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The Role Of Microfinance In Women Empowerment CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION & RESEARCH DESIGN Institute of management studies shankarghatta Page 1

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Page 1: Micro Finance Complete Project Vijay

The Role Of Microfinance In Women Empowerment

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION & RESEARCH DESIGN

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Introduction & Research Design

INTRODUCTION

Micro finance is a broad term that includes deposits, loans payment services and

insurance to poor people in rural area. In general this concept is understood as providing

poor families with small loans to help them to engage in productive activities or expand

their tiny business. Microfinance programmers in India are become very powerful

instrument in poverty alleviation and women empowerment

Women constitute half of the world`s population, perform nearly two thirds of its

work hours but receive only one-tenth of income and own one-hundredth of property.

They are vital part of the Indian economy, constituting one third of the national labor

force and forming a major contributor to the survival of family. About 89% of total

female labor is involved in agriculture and allied sectors. Women have extensive work

load with dual responsibility of farming in general and house hold production in

particular in areas.

Microfinance is a broad term that includes deposits, loans, payment services and

insurance to poor. In general this concept is understood as providing poor families with

small loans to help them to engage in productive activities or expand their tiny business.

Microfinance programmes in India are becoming a powerful instrument in poverty

alleviation and SHGs women empowerment. It has empowered both socially and

economically. These microfinance interventions helped the poor women in maintaining

and improving their live hood.

Among various schemes and projects of government the financial assistance by

microfinance institutions has been considered as a potential means of alleviating scale

unemployment, especially in rural areas. And also the main objective of microfinance

institutions is support for poor women entrepreneur and also to provide assistance for the

development of the new women entrepreneurs. An attempt is made in this project to

analysis the role of microfinance by MFIs in the empowerment of SHGs women.

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Empowerment of rural has emerged as an important issue in recent times. The

economic empowerment of rural is being regarded these days as a Sine-quo-non of

progress for a country; hence, the issue of economic empowerment of rural is of

paramount importance to political thinkers, social scientists and reformers. The Self Help

Groups (SHGs) have paved the way for economic independence of rural. The members of

SHGs are involved in Micro – Entrepreneurships. Through that, they are becoming

economically independent and providing employment opportunities to others. “Economic

empowerment of rural leads to development of family and community”. This statement is

proved by a collective Micro Entrepreneurship in rural place through development.

Statement of the Problem:

A significant development in recent years has been the mushrooming of

community based organizations as SHGs and initiatives at the local level for women.

Reports indicates that MFIs programmes, often in the form of savings and credit or

microfinance schemes have successes in changing the lives of poor women in SHGs,

enhancing incomes and generating positive externalities such as increased self help

group self-esteem. But still these programs are not reaching the women up to the mark

therefore the present study is focused on finding out the advantages and challenges faced

by the women as well as the SHG’s in reaching them.

Objectives of the study:

1. To study the role of SHG’s in empowering women

2. To study the economic gains derived by the members after joining the SHG’s

3. To study and examine the social benefits derived from the members

4. To study the satisfaction of the women from the performance of SHG’s

5. To offer suitable suggestions to the problems encountered during the study

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Scope of study:

The study is restricted to bring facts of microfinance helps in the SHGs in

shivamogga district. The study is focused only on selected SHG’s like

Methodology of Data Collection

Primary data:

Primary data presumes to be original in character. In this study the primary

data is collected from rural small entrepreneurs with the help of simple structured

questionnaire.

Secondary data:

Secondary data are already recorded by someone, in this study the secondary

data is collected from various MFIs publishments, CRISIL reports, books from the library

and E-sources.

Sampling:

Random sampling has been used in this survey. Sample size of 50 was taken.

The respondents were given various questions to answer in the form of Questionnaires.

Sampling population:

In this study the population is the rural people`s, who were assistance taken by

MFIs.

Sampling unit:

The sampling units is the rural population who taken assistance by MFIs of

shivamogga that may be different parts of the shivamogga district.

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Sample size:

The population being carried out among 50 respondents. They were the rural

area people of shivamogga.

Statistical tools used for data analysis:

Data were collected from the respondents by way of administering questionnaire.

A Structured questionnaire, with a set of 21 questions, was prepared for eliciting

Information from the respondents, and Hypothesis chi-square test has been used

generally means a proportion or a set of propositions set forth as an Explanation of

the project report. In this report to interpret chi-square test has been used.

Limitations of Study

Because of time constraint the present study has not covered all the

members of SHG’s. And also the study is only considered 4 SHG’s

operating in Shivamogga city.

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Chapter scheme

Chapter-1

The first chapter is the introduction chapter. It contains Introduction,

Statement of the problem, Objectives of the study, Need and Scope of the

study, and Data Collection and Chapter scheme, limitations of the study.

Chapter-2

The second chapter gives insights into the micro finance Industry

profile.

Chapter-3

The third chapter gives insights into the micro finance and

empowerment literature review.

Chapter-4

The fifth chapter states the Analysis and interpretation of data. In

this chapter the collected data are analyzed with the help of hypothetical

and statistical tools and interpretations are made.

Chapter-5

The sixth chapter contains findings, suggestions and conclusion

inferred from the study.

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CHAPTER-2

MICROFINANCE INDUSTRY IN INDIA

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Chapter-2

Microfinance industry in India

Introduction

DEFNITION OF MICROFINANCE

Microfinance is the supply of small loans and other financial services to people

with a low income that would otherwise have no access to credit from traditional banks

and financial institutions. Microfinance is seen by some as a viable solution to reduce

poverty, enabling those at the Bottom of the Pyramid to reshape their destiny.

Microfinance basically consists of offering small loans to poor working people of

developing countries, who carrying out their daily business activities, are able to repay

their debts at the end of a fixed period, usually a day or a week. The value of the loans

generally ranges from 1$ to a maximum of 200$. The money is lent from local

organizations, so called Microfinance Institutions (MFI), when certain conditions are

met. The concept of microfinance when applied to insurance services takes the name

of Micro insurance.

Origin of microfinance, brief history

The history of microfinance goes back to 1974 when Professor of Economics at

University of Chittagong, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, with the intent of finding a practical

solution to poverty, experienced the first microfinance attempt himself. During a visit to a

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rural village in Bangladesh, he lent 27$ to a community of 42 people who were otherwise

unable to make out a living.

The result was that those people were able to invest that amount in their small

woodwork business, sell their products, buy food and other basic stuff and give to the

money back to the professor with interest. Inspired by his successful experience and after

in-depth studies on the topic, he started a professional micro-financial activity and in

1983 he created the Grameen Rural Bank, the first Microfinance Institution that today

accounts for 1 billion $ in loans spread to over 7 millions borrowers. In 2006 professor

Yunus has been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his brilliant methodology.

 

During the 80’s and the 90’s, after many researches and experiments proving the

business viability and profitability of Yunus' concept, microfinance institutions grew

constantly in number till topping 3000 in 2006. Most microfinance institutions started

their business as non-profit organizations sustained by grants and subsidies, and have

been able to turn into for-profit corporations attracting investors globally.

 

Major banks, attracted by high growth rates, started instituting funds focused on

microfinance that allow investors from all over the world to invest in this new industry,

movement or Microfinance Channel, as it has been defined by management scholars.

THE MICROFINANCE CONCEPT IN MORE DETAIL

The concept of microfinance is based on a primary principle holding that most

human beings will do their best to be well off, provided they have the required tools. This

is one of the reasons, combined with a strict selection of borrowers, why microcredit has

the highest repayment rate if compared to all other form of loans issued by traditional

banks. Unfortunately, studies demonstrated that microfinance cannot work everywhere

and not everybody is a good candidate for microcredit. In order to be useful and

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successful for the borrower while viable and profitable for an institution, the

following microfinance conditions must be met.

1. Developing or third world economies. Microfinance is characterized by low-

amount financial services and that is why it finds application in developing or

third world economies. Poor people living in industrialized countries cannot

leverage 10$ to grow their small business.

