Published Paper Details:

Micro Finance has emerged as a powerful tool in the recent past to uplift the poor from poverty. As the most recent literature has recognized, microfinance institutions have economically performed well in operating microcredit. However, the aim of raising the living standard of their indigent clients has not been generally met. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of micro finance in the empowerment of people and the realisation of financial inclusion in India. All MFIs want the government to empower them for mobilising savings for generating resources. However, in the light of recent experiences, and the need for qualitative growth, we suggest that MFIs should be managed with better scrutiny in terms of finance and technology as well as social responsibility. Lifting poor from poverty has been a sole goal of the economic planning. NGOs have played a commendable role in promoting Self Help Groups linking them with banks. There is, therefore, a need to evolve an incentive package which should motivate these NGOs to diversify into other backward areas. This article brings new empirical elements of discussion pointing to many aspects of the economic empowerment through micro-finance in India. It also focuses on the SHGs-Bank Linkages which strengthen financial inclusion of the deprived sections of the society along with growth path of inclusive growth.