-The Economic Times, The Cabinet has cleared a proposed Bill empowering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate all microfinance institutions (MFIs). A central legislation makes sense only to the extent that it over-rides draconian state-level laws. However, the Bill suffers from many infirmities. And it is unfortunate that these have been overlooked. The law, if enacted, is likely to kill small MFIs and hurt the sector that is struggling...

In 2010, Andhra Pradesh witnessed a series of suicides. These were not cases of farmers' suicides—a regular occurrence in the state which continues to be in the grip of an agrarian crisis. The victims in these cases happened to be the poorest of the poor; most of them illiterate dalits and adivasis. The first information reports (FIRs) of the police reveal that most of the suicides were due to coercive...

-AP The microfinance industry pursued a path of rapid business growth in recent years; two investigations now link it to debtor suicides   First they were stripped of their utensils, furniture, mobile phones, television sets, ration cards and heirloom gold jewellery. Then, some of them drank pesticide. One woman threw herself into a pond. Another jumped into a well with her children. Sometimes, the debt collectors watched nearby. More than 200 poor, debt-ridden residents of...

Muhammad Yunus, the economist who founded Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, visited Mumbai recently where he spoke to India Ink about his vision of “social businesses,” his forced departure from Grameen and the recent controversies that have dogged micro-finance in India and elsewhere. An edited, condensed version of the interview follows: Q. The microfinance industry has gone through an existential crisis in the last few years. Why did the industry fall from grace? A. See,...

Single-premium plan likely to be only for women initially; Centre, states to share premium for economically weaker sections. Customers may soon get health, insurance and pension covers, as well as a scholarship for their daughter’s school education under one policy. The single-premium policy, which the finance ministry is considering, is likely to be available only for women in the first phase. The premium will be shared by the Centre and the state...