2. A socio-economical environment that offers market opportunities for small

craft businesses. The vast majority of microcredit is issued to borrowers who

have environmental-friendly craftiness of any sort, such as woodworks, sewing,

agriculture, etc…that perfectly fit sustainable development of local small

communities. Regions with extremely low density, very poor infrastructures, lack

of law and order, or having a large portion of the population affected by diseases

are better of with grants or investments in infrastructure and education. In some

parts of Africa the economic system is so weak that people would have nothing to

do with a small amount of money, especially where barter is still the most

common form of trade.

3. The mentality to honestly escape poverty. Values and mentality matter: it is

fundamental that borrowers are members of a community that commit to honestly

escape poverty. Many studies demonstrated that women, who are currently the

largest and most preferred category of microcredit clients, are better loans payers

than men because of the care they have for their families’ well being.

Moreover, community pressure put forth by people living in small local

communities, such as in villages located in India or Guatemala, helps borrowers

to maintain a high level of commitment to repay their debts. If a borrower

couldn’t pay an installment the other villagers would probably help her. If she

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would be unwilling to meet her obligations the pressure exerted on her from the

other villagers (happy with microcredit) would be too high.

What is empowerment?

Empowerment is defined as the processes by which women take control and

ownership of their lives through expansion of their choices. Thus, it is the process of

acquiring the ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability has

previously been denied.

The core elements of empowerment have been defined as agency (the ability to

define one’s goals and act upon them), awareness of gendered power structures, self-

esteem and self-confidence (Kabeer 2001). Empowerment can take place at a hierarchy

of different levels – individual, household, community and societal – and is facilitated by

providing encouraging factors (e.g., exposure to new activities, which can build

capacities) and removing inhibiting factors (e.g., lack of resources and skills).

Two vital processes have been identified as important for empowerment. The first

is social mobilization and collective agency, as poor Women often lack the basic

capabilities and self-confidence to counter and challenge existing disparities and barriers

against them. Often, change agents are needed to catalyze social mobilization

consciously. Second, the process of social mobilization needs to be accompanied and

complemented by economic security. As long as the disadvantaged suffer from economic

Deprivation and livelihood insecurity, they will not be in a position to mobilize (UNDP

2001).

Three types of empowerment

Economic empowerment

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Women’s access to savings and credit gives them a greater economic role in

decision-making through their decision about savings and credit. When women control

decisions regarding credit and savings, they will optimize their own and the household's

welfare. The investment in women's economic activities will improve employment

opportunities for women and thus have a 'trickle down and out' effect. The financial

sustainability and feminist empowerment paradigms emphasize women's own income-

generating activities. In the poverty alleviation paradigm, the emphasis is more on

increasing incomes at the household level and the use of loans for consumption. In the

feminist empowerment paradigm, individual economic empowerment is seen as

dependent on social and political empowerment.

Increased well-being

Access to savings and credit facilities and women's decision about what is being

done with savings and credit strengthens women's say in economic decisions of the

household. This enables women to increase expenditure on the well-being of themselves

and their children. This is the main concern in the poverty alleviation paradigm. Women's

control over decision-making is also seen as benefiting men through preventing leakage

of household income to unproductive and harmful. Other welfare.

Interventions are advocated in addition to micro-finance, typically nutrition, and

health and literacy campaigns to further decrease vulnerability and improve women's

skills. In the financial self-sustainability and feminist empowerment paradigms, improved

well-being is an assumed outcome from increasing women's economic activities and

incomes.

Social and political empowerment

A combination of women's increased economic activity and control over income

resulting from access to micro-finance with improved women's skills, mobility, access to

knowledge and support networks. Status within the community is also enhanced. These

changes are reinforced by group formation, leading to wider movements for social and

political change. The financial self-sustainability paradigm and the poverty alleviation

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paradigm assume that social and political empowerment will occur without specific

interventions to change gender relations at the household, community or macro-levels.

By contrast, the feminist empowerment paradigm advocates explicit strategies for

supporting women's ability to protect their individual and collective gender interests at

the household, community and macro-levels.

Brief profile of MFIs

Asmitha Microfinance LTD.

Asmitha Microfinance Ltd. (AML), an NBFC, began its microfinance operations

in 2002; it is one of the top five microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India. In terms of

loans outstanding. AML lends to five-members groups of women under the Grameen

Bank model, at a flat interest rate of 12.5 percent to 15 percent, and charges an upfront

one-time processing fee of 1.15 to 2.50 percent of the loan amount.

AML has a strong rural presence. Most of the loans are given for income-

generation activities; trading and animal husbandry account for about two-thirds of

AML’s loans. As of march 31, 2008, AML was present in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh,

Karnataka, and Maharashtra: it has ventured into nine more state during the first half of

2008-2009 (refers to financial year, April 1 to march 31).

Grameen Financial Services Pvt. Ltd.

Grameen financial services pvt.ltd. (GFSPL) was incorporated in 1991 as sanni

collection pvt, ltd: it was acquired by its current management in 2007, GFSPL took over

the microfinance programme of T. Muniswappa Trust (TMT, popularly known as

grameen koota) grameen koota started its microfinance programme in 1999, with seed

capital support from grameen trust Bangladesh.

GFSPL lends to ten-member groups under the grameen bank model of lending and

offers three different loan product is a 50-week loan with a flat interest rate of 12percent.

The MFI charges an upfront fee of 1to3 percent of the loan amount, depending upon the

borrower profile (new or repeat) and the loan product. The company also provides health

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insurance and cattle insurance to its borrowers through tie-ups with reference the

insurance companies. As on the September 2008, the MFI had a borrower base of more

than 150,000 borrowers across 17 districts of Karnataka. During second half of 2008-09

(refers to financial year, April 1 to march 31), the MFI has expanded its operations to

Maharashtra and has piloted individual loans in two urban branches at Bangalore and

Tumkur.

Shri kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development project

Established in 1982 by Dr. D Veerendra Heggade, a trustee of the Shri Kshetra

Dharmasthala, Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) is a

charitable trust. SKDRDP offers structured products with a focus on livelihood support

and asset creation; loans are disbursed to SHGs at an interest rate of 15 percent per

annum on a declining method basis. The loan tenure ranges between three and 10 years.

Borrowers also have to pay 1 percent of the loan amount towards service charges.

As on September 30, 2008, SKDRDP had 22 branches, covering 4,739 villages;

764,351 members (of which 612,482 were borrowers) from 76,662 SHGs. The

microfinance institution has operations in six districts of Karnataka- Udipi, Dakshina

Kannada, Shimoga, Chickmagalur, Koorg, and Uttar Kannada. The MFI, which is a non-

governmental organization (NGO), intends to consolidate its operations and plans to

attain 1million members by 2010.

SKS Microfinance Ltd.

SKS Microfinance Ltd. (SKSMPL) is India’s largest Microfinance Institution with

a member base of 3 million borrowers as on September 30, 2008. It was incorporated as

a private limited company in 2003 for taking over the microfinance activities of Swayam

krishi Sangam (SKS), a society that was registered in 1997 and began operations in 1998.

After obtaining the non-banking financial company (NBFC) license from the Reserve

Bank of India in January 2006, SKSMPL took over the operations of SKS. The

company’s microfinance operations are spread over 15 states and one union territory as

on September 30, 2008.

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The company follows the group-lending model, which closely resembles

Bangladesh-based Grameen Banks’s model. While group loans have tenure of 50 weeks,

individual loans bear a term of 12 to 24 months. SKSMPL charges an interest rate of

23.6 per cent on a declining method basis in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and 28

percent in other states.

The poor, like the rest of society, need financial products and services to build

assets, stabilize consumption and protect themselves against risks microfinance serves as

the last-mile bridge to the low-income population excluded from the traditional financial

services system and seeks to fill this gap and alleviate poverty.

Microfinance loans serve the low income population in multiple ways by:

1) Providing working capital to build business;

2) Infusing credit to smooth cash flow and mitigate irregularity in accessing food,

cloth, shelter , or education; and

3) Cushioning the economic impact of shocks such as illness, theft, or natural disasters.

Moreover, by providing an alternative to the loan offered by the local moneylender

period they priced 60% to 100% annual interest, 2 Microfinance prevents the borrower

from remaining trapped in a debt trap which exacerbates poverty. Microfinance loans in

India range in size from $ 100 to $ 500 per loan with interest rates typically between 25%

and 35% annually. The Microfinance model is designed specifically to help the income

population overcome typical challenges such as illiteracy, lack of financial knowledge

and deficiency of collateralizable assets. At the same time, the model takes advantage of

existing community support systems and networks to encourage financial discipline and

ensure high repayment rates.

