The SKS IPO and the Andhra Pradesh ordinance have suddenly changed everything. Will it be the death knell or will it usher in a reformed and healthy industry? There are three basic facts about micro-finance in India. First, most of what is described as micro-finance industry is actually micro-loans. There is hardly any provision of micro-savings, micro-investments, micro-insurance or micro-pensions. This is mostly because of regulatory reasons, i.e. accepting money...

Despite an outcry from the garment exporters , the government is keen on allowing excess cotton to be exported from the country before the US cotton hits the international market in January and brings prices down. The inter-ministerial committee on cotton will meet end of the month to look at fresh production figures and will take a call on whether the present export cap of 55 lakh should be lifted. “We just...

The rural poor in Andhra Pradesh, a State showcased as a model for SHG-bank linkage, are caught in the vortex of microfinance. WITHIN a decade of their coming into operation, microfinance institutions (MFIs) have dealt a serious blow to the economy and the well-being of thousands of families in rural Andhra Pradesh. Harassment by their collection agents has allegedly driven at least 60 borrowers to death, and the number is...

The Centre today informed the Supreme Court it has set up a 10-member committee to monitor creation of foodgrain storage capacity and prudently manage stocks but sidestepped the matter of releasing more to the public distribution system (PDS). The committee will be headed by the secretary, food and public distribution. The court has repeatedly asked for more grain for ration shops so that it reaches the poor. The government has been resisting,...

The Food Security Act was UPA-2’s flagship programme. Jean Dreze, member of the National Advisory Council, has publicly criticised the government. He tells VAIBHAV VATS what’s gone wrong. Much like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in the first term of the United Progressive Alliance, the Food Security Act was its most ambitious social welfare programme. Since discussions on the Act in the National Advisory Council began, its provisions...