'Micro financing in Northern and Eastern India not encouraging'

Mangalore, Sep 23 (UNI) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Chairman and Managing Director N Balasubramaniam today lamented that micro financing activities in Northern and Eastern States were not as encouraging as in the Southern States.

Inaugurating the Sri Kshetra Dharmastala Rural Development Project-SIDBI School for Micro Finance Training, the first institute to impart diploma course in micro financing here, he said these activities to alleviate the sufferings of the rural poor were not up to the mark in States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Northern States.

Mr Balasubramaniam said that though there were number of micro finance institutes in the country, adequate number of trained people were not available. Hence, SIDBI felt the need to set up an institute to train rural youths and people working with micro financing institutions to give managerial inputs through proper training and guidance. The SIDBI had no dearth of funds to provide training programmes, he added.

He said the SIDBI proposed to take up the successful model of SKDRDP to the backward Northern region of the country to enhance the economic activities of the residents. The SIDBI also envisaged to not only support the training school for micro financing, but also make it an international institute in the coming days.

SKDRDP Managing Director Dr L Manjunath said that having realised the need to set up a centre to prepare a band of committed workforce in the micro financing sector, the SKDRDP and SIDBI converged to promote an exclusive institution to impart formal micro finance training. The institute would showcase different models of micro finance, conduct dedicated courses for systems developed in the sector and prepare the youth to take up employment in the sector.

UNI MA GD RKN1715