Microfinance in India – an overview

The Indian Microfinance sector presents a strong growth story. Its growth

performance was impressively sustained through the liquidity crunch and continued at

an increased rate in the second half of 2009.as of March 2009, the MFIs in India reported

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a client base of 22.6 million with an outstanding portfolio of more than $2billio0n. 7 over

the past five years, the sector has delivered a CAGR of 86% in the number of borrowers

and 96% in portfolio outstanding. In the 12 months from march 2008 to march 2009 , the

Microfinance industry experienced a 59% growth in its client base from 14.2 million to

22.6 million and 52% growth in its portfolio outstanding which increased from $1.5

billion to 2.3 billion. 8 this reflects a 14% of increased in the absolute growth in portfolio

outstanding and 33% increase in the absolute growth in the number of borrowers from

2008 to 2009.

Year ending

31st march

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Outstanding

portfolio ($

millions )

$80 $252 $496 $824 $1,535 $2,346

Growth rate -- 215.00% 96.80% 66.10% 86.30% 52.80%

Borrowers

(millions)

1 2.3 4.9 7.9 14.2 22.6

Growth rate ------- 130.00% 113.00% 61.20% 79.80% 59.20%

Source: Microfinance India state of the sector report 2009

These numbers demonstrate the fundamental strength of the industry and the

potential it still has to expand. Nonetheless, as presented by the table, the year-on-year

growth rate has been declining, illustrating the increasing maturity of the sector. Though

decreasing, the growth rate is still high and is reflective of the industry approaching

more sustainable rate of expansion rather than a reversal of the trend observed thus far.

As the industry matures, it is also nearing an inflexion point and is considering more

sophisticated growth strategies through diversifying product offerings, client targeting

and creative financial and non financial solution, which will allow the sector to grow at a

continuous pace while preserving its solid performance and abiding by its social mission.

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The Karnataka issue

In the first half of 2010-2011, part of Karnataka was swept by a large number of

defaults. The defaults were triggered by a transport strike which hampered the local

economy and thus the borrower’s ability to repay their existing debts. The repayment

problem, which was limited in scale, was escalated into a more widespread and urgent

issue by some Muslim community leaders who urged group defaults by citing communal

factor. In Mysore, two bouts of communal rioting forced some of the borrowers to

temporarily migrate out of the area leading to defaults which eventually escalated into

group defaults.

While the issues were in fact escalated by communal leaders, there were some

underlying issues related to over-lending which were present in each of the area affected.

The issue highlights the need for lending and expansion strategies that are more

cognizant of the client true financial capacities and risk profiles. From an operational

viewpoint, this entails that MFIs expand over variety of geographies and tap varied client

profiles. One of the critical ways to achieve greater inclusion is by serving a large

segment of the disenfranchised, from the perspective of geographies and client profiles. A

more inclusive approach will help MFIs diversity their risk, cushion negative impacts

from future crises and ameliorate unhealthy competition in a single area. Moreover,

reaching out to untapped markets will limit over-lending to clients in microfinance

saturated areas, in turn better serving the MFIs social mission over long run.

MFIs coming out of the crisis, have written off their losses. The four to five major

MFIs operating in Karnataka are collectively addressing the situation and working even

more closely with local administration and the community leaders to resolve the issue.

MFIs are making individual efforts at the field level to influence the clients repay. It has

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been observed that the clients are now being selective and trying to repay to the MFIs

who have managed to develop better and strong client relationships.

Product offering

Thus far, microfinance institutions have largely limited their product and service

offering even within the confines of financial inclusion. In fact their product innovation

has been limited to credit which is intended to serve a variety of needs as shown by the

box below. The limited product innovation is understandable given the sector`s primary

focus has been on refining its business model and gaining scale to become financially

sustainable.

Despite following a single-product model, the sector has experienced remarkable

growth can only be expected to continue as product innovation and diversified service

offerings attract and retain greater number of customers with variety of needs.

Products and purpose

Existing products

1. Micro-enterprise /

small business

loan

2. Agricultural loan

3. Livestock loan

4. General

Working capital /business

start-up

Crop/Farm-related

Dairy /poultry

Consumption

New /Niche products

1. Education loan

2. Housing loan

Academic/vocational

Home improvement/ new

home

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The very same clients that the sector currently serves have a plethora of alternate

needs for basic products services, financial and non-financial which can affect

sustainable, long-term achievements in their quality of life. Fortunately, reorganizing this

pent-up demand, mature MFIs are beginning to take concrete steps toward expanding

their product basket, at least within the context of financial services.

Along with credit, MFIs are heavily exploring the possibility of providing

savings/deposit services, micro-insurance and remittance services.

Savings

Access to a savings mechanism likes that which is available through

commercial banks, is usually held by the microfinance industry to be the most urgent

need to enhance the economic security of the poor. Due to RBI regulations, Non -banking

microfinance company (“NBFC”) MFIs cannot currently accept interest-bearing deposits,

unless they provide the service through a section 25 business correspondent conduit. This

structure prohibits the conduit from charging any fees to execute this function and limits

its reach within a limited radius of the bank branch. MFIs are lobbying the RBI to relax

these regulations to allow NBFCs to operate as business correspondents, Charge an extra

fee for the deposit-taking service and delimit the geographical reach of their operations.

These changes would not only make deposits a viable commercial product, but also allow

MFIs to offer it to a broader set of clients.

Insurance

While credit can serve to enhance a household`s income, insurance can serve to

cushion the negative economic impact in the event of an emergency. Without insurance, a

single incident can often impoverish a household, even without insurance; a single

incident can often impoverish a household, even with access to micro-credit, especially if

the emergency affects the main earning members. A number of MFIs already offer micro-

insurance products to their clients. The most basic products insure against health and

accidental death. Companies such as satin and BASIX usually tie the insurance products

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to their credit products, which make the availability of credit contingent on the client

availing insurance. The rationale behind packaging the loan and insurance together is that

often clients do not understand the importance or benefit of insurance until they face an

emergency. From a commercial viewpoint, the MFI is in effect insuring its loan against a

crisis in the client`s household, since insurance hedges against total financial collapse and

thus ensures repayment of the loan, albeit in a delayed fashion. Similar to customers,

BASIX also links livestock loans to livestock insurance for a similar reason-it cushions

the financial blow and increases the likelihood of a successful loan recovery. We can

expect the number of insurance products available to increase as MFIs expand beyond

their core product and clients become more aware of the benefits of insurance.

Remittance

Domestic labor migration has a long history in India and is on the rise given

disparities in growth across states—migrants need a fast, low-cost, convenient, safe and

widely accessible money transfer service. In India, remittance services can be enabled by

the provision of savings and thus need to be provided in tie-ups with banks and post

offices. In some cases, MFIs provide remittance services by establishing their presence in

a migrant destination to channel remittances back to the community in the migrants` area

or origin or by establishing a tie-up with another MFI, bank or money transfer company

in the area of origin. Going forward, the role of technology will become more important

in facilitating the development of alternative channels and payment mechanisms.

Non –financial products

Within product offerings, MFIs are considering expanding their activities beyond

the realm of financial services since this can provide synergies linked to future expansion.

Microfinance client have myriads of unmet needs such as healthcare and education as

well as livelihood requirements which can enhances their income, employment potential

or quality of life. Given MFIs existing relationships with this population segment, they

would be an ideal channel to provide these services. While MFIs may not want to delve

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into product lines that are fundamentally different from their core business, they could

easily act as conduits to allow other agents to deliver these services to their customers.

The microfinance industry as a whole is now experimenting with a wide variety of

potential models that could be based to deliver non-financial services.

For example, BASIX offers a host of alternative services to its clients. Beyond the basket

of credit and other financial products and services, BASIX also provides low income

customers with livelihood services, including agricultural and business development

consulting services, to help microfinance clients use their loans more effectively. BASIX

offers these alternative services to its clients through different entities housed less than

one umbrella. These groups have tremendous synergy and contributes to each other`s

growth and prosperity. The credit business enables customer acquisition, while the

insurance business mitigates risk, and agricultural and business development service

enables customer retention.

