January - March 2013 - National Institute of Rural Development

Book Reviews 105In Chapter five the authors analysed theempirical results such as the socio- economicprofile of the sample respondents like age, sex,income, education, marital status, type offamily and the sources of income of therespondent. Focus was laid on inclination ofthe respondents to religious beliefs, religiousgatherings and celebration of festivals,religious tours and religion as one of thecoping mechanisms. How the family relationsare in the respondent's household likewhether the family members spend time withrespondents, are they making him/her part inthe discussions related to family, are theytaking the respondents for outings, provisionof basic facilities, respect within the family etc.were also enquired. Bereavement amongelderly is also one aspect of the study like lossof spouse and children, incidents like divorceand separation etc. Respondents spendingtime on different activities like entertainment,household activities is also one area of enquiry.Focus was laid on respondents suffering fromdifferent health problems ranging from minorto major and chronic. It was also tried to assessthe awareness levels of the respondents onthe latest treatment methods to mental stressand depression. Further, the author inferredfrom the analysis that percentage of therespondents suffering from mild to moderatedepression is high. However, percentage of therespondents suffering from severe depressionthat is who need psychiatric treatment is low.Few case studies of the elderly peoplestaying in an old age home called ‘ApnaAshiyana’ and in their respective housessuffering from depression were alsohighlighted. Summary , conclusions andrecommendations are presented in chaptersix.By reading the book, an individualdevelops knowledge on the issues related todepression among the elderly in general andMarwari community in particular. It isinformative and readability is smooth. Thelanguage used is simple and the style ofpresentation is good. The author has also usedexhaustive review of literature and the bookhas rich bibliography. However, in the overallassessment, the book is a good resource bookon various psychological and social aspectspertaining to depression among the aged andhas great relevance of time to the ruraldevelopment too.– Dr. C. DheerajaMicro Finance India – The SocialPerformance Report 2012 by GirijaSrinivasan, Sage Publications India Pvt.ltd.Pages: 121, Price : ` 795.The need for customer protection,responsible finance and social performancecame sharply to the fore in the aftermath ofAP crisis due to some irresponsible MFIs in theState. Some MFIs caused harm to the clientsleading to crisis. This has led to interventionof RBI regulating MFIs, setting margin caps andother fee that can be charged on loans. RBIalso set norms for income levels of clients tobe acquired and serviced by MFIs. Few goodMFIs have gone beyond financial services andallocated part of their profits for client welfaremeasures like education, health etc. While thecredit for success is easy to claim, theresponsibility for failure should also be sharedby MFIs.The author discussed about variousaspects of ownership and governance.balancing social and financial goals incomposition of Board of Directors, CEO’scompensation (High pay packet) etc., whichare the cause of crisis in the sector. HistoricallyMFIs displayed mixed enthusiasm inexperimenting with new products. As theclients are poor and illiterate, they are alsohappy with available products and productdelivery. Some MFIs, as a future businessstrategy, ploughed back part of their profits inthe form of support to destitute, ultra poor whoJournal of Rural Development, Vol. 32, No. 1, January - March : 2013JRD 2 (1)