THE NEWS IN PROPORTION
17 JANUARY 2019
Economy : Micro finance
TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT
What a cell phone could mean for a poor woman

Innovative use of information technology through mobile phones is enabling improved financial literacy and increased access to credit for economically disadvantaged women in rural and urban areas. Swapna Majumdar reports.
Economy Finance

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MICROFINANCE BILL
Regulating small loans
The government has introduced the Microfinance Bill in Parliament, empowering RBI to oversee small lenders as well. The law will take MFIs outside the jurisdiction of state-level laws, and bring them under federal regulation.

Laws
ECONOMY/MICRO
Growing business at the bottom of the pyramid
It is tempting to take a rosy-eyed view of the future of successful entrepreneurship at the BOP. But what is the picture really? Richa Govil takes you through some recent stories and the lessons they may hold.

Economy
MICROCREDIT MELTDOWN
Living with 'installments'
Many micro-credit loans do no more than allow a family to juggle its finances for a month-to-month existance. As investors embrace this 'market', MFIs are increasingly under scrutiny. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

Economy
WOMEN
Adivasi women turn turmeric traders
In this small sleepy Orissa village with a population of barely 400 adivasis, where there is no electricity and harsh conditions prevail, there is something remarkable about the women. Their level of awareness, their attitude and their personality have undergone a dramatic change in the last few years. Pradeep Baisakh has more.

Women Odisha
PRS LEGISLATIVE BRIEF
Microfinance Bill
The draft bill comes at a time when there are differing opinions on the cost efficacy of the MFO model for reaching credit to the poor. Moreover, the bill itself contains some perplexing ideas - such as the choice of NABARD, itself an MFO, as a regulator of others such organisations. Kaushiki Sanyal presents a legislative brief.

Laws
BANKING FOR THE POOR
Micro credit gathers force
There is now mounting hope that micro finance can be a large scale poverty alleviation tool. Banks too are shedding their old reluctance to lend to the poor, and are looking to tap the expertise of micro credit groups to create a new market. Ramesh Menon reports on the status quo and the challenges ahead.

Economy Finance
Money talks, ... and walks
B V Narasimham

Economy Odisha
Rescuing the coconut economy
A community-based microcredit programme attempts to revive the economy of coastal Kerala's villages. Prathapan B reports.

Economy Kerala
Urban poverty alleviation : Conclusion
Concluding article of the series from Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

Livelihood Poverty
An apex bank for urban microcredit
From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

Poverty
Urban microcredit : The current scenario
From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

Poverty
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