The consulting and IT business enhances BASIX`s revenues while the social

business enable research and development which contribute to BASIX`s strategy

development. In addition to livelihood services, several MFIs are examining the

feasibility of providing critical basic services to deliver low cost healthcare, education

and vocational training.

For example, Spandana is currently developing a comprehensive low cost healthcare

delivery model focused on the healthcare needs of women and children. BASIX has

launched a vocational training academy to impart education in rural development and

management to potential job seekers from low income communities. These participants

would be deployed in the rural/semi urban areas with BASIX or other organizations

offering financial services to the poor. In additional to being important avenues for

productive utilization of credit by MFI clients, these types of services have a strong

potential to reinforce long-term clients relationships. Most importantly, the evolving

delivery model for low cost education and healthcare has similar operational elements as

the highly successful microfinance model including efficient distribution, high

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throughput and Para-skilling of low cost resources to address the last mile inclusion

challenge.

Investment climate

Today, microfinance is gaining prominence as a viable asset class globally,

particularly in India. MFIs in India have continued to attract large amounts of capital

despite the global economic recession. Currently, its reported that over 100 microfinance

investment vehicles (“MIVs”) exist global and India is a focus for many of them due to

its large market size, growth capacity, profitable business models and potential

development impact. Moreover, mainstream investors are beginning to participate in this

sector, pickup larger stakes than the social investors that have been dominant so far. The

entrance of mainstream investors is indicative of an industry that is maturing, but is still

expected to grow at a high rate.

Valuations in the microfinance sector reflect this expectation and surpass that of

traditional institutions in the financial services space. Moreover, Indian MFIs trade at

significant premia to MFIs in other parts of the world. MFIs across the world face an

equity valuation of 1.5 xs to 3.0x books value, whereas Indian MFIs face a valuation that

is 3.0xs to 4.0x book value. This premium is driven partly by the generous amounts debt

available to the industry to expand which in turn enables MFIs to achieve returns on

equity of approximately 20% to 30%. 16 these premium levels are also identical to the

premia to book value at which private sector banks and non-banks have traded in the

Indian capital markets – which have averaged over 3.5x to 4.0x book value throughout

the last seven to ten years in the short run, as mainstream investors gain interest in the

Indian microfinance industry and infuse larger amounts of capital at higher prices, equity

will continue to trade at a premium.

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A point to note here is that even though the microfinance industry is reaching

maturity, the large amounts of untapped geographical territory and client base combined

with the MFIs wide network create potential for enormous sustainable growth in the

future. As discussed earlier, MFIs and other service providers are beginning to realize the

significant value of the network that has been created by MFIs and efforts are underway

to utilize them to deliver both, financial and non-financial products and services.

These factors will continue to impact the supply of equity for Indian microfinance

and hence the equity valuations .furthermore, since this untapped demand is unlikely to

be satisfied in the short or medium term, while valuations will be tempered by cautious

investors, premia driven by fundamental growth expectations can be expected to prevail

through the short and medium term as MFIs re-engineer their strategies to take

advantages of the unsatisfied microloan demand.

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CHAPTER-3

LITERATURE REVIEW

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Literature Review

Women Empowerment Programs

S. Shiny Nair discussed in her one of the articles as about ‘women

empowerment program in her below articles’ the empowerment of women is one of

the central issues in the process of development of countries all over the world. Tamil

Nadu has a glorious tradition of recognizing the importance of empowering women over

several centuries. The present paper is based on women’s empowerment programs and its

implementation and utilizations. The paper concludes the details of woman’s

empowerment in some specific challenges faced by the women according to the effective

utilization of empowerment program.

“Empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a good nation, when women

are empowered, society with stability is assured. Empowerment of women is essential as

their value systems lead to the development of a good family, good society and ultimately

good nation”. - Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Empowerment is the One of the key factors in determining the success of

development is the status and Position of women in the society. This means that the

neglect of women in the envelopment process of any country constitutes a human

resource waste. Therefore, should be that of moving steadily and firmly in the direction

of economic development by involving women. True development means the

development in the three categories of a woman. These are Individual, social, and

economic development. Individual development means increased skills and capability,

greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material well being.

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IN THIS article women’s Understanding power is more when at the core of the

concept of empowerment is the idea of power. The possibility of empowerment depends

on two things. First, empowerment requires that power can change. If power cannot

change, if it is inherent in positions or people, then empowerment is not possible, nor is

empowerment conceivable in any meaningful way.

What is women's empowerment?

Women's empowerment is not a Northern concept. Women all over the world,

including countries in the South, have been challenging and changing gender inequalities

since the beginnings of history. Women's empowerment has five components: women's

sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access

to opportunities and resources; their right to have the power to control their own lives,

both within and outside the home; And their ability to influence the direction of social

change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally.

Women Empowerment & Social development

This articles is presented by Mrs. Dr. Jelsy Joseph she analysis the women

empowerment & social development in India as per discussed in this articles India

has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments

committing to secure equal rights of women. He Constitution not only grants equality to

women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in

favor of women. Women’s empowerment is an important agenda in the development

efforts. There has been significant shift in approach of the district administration towards

the development of women, especially the poor & the illiterate. When you train a woman,

you help the entire family, the village and the nation. The current paper focuses on

women’s empowerment in the domestic sphere. So Empowerment of women that will

have lasting impacts must involve consciousness raising before the social construction of

gender, which subordinates women in the family, class, caste, religion, or society, can be

changed. The economic empowerment approach has relied on improving women's

control over economic resources and strengthening women's economic security.

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EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

Empowerment is a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional and multi-layered concept.

Women’s empowerment is a process in which women gain greater share of control over

resources - material, human and intellectual like knowledge, information, ideas and

financial resources like money - and access to money and control over decision-making

in the home, community, society and nation, and to gain `power'. According to the

Country Report of Government of India, "Empowerment means moving from a position

of enforced powerlessness to one of power".

EDUCATION OF WOMEN

Education to women is the most powerful instrument of changing their position

the society. Education also brings about reduction in inequalities and also acts as a means

to improve their status within the family. In order to encourage education of women at all

levels and so there is a provision and acquaintance of education, schools, colleges and

even universities were established exclusively for women. To bring more girl children,

especially from marginalized BPL families, into the main stream of education,

Government has been providing a package of concessions in the form of free supply of

books, uniform, boarding and lodging, clothing for hostilities, mid-day meals,

scholarships, free by-cycles and so on. Women can play a major role in conservation and

restoration of the environment. Rural women use unconventional and nature friendly

source of energy in the form of animal dung, crop waste and fuel wood.

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Women’s Empowerment

Raghavendra Bhatt in his article ‘women`s empowerment that how they

empowered by themselves in India’ discussed that Women constitute almost 50% of

the world's population. As per as their social status is concerned, they are not treated as

equal to men in all the places. A person may said to be powerful when he/she has control

over a large portion of power resources in society. The extent of possession of various

resources such as personal wealth, such as land skills, education, information, knowledge,

social status, position held, leadership trains, capabilities of mobilization. It is now

widely believed that empowerment of women i.e., providing equal rights, opportunities

and responsibilities to women will go a long way in removing the existing gender

discrimination. Women empowerment in contemporary Indian society in forms of their

work, education, health and media images in the forms of their work, education, health

and media images in the context of lineage, rule of residence and household.

Before thinking about the empowerment of women, one needs to understand the

exact meaning of the word empowerment. According to Cambridge English Dictionary

empowerment means "to authorize". In the context of the people they have to be

authorized to have control over their lives. When applied in the context of development

the particular segment of population, the poor, the women, the vulnerable, the weak, the

oppressed and the discriminated have to be "empowered" to have control over their lives

to better their socioeconomic and political conditions,.

Women`s empowerment in contemporary India

Contemporary Indian society has been exposed to the broad processes of social

transformation, agricultural modernization and economic development, urbanization and

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globalization. However, these processes have generated regional imbalances, sharpened

class inequalities and augmented the gender disparities. Hence, women have become

critical symbols of these growing imbalances. All these have affected adversely the

various aspects of women's empowerment in the contemporary Indian society. The

family and women's work is not enough to say that any society consists of men and

women.

