Social Impact Assessment of Microfinance Programmes - weman

loan was launched. Micro Leasing was offered when they reviewed the portfolio of
productive loans and saw that almost 50 percent of the loans were used for purchasing
assets. The LVF was offered when clients in a Focus Group mentioned that they used the
productive loan for the down-payment of livestock and then borrowed from other sources
to pay instalments. From this they realized that a larger-sized loan for livestock was
needed in the rural areas.
Asasah has a dedicated department for product development and currently, Asasah wants
to research an education loan as people have been approaching them for it. Another loan
that Asasah wants to offer is for health but that will be in the future sometime. Asasah’s
plan is to offer these specific products rather than offer an emergency loan. Asasah’s
management says that health and education are the two main reasons for which clients
take out their savings and they will offer specific products rather than an allencompassing
emergency loan. They keep analyzing how loan and savings are utilized so
that they know what the needs of their clients are.
Asasah also monitors the social performance of its clients as it has sections on education,
household status and resources in their application forms. With each successive cycle,
Asasah knows how improvements in these indicators have taken place. This process is
known as ‘Internal Monitoring’ in the microfinance literature and is different from impact
assessments (Hulme, 1999).
Asasah has established a productivity/training centre to enhance the productivity of
employees at all levels. Asasah believes in the continuous capacity building of its
employees and invites consultants and academicians to train staff. They also offer the
training facility to other social organizations. Asasah wants to set up a research
department and a Social Performance System so that it can be used to improve products
and services. Other than capacity building, the measures taken to retain staff and keep
them motivated are internal promotions, financial assistance for education and an open
door policy practiced by the management.
The challenge faced by Asasah is to reduce costs and decentralize operations, as many
loans are still being approved from the Head Office. However, to do this Asasah will
have to formulate robust monitoring. They also need technical assistance to improve the
rural operations and an automated system to track and manage portfolio
3.1.5.3 Geographical Coverage
Asasah works primarily in urban and semi-urban areas of the Punjab. In 2005, it initiated
expansion in heavily populated rural markets as well, and plans to expand further in the
rural areas. When Asasah started, they asked a statistician to work out the areas where
there was need for microfinance based on census data. Based on the need document,
Asasah sends out research teams to do a full fledged investigation.
Asasah has a comprehensive strategy for identifying new areas and opening new
branches. A team comprising of 8-10 staff members is put together who travel to a
research area chosen by the operations committee and approved by the CEO. They
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