Indian microfinance not sustainable: Bangladeshi practitioners

HYDERABAD: India's microfinance model is not sustainable due to its overdependence on the government, the huge subsidy given by the state and the lack of a regulatory framework to check the exploitation of the poor, sectoral practitioners from Bangladesh say.

They are of the opinion that the Bangladeshi model is more sustainable as it is run professionally and is yet pro-poor, with civil society and NGOs playing an active role at the grassroots level and the government acting only as a facilitator.

The experts said while the Indian model is limited to providing credit, Bangladesh has NGOs and microfinance institutions (MFIs) working in the areas of education, health and gender.

This comparison is despite the whopping 27 per cent interest charged in Bangladesh against a meagre three per cent in Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, which has the highest number of people - 10 million - covered under micro credit.

An international summit on microfinance and inclusive development held here last week provided an opportunity to delegates from various countries to share their experiences and gain first-hand knowledge of the working of women's self-help groups (SHGs) in Andhra Pradesh.

Talking to IANS, Atiqun Nabi, Asia head of the International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions ( INAFI )), and Humera Islam, executive director of the Shakti Foundation of Bangladesh , voiced their doubts on the sustainability of Indian microfinance.

"Unlike in India, where the state is playing a very important and active role, in Bangladesh it is basically civil society and NGOs who take microfinance to the ground. That is why microfinance in Bangladesh is still pro-poor," said Atiqun Nabi, who is from Bangladesh.

"What if the government here stops supporting the programme," asked Nabi, who also saw the danger of the party in power using the SHGs to further its political agenda and the groups suffering with the change of government.

He also pointed out that the microfinance programme in India lays more emphasis on economic development but is not so concerned about issues like women's empowerment, health and education.

"The whole thing here is government-sponsored. The government is supposed to work at the macro-level, but they are stepping into a domain that is clearly not theirs.

Indian microfinance not sustainable: Bangladeshi practitioners

India's microfinance model is not sustainable due to its overdependence on the government, the huge subsidy given by the state and the lack of a regulatory framework to check the exploitation of the poor, sectoral practitioners from Bangladesh say.

They are of the opinion that the Bangladeshi model is more sustainable as it is run professionally and is yet pro-poor, with civil society and NGOs playing an active role at the grassroots level and the government acting only as a facilitator.

The experts said while the Indian model is limited to providing credit, Bangladesh has NGOs and microfinance institutions (MFIs) working in the areas of education, health and gender.

This comparison is despite the whopping 27 percent interest charged in Bangladesh against a meagre three percent in Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, which has the highest number of people - 10 million - covered under micro credit.

An international summit on microfinance and inclusive development held here last week provided an opportunity to delegates from various countries to share their experiences and gain first-hand knowledge of the working of women's self-help groups (SHGs) in Andhra Pradesh.

Talking to IANS, Atiqun Nabi, Asia head of the International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions (INAFI), and Humera Islam, executive director of the Shakti Foundation of Bangladesh, voiced their doubts on the sustainability of Indian microfinance.

"Unlike in India, where the state is playing a very important and active role, in Bangladesh it is basically civil society and NGOs who take microfinance to the ground. That is why microfinance in Bangladesh is still pro-poor," said Atiqun Nabi, who is from Bangladesh.

"What if the government here stops supporting the programme," asked Nabi, who also saw the danger of the party in power using the SHGs to further its political agenda and the groups suffering with the change of government.

He also pointed out that the microfinance programme in India lays more emphasis on economic development but is not so concerned about issues like women's empowerment, health and education.

"The whole thing here is government-sponsored. The government is supposed to work at the macro-level, but they are stepping into a domain that is clearly not theirs. The question is how far a government can carry on because it has much more important things to do," Humera Islam of the Shakti Foundation, one of the largest MFIs in Bangladesh, told IANS.

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