Role of Microfinance for Promoting Integrated Rural Development and Poverty

Alleviation

‘Role of Microfinance for Promoting Integrated Rural Development and

Poverty Alleviation’ By Raja Shekar as In His Articles he discussed that The concept

and role of micro financing is well known for social upliftment as well as for the

development of rural and backward areas. Considerable efforts are being made at the

public and private sectors to bring in enough number of technologies in the rural areas for

their implementation and use through micro financing for the overall development.

However, support of micro financing agencies including banks is not reaching at the

grass route levels and therefore, most of the developmental programmers get diluted or

ineffective and many a times they don’t even take off. In the rural areas people are not

much aware about the micro financial schemes and their benefits. Hence, in order to

provide sustainable rural development and progressive poverty alleviation the role of

micro financing agencies becomes an important in the context of current scenario. In the

present communication the whole mechanism of micro finance, its role to achieve

sustainable rural development and for social economic benefits are discussed in detail.

Economic Empowerment of women

Poverty Eradication

Since women comprise the majority of the population below the poverty line and

are very often in situations of extreme poverty, given the harsh realities of intra-

household and social discrimination, macroeconomic policies and poverty eradication

programmes will specifically address the needs and problems of such women.

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Micro Credit

In order to enhance women’s access to credit for consumption and production, the

establishment of new and strengthening of existing micro-credit mechanisms and micro-

finance institution will be undertaken so that the outreach of credit is enhanced. Other

supportive measures would be taken to ensure adequate flow of credit through extant

financial institutions and banks, so that all women below poverty line have easy access to

credit.

Young Women Empowerment Programmes 2008

The Youth Development Trust in its endeavor to respond to this plight has

extended its market due to one of its first 2006 Monitoring & Evaluation report finding,

which is lack of skills development training opportunities amongst deserving

disadvantaged Matriculates and Tertiary drop outs. As a result YDT in partnership with

the Embassy of Finland will be implementing programs in Gauteng and the North West

to 15 participants per province. YDT offers relevant programs to its constituency, hence

research is vital to design programs that directly respond to the challenges and identify

opportunities in that particular area or region.

Implication and Utilization of Government Programs

The empowerment of Rural Women is crucial for the development of the Rural

Bharat. Bringing women into the mainstream of development is a major concern for the

Government of India, which is why 2001 has been declared as the "Year of Women

Empowerment". The Ministry of Rural Development has special components for Women

in its programmes and funds are earmarked as "Women's Component" to ensure flow of

adequate resources for the same. The major Schemes, having Women's Component,

include the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), the Jawahar Gram Samridhi

Yojana (JGSY), the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), the National Social Assistance

Programme (NSAP), the Restructured Centrally Rural Sanitation Programme, the

Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme, the (erstwhile) Integrated Rural

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Development Programme (IRDP), the (erstwhile) Development of Women and Children

in Rural Areas (DWCRA) and the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY).

Indian Women: Natural Potential to be an Entrepreneur

Priya Dadhich has discussed that she had her analysis of the ‘Indian

Women: Natural Potential to be an Entrepreneur in her whole articles’ It is general

belief in our society that role of women is restricted in four walls of home or you can say

women are involved in mainly household activities like cooking and reading. Economy

of any country can't boom without contributing women. The growing industrialization,

urbanization and social legislation and with the spread of education and awareness

women have shifted from kitchen to higher level of professional activities. Today's

women are taking more and more professional and technical degrees to cope up with

market need. The position of women and their status is any society is an index of its

civilization. Women are to be considered as equal partner in the process of development.

As technology speeds up lives women are as emerging economic force which cannot be

neglected by policy maker. The world's modern democratic economy depends on the

participation of both sexes.

In many developing countries including India women have much less access to

education, jobs, and income then men. Ever after five and half decade of planned

development Indian women have not achieved expected success in the mainstream of

life. Our country will be unable to have a competitive edge over others until and unless

the status and role of women is improved. In Indian context, National level Standing

Committee on Women Entrepreneur constituted by the Ministry of Industries The Govt.

of India(1984) notes women entrepreneur as "An enterprise owned and controlled by

women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51%

of employment generated in the enterprise to women.

Problems of women entrepreneurs

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Women owned business are highly increasing in the economics of almost all

countries. The hidden entrepreneurial potential of women has gradually been changing

with the growing sensitivity to the role and economic status in the society. Skill,

knowledge & adoptability in the business are the main reason for women to emerge in to

business venture. Women entrepreneurs" is a person who accepts challenging role to

meet her personal needs and become economically independent, strong desire to do

something positive is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women who is capable of

contributing values in both family and social life.

Microfinance in India empowering women

Rasheeda Bhagat has discussed in his articles about microfinance in India

empowering women that could be through microfinance in India Allowing his

organization to be “very profitable” are women like Asiya Begum and her colleagues. Or

Ananthamma, a 40-year-old Telugu-speaking maidservant in South Delhi, who was

unable to take care of her handicapped son after her husband died. Her father-in-law had

a spice business, which was doing well; she took an SKS loan and set up a similar spice

business. It flourished, and when it was time for a mid-term loan she bought trinkets and

put her son on the job of selling them door-to-door.

Now she has two businesses, her son is self-employed, and she has proved that

small sums of money can make a big difference to the poor when routed through

organized channels. Traditional development theories believed that a high growth rate of

the economy would benefit the poor through the so-called trickledown effect. This

suggests that, among the poor, both men and women would equally reap the fruits of high

economic growth rate. However, this has been belied by actual development and in spite

of the various development measures and constitutional legal guarantees – women have

lagged behind in almost all sectors.

Micro Finance is emerging as a powerful instrument for poverty alleviation in the

new economy. Micro Finance refers to a collection of banking practices built around

providing small loans (typically without collateral) and accepting tiny deposits. In India,

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micro finance scene is dominated by Self Help Groups (SHGs) – Bank Linkage

Programme, aimed at providing a cost-effective mechanism for providing financial

services to the “unreached poor”. Based on the philosophy of peer pressure and group

savings as collateral substitute, the SHG programme has been successful in not only in

meeting the peculiar needs of the rural poor, but also in strengthening collective self-help

capacities of the poor at the local level, leading to their empowerment.

Micro finance for the poor and women has received extensive recognition as a

strategy for poverty reduction and for women’s economic empowerment. There are good

reasons to target women. Gender equality turns out to be good for everybody.

Women's Micro-enterprises

Considering the entrepreneurial environment, women's activities are very

interesting as they offer a great source of knowledge and innovation. For example: there

is no single type of female micro-entrepreneur, they differ in social background,

educational level, experience and age. Another interesting factor is their strong social

coherence that allows them to maintain strong communications-channels at all levels.

One important element, and perhaps the only characteristic that men will never have, is

the possibility to transfer "motherhood skills" to job. These include fostering of other

people's development through guiding, monitoring, and sharing information. Women are

experienced in balancing claims, in organizing and pacing, and in handling difficulties.

Overview of Microfinance for Women in India

N. Kavitha had overview on the ‘microfinance in India in her articles that

she mentioned that microfinance approach for women`s in India’ To most,

microfinance means providing very poor families with very small loans to help them

engage in productive activities or grow their very small businesses. Like us, many poor

people need and use financial services all the time. They save and borrow, invest in home

repairs and improvements and meet occasional and domestic expenses such as food and

school fees. However, there are some 500 million low income entrepreneurs in the world

and about 5% have access to financial services. Indeed, the financial services available to

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the poor often have serious limitations in terms of cost, risk and convenience. As a result,

over time, microfinance has come to include a broader range of services (credit, savings,

insurance, etc.) as the industry has come to realize that the poor and the very poor that

lack access to traditional formal financial institutions require a variety of financial

products.

