Banks have key role in empowering women

Bangalore, Oct 16: Vijaya Bank Chairman and Managing Director Prakash B Mallya today said banks have an important role in empowering women and the under-privileged.

In this direction, Vijaya Bank had financed 29,070 Self Help Groups (SHG) to the tune of Rs 90.13 crore and have made available further channels of credit to a reputed Non-Governmental Organisation in Karnataka for lending to about 3,000 SHGs this year and it was proposed to link another 7,000 new SHGs.

Mr Mallya was speaking at a national seminar on Micro Finance Management in Hindi, organised by his bank in association with the Reserve Bank of India and College of Agricultural Banking here.

Stating that of the total 933 Vijaya Bank branches in the country, 50 per cent were located in rural areas. The Bank had achieved 90 per cent loan recovery from SHGs though they were financed under a social obligation.

Inaugurating the seminar, College of Agricultural Banking Principal H R Khan said the SHGs should not be seen as business establishments, but should be encouraged to uplift under-privileged and women. ''Banks should be more liberal while financing SHGs and prove their presence in rural areas by working for the overall development of villages,'' he added.

RBI Regional Director Devaki Muthukrishnan called upon the banks to extend more loan to the unorganised sector and women.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Chandigarh Regional Director Dr R Balakrishnan said the Union Government had set aside Micro Development and Equity fund of Rs 200 crore for promoting micro financial institutions and credit linking of micro financial sector and SHG banking was the most suitable means for assisting the rural masses.

At the seminar, experts would deliberate on some of the important issues of micro finance like emergence of women, delivery models in micro finance, issues of cost and margin in delivering micro finance, non-agricultural business opportunities, group enterprise and the collaboration between micro finance instititions and banks.

UNI