Close on the heels of the recent controversy surrounding over the microFinance institutions, Karnataka government has decided to foray into the micro Finance business with an initial corpus of Rs 500 crore. With this, Karnataka will join the league of Andhra Pradesh to have its own state-funded microFinance institution. The government plans to lend at the rate of 4 per cent interest per annum to unorganised sector workers. “There are about 3.5...
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It's up to Manmohan to decide on MNREGS wage hike: Joshi
Union Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi on Friday maintained that the Centre was set to increase the wage rate paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), but it was for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to address the issues raised by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Dr. Joshi said it was not for him to react to the recommendation made to Dr. Singh by Ms. Gandhi — in her...
More »Job scheme-minimum wage link opposed by Ruhi Tewari
The rural development ministry has expressed its reservations on linking wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with minimum wages mandated by states for farm labour. In an internal note, which was reviewed by Mint, the ministry said such a step could lead to the states upwardly revising minimum wages for farm labour, an increased burden that the Central government then would have to bear. The ministry,...
More »New loan sharks by S Nagesh Kumar
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...
More »MicroFinance: India considers rate cap on loans to poor by Amy Kazmin
In India, commercial banks, both public and private, are required to direct a large chunk of their net credit to designated “priority sectors” seen as having a positive impact on India’s economy, and wider society – to ensure funds flow into areas the government deems important, but might otherwise be neglected. These sectors – designated by the Reserve Bank of India – currently include broad areas of agriculture, small scale industries,...
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