Microfinance approach

Microfinance approach is based on certain proven truths which are not always

recognized. These are:

That the poor are bankable; successful initiatives in micro finance demonstrate that there

need not be a tradeoff between reaching the poor and profitability - micro finance

constitutes a statement that the borrowers are not 'weaker sections' in need of charity, but

can be treated as responsible people on business terms for mutual profit That almost all

poor households need to save, have the inherent capacity to save small amounts regularly

and are willing to save provided they are motivated and facilitated to do so That easy

access to credit is more important than cheap subsidized credit which involves lengthy

bureaucratic procedures - (some institutions in India are already lending to groups or

SHGs at higher rates - this may prevent the groups from enjoying a sufficient margin and

rapidly accumulating their own funds, but members continue to borrow at these high

rates, even those who can borrow individually from banks)

Women can make micro-credit succeed in India:

'India has to understand that micro-finance is workable and sustainable

anywhere where there is poverty. And to make it successful, it needs to emphasize and

mobilize the role of women in each rural and poor household,' the chief architect of

Bangladesh's Grameen Bank told a conference organized by the Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). 'India and Bangladesh have no major

difference in poverty. If micro-finance or micro-credit is successful in Bangladesh, it can

be successful in India as well,’ 'The Grameen Bank and the work that we do is not

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something extraordinary and neither is it a model. It is a rather simple way of solving the

complex problems of poverty,' the 66-year-old economist said.

The Impact of Microfinance in women empowerment

Dweep Chanana discussed in his one of the articles as about ‘The Impact of

Microfinance in women empowerment’ in his below articles In order to help get some

kind of bearing on the impact of microfinance, we present here a short literature review

on how microfinance affects the lives of the poor. The selected papers are organized into

three categories: the broader context, the impact of microcredit, and the impact of micro

savings (surprisingly, there seems to have been more work done on savings than credit).

In order to help get some kind of bearing on the impact of microfinance, we present here

a short literature review on how microfinance affects the lives of the poor. The selected

papers are organized into three categories: the broader context, the impact of microcredit,

and the impact of micro savings (surprisingly, there seems to have been more work done

on savings than credit).

Self-help & enterprise

Women have gone into the making and marketing of a range of cottage products

– pickles, dried fish, organic manure, spices, agarbattis, tailoring, embroidery, etc.

Backed by ITC’s marketing support, cottage products like agarbattis and chicken

embroidery are emerging as profitable rural industries. Many of the micro enterprise

opportunities are simple and can be started with little capital, such as broom making,

basket making. Other enterprises need more capital and micro financing. The women

meet together weekly to learn ways to get their new business started and successful.

Concept of Women Empowerment

Empowering may be understood as enabling people, especially women to

acquire and possess power resources, in order to make decision on their own or resist

decisions that are made by others that affect them. A person may said to be powerful

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when he/she has control over a large portion of power resources in society. The extent of

possession of various resources such as personal wealth, such as land skills, education,

information, knowledge, social status, position held, leadership trains, capabilities of

mobilization.

Role of Microfinance in Women Empowerment

Nava Ashraf had overview on the ‘Role of microfinance in women

empowerment articles that he mentioned that microfinance’ In the socio-economic

paradigm of economic development of the country, women empowerment is a vital

constituent. Empowerment is a multi-dimensional process that helps people to have

control over their own lives, communities and societies. By generating employment,

Micro finance is emerging as a powerful instrument for poverty alleviation, employment

generation and empowerment of women folk. In India Microfinance for women is mainly

group – based assuming that bringing women together in groups will be more

empowering than the individual lending. Many successful women forums and

organizations are trying to bring rural women together for development of women folk

like working women’s forum (WWF), self employed women’s association (SEWA), shri

mahila griha udyog, Mhaswad, Maharasthra etc.According to World Bank report (2007),

in India the SHG movement has become the basis for programs promoting empowerment

and overall improvement. Although the road to success may be longer with lot many

hurdles, but success of microfinance programs doesn’t seem to be far if backed by

education and training.

Also there is much to be done in terms of strengthening women’s leadership, their

confidence, their bargaining power within and outside their homes and their

representation in policy-making and decision-making fora. It is their issues, their

priorities and needs which should guide and mould the development process in our

country. Toward this end, SEWA has been supporting its members in capacity-building

and in developing their own economic organizations.

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The Self Employed Women's Association. SEWA was born in 1972 as a trade union of

self employed women. It grew out of the Textile Labor Association, TLA, India's oldest

and largest union of textile workers founded in 1920 by women, Anasuya Sarabhai. The

inspiration for the union came from Mahatma Gandhi, who led a successful strike of

textile workers in 1917. He believed in creating positive organized strength by awakening

the consciousness in workers. By developing unity as well as personality, a worker

should be able to hold his or her own against tyranny from employers or the state. To

develop this strength he believed that a union should cover all aspects of worker's lives

both in the factory and at home. Against this background of active involvement in

industrial relations, social work and local, state and national politics, the ideological base

provided by Mahatma Gandhi and the feminist seeds planted by Anasuya Sarabhai led to

the creation by the TLA of their Women's Wing in 1954. Its original purpose was to

assist women belonging to households of mill workers and its work was focused largely

on training and welfare activities. By 1968, classes in sewing, knitting.

Microfinance and Women's Empowerment

Fehmeen Khan`s articles mainly focused on ‘the microfinance and women

empowerment as he mentioned that’ “Empowering women through Microfinance” is

an article that appeared in the December 2007 issue of UNDP’s Poverty in Focus.

Microfinance gained impetus primarily because it promised the social and economic

uplift of women in developing countries across Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Countries in these regions have patriarchal societies that harbor gender-based traditions

preventing the liberation of women.

For instance, women in rural areas of South Asia are often prohibited from

showing their faces in public or from leaving their homes altogether. The lucky ones get

to attend a few years of school and as soon as they reach puberty, they are forced to get

married. These practices are embedded in regional culture which makes it all the more

difficult to implement change.

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By advancing them credit, microfinance aimed to give women a chance create

their own identity and make their own choices. The funds allowed them to generate stable

streams of income that would help provide food, shelter, clothing, and possibly education

for their families. Over time, these women enjoyed a greater role in the economic

decision-making of their household, which is an achievement in itself, considering the

decades of repressive behavior by The problem pertains to the group-lending

methodology initiated by Grameen Bank. One of the benefits of lending to women

(through the group-lending methodology) related to the strengthening of relationships

with other women in their community. This bond not only serves as a safety net when

certain members of the group are pressed financially, but also offers great social value.

The other side of the story is rather audacious. Some studies reveal that the main

reason women are targeted is because they succumb easily to social pressures exerted

through group-lending, and not because they are good money managers. Moreover, some

fear that the group lending technique reinforces existing social norms because women are

selected after assessing her husband's lifestyle (drinking, gambling, financial status, etc.)

Measuring the Impact of Microfinance on Women's Empowerment

Given the complexity of defining women’s empowerment it is not surprising that

only a few empirical studies have tried to examine the impact of microfinance on

women’s empowerment. For the most part, empirical research on microfinance’s effect

on women’s empowerment has been conceptually ungrounded and tends to estimate an

over-extended definition of empowerment or a truncated aspect of it. A number of these

studies also suffer from methodological bias and flaws. In fact, only a few studies have

successfully investigated this impact in a rigorous manner.

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CHAPTER-4

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

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Data Analysis and Interpretation

This chapter deals with the analysis and interpretation of the data. For the purpose

of the study data were collected by way of administering questionnaires to the women

entrepreneurs and members of SHGs of the study area. Analysis involves organizing the

data in a manner, while interpretation is that which explains the facts of figures.

Hypothesis generally means a proposition or a set of proposition set forth as an

explanation for the occurrence of some specified phenomena either asserted merely as a

provisional conjecture to guide some investigation or accepted as highly probable in the

light of established facts.

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Table 1: Table Showing Age of the Respondents

SLno Age Frequency Percent

1 18-25 5 10

2 25-30 29 58

3 35-40 16 32

4 Above 40 0 0

5 Total 50 100

Source: survey data

Figure: 1

5%

29%

16%

50%

Age

1 18-25

2 25-30

3 35-40

4 Above 40

5 Total

Inference: The age wise classification of the respondents shows that 58% of the respondents

are of the age group of 25-30 years. Most of these aged women’s are more utilizing the

microfinance in SHGs in shivamogga district.

