A Comprehensive Study of Microfinance in India (With Special Reference to Gwalior)

Abstract

The number of the poor in Gwalior is enormous but ironically, the number of Micro Finance Institutions (M FL’s) catering to them is handful. During the present research work while talking to some eminent officers from different fields involved in micro financing it came to fore that the problem of the lack of availability of financial resources comes not only from the demand and supply side but also from the lack of the state government's support. There is a plethora of welfare schemes initiated by the state government outlaid with crores of rupees but only a fraction reaches the true beneficiaries. Despite huge demand for credit by the poor the problem of exclusion still exists. The government of Madhya Pradesh needs to play a pivotal role in enhancing the activities of the Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and to rule out the loopholes from the system through their incentives. The authors have attempted to study the situation of microfinance, models of microfinance, agents of microfinance, structure of microfinance institutions, and the present position of microfinance institutions in Gwalior. They have discussed various problems regarding microfinance and have given suggestions for betterment of microfinance institutions.