Posted: 01/05/2008
Opening a Bank Account and taking loans from banks has never been easy for the poor who live in the slums. After the visit of Honourable Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at Asha in the beginning of the year and subsequent meeting of the Head of Banks with Dr. Kiran, a proposal to launch a new micro-credit project was initialized. This project would enable them to open accounts and apply for loans for various purposes like retail trade, purchasing goods carriers, auto rickshaws, scooters, motorbikes, home improvement and for higher education. This would also give them the opportunity to access the financial services both in public and private sectors which were earlier out of their reach.
The Bankers have had many rounds of meetings to discuss the possibilities of providing micro-credits to the urban poor. The Asha staff helped the bank in identifying potential borrowers by accessing their needs and their repayment capacities. The scheme has been finalised and the banks are in the process of giving out the loans to the people. All together around 60 individuals have applied for the loans. They have opened their accounts in the banks and the loans will be given to them shortly. This scheme will be implemented in Ekta Vihar in the initial phase and expanded to the other slums in Delhi.
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This pilot micro-credit scheme for the poor will definitely help in the process of Financial Inclusion, where the poorer and the weaker sections of the society are able to avail the basic financial services at an affordable cost.
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Many students, who wanted to take up professional courses, got a boost as the banks were ready to support them with educational loans. They were previously deprived of all these opportunities due to lack of knowledge and finance. It now seems their future will be brighter.
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Thanks to Asha, we have been able to get land rights in our own names and so we don’t have to be afraid of being evicted. Most people in slums never own their own homes and so we feel very privileged.
Narayani, Ekta Vihar
