Agro-Rural Sector and Microfinance

Contents: Preface. 1. Micro-credit and economics development/A. Sharma. 2. Micro-credit: need for institutional approach/V. Kumar. 3. Rural finance sector: new avatar/N.A. Mujumdar. 4. Indian rural financial institutions during liberalisation/A.K. Bandyopadhyay. 5. Microfinance development programme/A.N. Sarkar. 6. Empowerment of women and microfinance/H.K. Singh. 7. Micro-credit for rural development/P. Nayak. 8. Rural development and Self-Help Groups/A. Rames. 9. Institutional credit in microfinance/R.P. Singh. 10. Credit unions and the sustainability in agro-rural sector/S. Mukherjee. 11. Micro-credit: Neolibeal Power/M. Brigg. 12. Microfinance: an institutional approach/D. Sharma. 13. The role of institutions finance: farmers needs/S. Khaund. 14. The micro-credit and social capital/K.N. Rankun. 15. Microfinance and credit requirements of agro-sector/M. Udayakumar.

"The credit is one of the important inputs for the development of economy. It is an essential ingredient for effecting changes in the scale of production and technology, but technology or innovation, will have no meaning unless the capital starved farmer is provided credit for capital investment and for meeting the need for working capital. A large proportion of marginal and small farmers have low income without savings of their own, they often depends on the source of formal and informal credit. Strengthening of the formal credit source for provision of timely and adequate credit as well as augmenting of the land base of the poor could help in poverty eradication. Micro-credit has become a major tool of economic development and is fast developing as an industry, with in own trade associations, dedicated finance thence, training and other support organisations and research." (jacket)