An Analysis of Microfinance in Kashmir

One of the most important objectives of development planning in India is poverty alleviation. Various approaches to alleviate poverty have been undertaken by the Government of India. The agenda for financial inclusion involves creating specific environment through which the poor across the country have open, safe, secure and affordable access to various financial products. Microfinanceis one such strategy for inclusive growth, which can be explained as provision of financial services such as loans, savings, insurance, financial literacy, etc. Those who promote the concept of microfinance as an inclusive development tool believe that such unrestricted access will help in poverty alleviation and uniform growth. Various steps have been taken in this direction since Independence by Government, Financial Institutions, Microfinance Institutions, and NGOs which include SHG-Bank Linkage Programme as one such initiative.Microfinance in J&K is still in its initial stage; from the formal sources like Public Sector Commercial Banks, District Cooperative Societies, Regional Rural Banks and Private Sector Commercial Banks, which provide microfinance services to few thousand SHGs formed in theState and it is in this direction that the present study has been undertaken in Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir accounts for 1.04 percent of the total population of India but its contribution to the national income is mere 0.7 percent. In this backdrop, micro finance has emerged as one of the tools in Jammu and Kashmir State for poverty mitigation against economic backwardness and political turmoil being witnessed over two decades now. The study attempts to assess the role of microfinance in Kashmir with emphasis on analyzing the performance of Self Help Groups in terms of growth, employment, improvement in living standards and so on. The study shows that microfinance has played a positive role in the valley. In Jammu and Kashmir, microfinance plays an important role in women empowerment of the poor and widows but a lot more needs to be done in this direction