Far from entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency, the messy reality is that most women borrow money to clear debts or pay for school fees and medical expenses.
Microfinance, the practice of lending to groups of vulnerable women without collateral, continues to dominate India’s financial news. Sizable new investments in the sector come from both domestic and global capital sources. These investments ensure that the “financial inclusion” of marginalised groups remains a lucrative enterprise for the dozens of microfinance institutions in India’s banking ecosystem.
In my recent book, based on a decade of research on India’s commercial microfinance sector, I show that India’s microfinance industry has not only drifted away from its outward mission to serve excluded women, but that microfinance institutions seldom consider the real needs of women in their strategising. On the contrary, their everyday functioning systematically reinforces gender inequality, both within their organisations and in their interactions with clients.
17/04/2023