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Table-2 Table showing the educational qualification of the respondents

Qualification Number of

respondents

Percentage

Matriculation and below

23 46

Pre-university 13 26

Any degree 9 18

Others 5 10

Total 50 100

Source: survey data

Figure -2

46%

26%

18%

10%

Matriculation and below Pre-university

Any degree others

Inference:

The educational status of respondents indicated that 46% of the respondents were

had matriculation and below education and nearly 26% of them had pre-university

education followed by 18% had degree and only 10% were educated in different streams

in the study area.

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Table-3 Table Showing the Marital status of the respondents

Marital status Number of respondents Percentage

Married 48 96

Unmarried 2 4

Total 50 100

Sources: Survey data

Figure: 3

Married Unmarried Total0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Showing the Marital sta-tus of the respondents Number of respondents

Showing the Marital sta-tus of the respondents Percentage

Inference:

96% of the respondents were married and the rest of them 4% were unmarried in

the study area. This shows that most of beneficiaries are married women’s the SHGs

concentrating more on married women’s.

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Table-5 Table showing the respondents awareness about microfinance

Response Number of respondents Percentage

Yes 50 100

No 00 --

Total 50 100

Sources: Survey data

Figure -5

Inference:

We can easily came to know that the now a day’s women population is

know about microfinance, that means it has covered 100% .

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100%

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The Role Of Microfinance In Women Empowerment

Table-6 Table showing the respondents awareness about SHGs and the

Member of these SHGs

SLno. Name of the SHGs

Yes

No

percentage

1 Dharmasthala Sangha 50 50 100%

2 Swayam krishi Sangha 10 40 20%

3 Shtri Shakthi Sangha 20 30 40%

4 Mahila Swasahaya Sangha 25 25 50%

Sources: Survey data

Figure-6

Dha

rmas

thal

a Sa

ngha

Sway

am k

rish

i San

gha

Shtr

i Sh

akth

i San

gha

Mah

ila

Swas

ahay

a Sa

ngha

1 2 3 4

0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes

No

Inference:

Most of the women`s respondents are aware about all SHGs in above table,

100% know about dharmasthala sangha, 20% Swayam krishi Sangha, 40% Shtri Shakthi

Sangha, 50% Mahila Swasahaya Sangha, most of the women`s are the members of these SHGs

sangha in shivamogga district.

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Table: 7 Table Showing the Purpose of taking loan

Purpose Number of respondents Percentage

Starting tiny business 25 50Carrying live stock activities 10 20Purchasing of durables 7 14Educating children’s 8 16

Total 50 100 Sources: Survey data

Figure:7

0

20

40

60

80

100

Showing the Purpose of taking loan Number of respondents

Showing the Purpose of taking loan Percentage

Inference:

50% of women’s were taken loan to start tiny business, 20% of were carrying live

stock activities, 14% of were used for purchasing durable commodities for homes and

16% of were using for educating their children’s. This shows that major portion is used

for starting business and to engage in economic activity.

Table-8 Table Showing the Response towards interest rate

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Respondents Number of respondents Percentage

Yes 39 78

No 11 22

Total 50 100

Sources: survey data

Figure-8

Number of respondents Percentage0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

YesNo

Inference:

It reveals that the major portion of the respondents were comfort with interest

rate charged by MFIs that is 78% and 22% of were not adjusted with the interest rates

because it costs nearly more than banks.

Table-9 Table Showing the respondents that social activities undertaken by

the SHGs for the women empowerment

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SLno.

Social activities Dharmasthala sangha

Swayam krishi sanga

Shtri shakthi sanga

Mahila swasahaya Sangha

1 Education  --------  -----  ---- 30

2 Training for Tinny business 10  ------ 38  -------

3 Training for Small scale business

35 20 12  -------

4 Savings and welfare activities

5 30  ------ 20

5 TOTAL 50 50 50 50Source: survey data

Figure:9

Ed

uca

tio

n

Tra

inin

g f

or

Tin

ny

bu

sin

ess

Tra

inin

g f

or

Sm

all

scal

e b

usi

nes

s

Sav

ing

s an

d w

elfa

re a

ctiv

i-

ties

tota

l

1 2 3 4 5

0

15

30

45

Dharmasthala sangha

Swayam krishi sanga

Shtri shakthi sanga

Mahila swasahaya Sangha

Inference:

The above table show that social activities has been undertaken by SHGs through microfinance .the Dharmasthala sangha provide loan for Training for Small scale business at 70%, Swayam krishi Sangha for Savings and welfare activities at 65%, Shtri Shakthi Sangha for Training for Tinny business at 76%, Mahila Swasahaya Sangha for Education at 60% by this way SHGs are provide social activities to empower the women.

Table-10 Table showing the mode of repayment of loan amount

Modes Number of respondents Percentage

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Daily 00 00

Weekly 48 96

Monthly 2 4

Quarterly 00 00

Total 50 100

Sources: survey data

Figure -10

Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Number of respondentsPercentage

Inference:

96% of respondents responded that the weekly repayment mode is best because

their incomes were comes in week rather than monthly and daily, and only 4% were told

that they pay monthly. That huge percentage responded that it is type of loans is for

economic activities and least one responded that they are educational loans.

Table-11 Table showing the proper usage of loan amount

Response Number of respondents Percentage

Yes 29 58

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No 21 42

Total 50 100

Source: survey data

Figure -11

Number of re-spondents Percentage

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Yes

No

YesNo

Inference:

58% of women’s were using the loan amount for the suggested need and rest

of them was not using the loan amount that is 42%. This shows that the purpose

of the MFIs is not reached fully.

Table-12 Table showing the reason for improper usage

Reasons Number of respondents Percentage

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Poverty 17 34

Family problems 11 22

Lack of proper knowledge 14 28

Others 8 16

Total 50 100

Sources: survey data

Figure -12

0

20

40

Number of respondentsPercentage

Inference:

34% of the respondents responded that they are not using the loan amount for the

genuine reason because of the poverty. 28% of were not using properly because of lack

of knowledge, 22% from family problems and 16% form other problems. This indicates

that clearly SHGs microfinance intention is not satisfied.

1. Table showing the respondents of the comfortable with the interest rate of the

loans given by the SHG’s

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Performance No of respondents

Strongly agree 10

Agree 28

Neither Agree nor disagree 10

Disagree 02

Strongly disagree 00

Sources: survey data

1. Calculation of chi-square test for the comfortable with the interest rate of the

loans given by the SHG’s s this below fig is observed frequency from survey data:

O E O-E (O-E)2 (O-E)2/E

10 10 00 0 0

28 10 18 324 32.4

10 10 00 0 0

02 10 -08 64 6.4

00 10 -10 64 10

TOTAL 48.8

Df = (N-1)

5-1=4

5% Significance level of the table value is 9.488 1% Significance level of the table value is 13.277

The calculated chi-square value is more than the table values therefore the null hypotheses is accepted

Inference: 56% of the respondents are accepted and agreed the interest rate of the SHGs

and the chi-square test is accepted as null hypotheses.

2. Table showing the respondents of performance of SHGs is better than banks other

institution:

Performance No of respondents

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Strongly agree 10

Agree 35

Neither Agree nor disagree 05

Disagree 00

Strongly disagree 00

Source: survey data

2. Calculation of chi-square test for the performance of SHGs is better than banks and other institutions this below fig is observed frequency from survey data:

O E O-E (O-E)2 (O-E)2/E

10 10 0 0 0

35 10 25 625 62.5

5 10 -5 25 2.5

0 10 -10 100 10

0 10 -10 100 10

TOTAL 85

Df = (N-1)

5-1=4

5% Significance level of the table value is 9.488 1% Significance level of the table value is 13.277

The calculated chi-square value is more than the table values therefore the null hypotheses is accepted

Inference: By survey of 70% of the respondents agree self help groups are better than banks and other institutions. By calculation chi-square test null hypotheses is accepted.

3. Table showing the respondents of the microfinance is helping the empowerment of women:

Performance No of respondents

Strongly agree 00

Agree 50

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Neither Agree nor disagree 00

Disagree 00

Strongly disagree 00

Sources: survey data

3. Calculation of chi-square test for the microfinance is helping the empowerment of women this below fig is observed frequency from survey data: Df = (N-1) 5-1=4• 5% Significance level of the table value is 9.488• 1% Significance level of the table value is 13.277 The calculated chi-square value is more than the table values therefore the null hypotheses is accepted

Inference: 100% of the respondents agreed and they accepted microfinance in empowering the women`s through SGHs

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CHAPTER-5

FINDINGS SUGGESTIONS

AND CONCLUSIONS

Findings Suggestions and conclusions

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Based on the interaction with the women respondents of the SHGs members, by

observations, survey, and data analysis, interpretation the key findings are noted below.

