January - March 2013 - National Institute of Rural Development

Book Journal Reviews of Rural Development, Vol. 32, No. (1) pp. 97 - 10697NIRD, Hyderabad.BOOK REVIEWSMicrofinance India, State of theSector Report 2012, Editor : VenugopalanPuhazhendhi, Sage Publications, Price : ` 850,Pages : 184.The Microfinance India - State of theSector Report 2012 is an authentic source ofpresentation of growth and development ofthe microfinance sector in India in its entirety.This report provides an independent andscholarly view of the state of microfinance onan annual basis, which is widely quoted inmost circles and specifically those who haveserious stake in the microcredit issues. As itcollects information from authentic sourcesand field reports, it helps in identifying theknowledge and practice gaps that requirefurther research and study.For the last few years, this report hasbecome the best reference material on theannual trends and progress of the Indianmicrofinance sector and is a must for everyresearcher to access the performance of themicrofinance sector as a whole. The richnessof the report lies in its diversity of perspectives,sectorial contents and breadth of issuescovered as well as the depth of analyses. It isa rare blending of statistical rigour with policyand action relevance inputs in totality.The report started with an ‘Overview ofthe Microfinance Sector’ and ended with ‘theFuture – Forward Looking’ aspect of theMicrofinance Sector. There are eight otherrelevant chapters, each redefining animportant aspect. Some notable points fromeach chapter are illustrated below reflectingthe richness of the report.For example, in Chapter-II, entitled ‘SHGBank Linkage Programme – Revisit in Progress’,the report has stated that the SHG Bank linkageprogramme implemented during the last twodecades has significantly contributed in termsof outreach of financial services to unreachedpeople so far. As per the report, the review ofthe performance of the programme revealsthat there has been a significant improvementin terms of socio-economic empowerment ofrural poor, particularly of women across statesin India.In Chapter-III on ‘MicrofinanceInstitutions – Signs of Recovery’, the reportsuggested that MFIs need to actively engagethemselves as partners in the financialinclusion programme and integrate theirvision and mission with the state and centralgovernment to achieve a prosperous futurefor the customers.In Chapter-IV on ‘Financial Inclusion –Process and Progress’, the report aptly pointedout that microfinance being a sector thatserves a very large number of small clientsdistributed over a wide geographical areacould be a highly cost-intensive proposition.The adoption of appropriate technologicalsolutions both in hardware and softwareplatforms will ensure that the cost remainswithin reasonable limits. This will also enhancethe value proposition for banks, BCs and aboveall, the customers.In Chapter-V on ‘Microfinance – BeyondCredit’, the report highlights that despite crisisin the sector, many institutions innovatedproducts which are designed within theregulatory ambit such as enterprise loans, assetcreation loans, sanitation loans and severalnon-financial services. While many of theproducts showed success for replication, stillthere are several unresolved issues whichneed to be appropriately considered whileupscaling these innovations.Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 32, No. 1, January - March : 2013JRD 2 (1)