Nabard officers get exposure to SHGs in South

A five-day Advanced Self-Help Groups (SHG) Training Programme for officers of the National Bank for Rural and Agriculture Development (Nabard), drawn from all over the country, with the theme of “Financing Federations of SHGs by banks”, was inaugurated here on Monday. Mr Ramesh Tenkil, General Manager, Nabard, Tamil Nadu Regional Office, delivering the inaugural address, said that the linkage programme was one of the largest poverty alleviation programmes in the world especially involving women at the grassroots level over the years since its inception in 1992.

The activities of some of the MFIs in Andhra Pradesh should be an eye opener. The Andhra Pradesh Government has initiated measures to rein in on them. Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr R. Shankar Narayan, AGM, Nabard, Madurai, informed that the objective of the programme was to expose participant officers from across the country to the great strides achieved by the South and more so Tamil Nadu in the field of SHGs and micro-finance.

Mr R.Srinivasan, DGM and Faculty Member, Bankers Institute of Rural Development, Mangalore, gave an overview of the objectives of the programme and wanted the participants to take the learnings to their respective areas of operations so that the kind of developments seen down South is replicated.

Mr G.R. Subrahmanya, DGM and Faculty Member, Bankers Institute of Rural Development, Mangalore, said that experts in the field would share their thoughts so that participants got the perspective of the movement and understand the formation of federation of SHGs.

The five-day programme comprises of field visits, lectures, talks and group discussions.

At the conclusion of the event, each of the participants would have to make presentations on the aspects which they shall replicate in their States as a specific implementable action plan.