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Since there are large number of SHGs in India, an
attempt is also being made to leverage their members as
Bank Mitras or BC agents on behalf of a bank. Either
a member of the SHG or the SHG Federation can act
as a BC/BC agent of the bank. Under the National
Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) such a role is being
built in into the SHG-bank relationship. At an RRB in
Maharashtra male members of farmers’ clubs and female
members of SHGs have been recruited to act as CSPs.
In an unrelated operational model in Maharashtra, SHG
Federations act as the BC of a private bank.
27
In UP, a pilot has been launched in Sumerpur block of
Unnao district in March 2013 and is being run by using
a member (Bank Sakhi) of SHGs as the CSP or BC agent
supported by the village organizations and federations of
the SHGs with the latter acting as a sort of ‘super-CSP’.
The pilot is an attempt to test if the SHG networks with
their strength in terms of local resources, low attrition
factor, wide membership base, entrepreneurial flair, and
being community-driven can provide and develop BC
agents capable of offering doorstep financial and bank-
ing services to low-income clients towards financial
inclusion.
The Grameen Bank of Aryavart (GBA) in cooperation
with the GIZ-NABARD Rural Financial Institutions
Programme (RFIP) has identified a well-functioning
SHG ecosystem that is being nurtured and promoted
by Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) for
this pilot project. Bank Sakhis—selected SHG members
who have been acting as a link between the SHGs and the
bank—have been trained and equipped to carry out the
function of CSPs. Handholding/support as well as qual-
ity control and supervision capabilities have been built
up at the level of the block level SHG federation,
28
with
support from the RGMVP.
29
Figure 3.2 illustrates the matrix of responsibilities
under the pilot project.
Thus, the RRB, GBA, is responsible for providing
training support for delivering banking services to the
Bank Sakhi-CSP and SHG institutions regarding the
process and procedure for the delivery of banking ser-
vices and for conducting financial awareness and literacy
campaign in the villages, Bartronics in the dual role of
corporate BC and TSP provides enrolment and transac-
tion kits and training on transactions and bookkeeping
to the Bank Sakhi-CSP regarding handling of technology
F
IGURE
3.2
SHG Network as BC Agents Project, Unnao, U.P.: Responsibility Matrix
