Two-day national microfinance conference concludes
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, March 17 2011:
Sa-Dhan in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI) has organized the National Microfinance Conference 2011.The theme of this conference was "Re-engineering Microfinance: Need for New Products & Policies" and held on the March 15 and 16 .
Keeping the accentuated situation that the Microfinance Sector today finds itself in, it is time for us to re-design the future trajectory of Financial Inclusion in India.
In the opening session R Subrahmanyam, Principal Secretary Rural Development Government of Andhra Pradesh, said that it is time for the microfinance sector to rediscover itself and highlighted that organizations should prioritize prosperity of people over their own prosperity.
He also underscored the need for effective credit and the need for regulation for long-term sustainability of microfinance institutions.
Shashi Kant Sharma, Secretary Financial Sector, Ministry of Finance, in his speech, emphasized the commitment of Government of India to enhance the cause of financial inclusion in the country.
He mentioned that in the Union budget of 2011-12, the government has proposed the creation of Women SHG Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore and Microfinance Equity Fund of Rs 100 crore for giving further boost to microfinance.
Jayshree Vyas, Chairperson of Sa-Dhan, said that events of the past few months have presented new opportunities of learning for the microfinance sector.
These include learning more about the livelihoods of the clients, improving product and services and being ethical in operations.
She also said "To facilitate provision of microfinance services to the poor, we need a single legislation encompassing all operating models and legal forms" .
Many MFIs are facing acute liquidity crisis on accounts of almost total freeze on the lending to the MFIs by the banks.
One of the panels discussed the obstacles in financing and the ways to overcome these in the current environment.
NK Maini, Deputy Managing Director, SIDBI summarised various initiatives that have been taken by the key lenders in the sector to improve transparency.
Business Correspondent (BC) model has been put forward as an effective tool to ensure financial inclusion in the rural areas.
The panel which discussed the issues pertaining to the BC model felt that the BC model has been affected by technology, revenue model and the mode of service delivery.
Some of the community members have also shared their experiences while being part of the community based financial institutions.
Many of them said that with availability of financial services with the help of the SHG and the federations they have been able to derive significant economic and social benefits.
Kambam Seityajit, chairman of the Vision Foundation Manipur and Ksh Gangari Devi, member of the foundation participated in the two day conference.
The chairman held interaction with other participants and urged for cooperation in addressing issues confronting in the state.