My obsession- microfinance - discussed by S A Aiyer in his weekly article. Worth a read.
The nationalized banks have served their purpose of creating a banking culture amongst the middle class. However, they have paid scant attention to the needs of the poor and small traders, that include vendors who make a living out of what they sell on a daily basis. The banks cry wolf over rural credit, claiming the default rate being high. But when have you heard a hue and cry over loan default by mulit billionaire industrialists, that run into thousands of crores? - and this list includes the who's who of Indian business.
The Government led by the neo capitalists like Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahulwalia are only concerned about the massive industrialization, forgetting that Indian economy is dependent on rural demand, that is sustained by agriculture and small traders. This is where micro finance can pay a huge role. There are pockets in our country where self help groups have their own micro finance schemes, that run amazingly smoothly. But the rural traders and vendors are at the mercy of loan sharks. I had written about this almost three years ago, which can be read here.
And nothing much has changed in this front during this past 3 years.
