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PROGRESS OF SHG - BANK
LINKAGE PROGRAMME
4 .
SHG - Bank Linkage Programme has traversed twenty-five years of unabated
journey towards empowering the rural poor, in general and rural women
in particular. Taking a big leap from a pilot in 1992, SHG Bank Linkage
Programme has now become the largest community based microfinance
initiative with 85.77 lakh SHGs as on 31 March 2017 covering more than
a hundred million rural households. There was a net addition of 6.73
lakh savings linked SHGs during 2016-17, a major portion (70.4%) from
priority States indicating the urge for connecting the poor households in
less developed States with the development process through SHG-BLP.
Coordinated efforts by NABARD and NRLM to enhance the coverage of
eligible SHGs under NRLM fold has resulted in a net addition of nearly 2.9
lakh SHGs under its fold during the year. The domain of SHGs consists of
85.4% women groups and is the mainstay programme for empowerment of
the poor rural women in the country. Table 4.1 gives an account of savings,
credit disbursement and credit outstanding of total SHGs and under NRLM
and NULM during the past three years.
SHG - Bank Linkage Programme is a strong intervention in economic
enablement and financial inclusion for the bottom of the pyramid. A proven
platform initially conceived for increasing the outreach of banking services
among the poor has since graduated to a programme for promotion of
livelihoods and poverty alleviation. All the major parameters viz. the number
of SHGs with savings bank accounts, amount of credit disbursed during the
year, the bank loans outstanding as well as the quantum of savings outstanding
had shown positive growth during the past three years (Figure 4.1). The year
2016-17 has proved particularly positive for the growth of SHGs.
4.1
4.2