Findings

Most of the women`s of SHGs are beneficiaries through microfinance are middle

age group of 25-30years.

If we see the educational qualification of the respondents majority of were having

matriculation and below. It shows that educated women`s are not concentrating

on SHGs activities of microfinance empowering women`s.

It is find that 94% of the respondents were married, it reveals that SHGs are

looking for married women’s empowerment their by it can develop their families.

SHGs provide social activities services through Microfinance like savings and

welfare activities and also training for small scale and tinny business.

The majority of responded of women`s in SHGs are prefers Dharmasthala sangha

and they were using funds for engaging in economic activity.

The interest rates of Dharmasthala sangha and Swayam krishi Sangha is flat

interest rate of loan amount, Shtri Shakthi Sangha and Mahila Swasahaya

Sangha is cut interest rate of loan,

78% of the respondents were agreed with the interest rate of the SHGs, because

most of the money lenders charges high than SHGs.

The SHGs provide weekly mode of repayment of loan, as the poor and peoples

who are engaging in activities are getting their income in weekly.

The women population is choosing SHGs microfinance more than going for

banks,

Due to lack of proper knowledge and family problem the women’s were under

utilizing the loan amount.

Suggestions

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SHGs microfinance has to concentrate on unmarried women’s empowerment also,

as unmarried population is more and they will engage in economic activities and

they are free to do business.

It has to slightly reduce the interest rate on loan amounts.

It has to increase the loan amount some more, as we know now a day’s all the

rates and prices are costly the members can’t go for business activities that small

amount of loan.

SHGs have to provide knowledge based training programmes which would help

the members in their business.

It has to guide the members in proper utilizing the loan amount.

SGHs have to start group of entrepreneurship activities through providing more

microfinance to the small scale business activities.

Conclusion

Traditionally women have been marginalized. A high percentage of women are

among the poorest of the poor. Microfinance activities can give them a means to climb

out of poverty. Microfinance could be a solution to help them to extend their horizon and

offer them social recognition and empowerment.

On the other hand, thank to women's capabilities to combine productive and

reproductive roles in microfinance activities and society has enabled them to produce a

greater impact as they will increase at the same time the quality of life of the women

micro-entrepreneur and also of her family. Short-term assistance programmes might aim

at increasing the productivity of women's labor by providing credit, technology, and skill

training. Long-term objectives could emphasize eliminating institutional constraints

which limit women's access to productive resources, creating social, technological, and

economic mechanisms to reduce conflicts between women's productive and reproductive

roles, as well as defining strategies to address traditional and legal barriers that hamper or

preclude the active participation of women in the productive sectors of the economy.

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The key issue for successful micro finance program focused on women should

consider them in a broader context, as a family nucleus, that is vital for societal

improvement and progress. Following this idea, micro finance programmes should

provide women with specific adapted products through appropriate methodologies, which

can offer competitiveness to their business but also well being to them and their familie.

QUESTIONNAIRE

DEAR Sir/Madam,

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I am vijay kumar .y MBA 4th semester Bonafide student of management studies &

research Kuvempu University Shankaraghatta, as a part of the curriculum requirement for

the award of degree in business administration I am pursuing research on “THE ROLE

OF MICRO FINANCE IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT A CASE STUDY ON SHGS

IN SHIVAMOGGA DISTRICT” Under the guidance of Mrs. Sumathi , Faculty member

in Institute of Management Studies, I kindly request you kindly take some time off your

busy schedule and facilitate in filling up this questionnaire, further the information that is

provided by you would be would be kept confidential and used for academic purpose

only.

Vijay Kumar. Y

Institute of Management

Studies

Kuvempu University Shankaraghatta,

Shivamogga.

1. Name :

2. Address :

3. Age :

1.18-25 [ ] 3.35-40 [ ]

2.25-30 [ ] 4.Above 40[ ]

4. Educational qualification:

1. Matriculation and below [ ] 3. Pre-university [ ]

2. Any degree [ ] 4. Other [ ]

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5. Marital status:

1. Married [ ] 2. Unmarried [ ]

6. Income level:

1. Rs. 5000-15000 [ ] 3. Rs. 25000-35000 [ ]

2. Rs. 15000-25000 [ ] 4. Rs. 35000 above [ ]

7. Are you aware of microfinance?

1. Yes 2. No

8. Which SHG’s do you aware of?

9. Are you a

member of

SHG?

1. Yes 2. No

10. For which SHGs you are the member?

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SLno. Name of the SHGs Yes No

1 Dharmasthala Sangha

2 Swayam krishi Sangha

3 Shtri Shakthi Sangha

4 Mahila Swasahaya Sangha

SLno. Name of the SHGs Yes No

1 Dharmasthala Sangha

2 Swayam krishi Sangha

3 Shtri Shakthi Sangha

4 Mahila Swasahaya Sangha

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11. Do you have loan facilities in your SHG?

12. For which purpose you are taking loan from MFIs

1. Starting tiny business [ ] 3. Carrying live stocks activity [ ]

2. Purchasing durables [ ] 4. Educating children [ ]

13. What is the rate of interest of MFIs?

____________________________________________________________

14. I am comfortable with the interest rate of the loans given by the SHG’s

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SLno. Name of the SHGs provide loans Yes No

1 Dharmasthala Sangha

2 Swayam krishi Sangha

3 Shtri Shakthi Sangha

4 Mahila Swasahaya Sangha

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The Role Of Microfinance In Women Empowerment

Strongly agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree Strongly Disagree

SLno. Social activities Dharmasthal

a sangha

Swayam

krishi

sanga

Shtri

shakthi

sanga

Mahila

swasahaya

Sangha

1 Education

2 Training for Tinny business

3 Training for Small scale business

4 Savings and welfare activities

15. What are all the social activities undertaken by the SHGs for women empowerment?

16. How much time they will take to provide loans?

SLno. Name of the SHG`s Within

1day

Within

week

Within

fort night

Within month

1 Dharmasthala Sangha

2 Swayam krishi Sangha

3 Shtri Shakthi Sangha

4 Mahila Swasahaya Sangha

17. How frequently do you repay the loan taken by the SHG’S?

SL.no. Name of the SHG’s Daily Weekly Fortnight Monthly

1 Dharmasthala Sangha

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2 Swayam krishi Sangha

3 Shtri Shakthi Sangha

4 Mahila Swasahaya

Sangha

Strongly agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

18. The performance of Self help groups is better than banks and other institutions.

19. Will you use the loan amount for which purpose you borrowed?

1. Yes 2.No

20. If no what is the Reason behind the improper usage?

1. Poverty 3. Lack of knowledge

2. Family problems 4. Other------------

21. Micro finance is helping a lot in empowering the women

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

22. Any suggestion to the improvement of microfinance lending activities

_____________________________________________________________________

Thank you

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books Articles:

o Women Empowerment Programs, S. Shiny Nair (Jun 30, 2009)

o Women Empowerment & Social development Dr.Jelsy Joseph,(Jun 30, 2009)

o Women’s Empowerment Raghavendra Bhatt,(Mar 24, 2009)

o Role Of Microfinance For Promoting Integrated Rural Development And Poverty

Alleviation Raja Shekar Bhatt, Posted,(17, 2007)

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The Role Of Microfinance In Women Empowerment

o Indian Women: Natural Potential to be an Entrepreneur PRIYA DADHICH (Sep 22,

2010)

o Microfinance in India empowering women Rasheeda Bhagat (16 September 2009)

o Overview of Microfinance for Women in India N. Kavitha (Sep 22, 2006)

o The Impact of Microfinance in women empowerment Dweep Chanana(January 18,

2010)

o Role of Microfinance in Women Empowerment Nava Ashraf,(May 30, 2009)

o Microfinance and Women's Empowerment Fehmeen Khan(on 15, Dec, 2007)

Search engine:

www.microfinance.com

www. EzineArticles.com

www.SGHs.com

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