Social Impact Assessment of Microfinance Programmes - weman

7.7 Focus Group Discussions
This section discusses the client feedback of microfinance institutions and the various
coping mechanisms at the local level in terms of financial transactions. Information has
been gathered primarily through focus group discussions with beneficiary groups in
randomly selected programme localities. Some additional information has also been
gathered through discussions with respective programmes’ field and programme staff.
7.7.1 NRSP
Four focus group discussions were held in NRSP programme areas with two male and
two female groups of borrowers. These groups were conducted in Talagung and Attock
districts, which are both part of the Barani area of the Punjab province. In each district,
one male and one female FGD was conducted in two different villages. Groups of rural
clients were selected, as NRSP’s majority borrowers are rural based, with a separate
urban credit programme under the UPAP – see below.
Table 2 gives details of the FGDs localities.
District Attock
Females
Males
District Talagang
Females
Males
Name of Village
Akhori
Boota
Chingee
Bhilomar
Districts Attock and Talagang have more or less similar socio-economic and
geographical characteristics. In the rural areas, the majority of the people have small to
medium sized landholdings along with multiple sources of supplementary incomes, like
small businesses, employment in the service and defence sectors, and out-migration to
other larger urban centres in the country, and internationally. A significant proportion of
males in the area have either gone to the Gulf and European countries for livelihood
purposes and send remittances back home, which account for the relatively better
economic conditions in the area.
Client Profile
Although the main mission of NRSP is poverty alleviation with a focus on the poorer
segments of society, however, the profile of their average rural clients does not reflect
this. The majority of the participants of the focus groups had multiple sources of income
and the average monthly income was approximately Rs. 10-12,000. Some of the
participants reported monthly incomes as high as Rs. 25,000 also.
Most of the borrowers had taken credit through their Community Organizations rather
than through Group Loans, which was still a relatively new concept in the programme
approach. NRSP has a flexible approach towards selection of its borrowers and is willing
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