 
          [ 38 ]
        
        
          “SHG
        
        
          S
        
        
          ,
        
        
          SAVING
        
        
          FOR
        
        
          THE
        
        
          PRESENT
        
        
          ,
        
        
          SECURING
        
        
          THE
        
        
          FUTURE
        
        
          ”
        
        
          VILLAGE LEVEL PROGRAMMES
        
        
          In order to give the SHG-BLP a leg-up,
        
        
          Village Level Programmes on SHGs were continued by NABARD with the support of
        
        
          banks and NRLM in 13 priority States. The aim was to foster better understanding
        
        
          of mutual requirements between banks, SHGs and SHPIs at ground level and to sort
        
        
          out issues like saving linkage, credit linkage and repayment, etc. at the ground level.
        
        
          These programmes were organized in priority States viz. Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
        
        
          Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, J &K, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,
        
        
          Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal during the year. NABARD
        
        
          supported more than 23500 village level programmes during this year. SRLMs and
        
        
          State Government departments also participated in the programmes. Banks reported
        
        
          increased credit linkage, account opening of new SHGs and improved repayment of
        
        
          bank loans with the help of these programmes. These programmes resulted in better
        
        
          interface between bankers and SHGs leading to increased credit flow and appreciation
        
        
          of each other’s needs. It has been decided by NABARD to regularize this intervention
        
        
          in priority States.
        
        
          CENTRE FOR RESEARCH ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND
        
        
          MICROFINANCE (CRFIM)
        
        
          The Centre for Microfinance Research (CMR) set
        
        
          up within Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD) was renamed as Centre
        
        
          for Research on Financial inclusion and Microfinance (CRFIM) with broader mission
        
        
          and operational coverage during the year. The agency takes up research activities in
        
        
          the field of Microfinance and financial inclusion for facilitating policy initiatives and
        
        
          improvement in design and delivery system of microfinance. CRFIM also publishes
        
        
          half-yearly Journals “The Microfinance Review” which contains research articles on
        
        
          topical issues of microfinance. Two volumes of “The Microfinance Review” were also
        
        
          published by the agency during the year.
        
        
          
            
              6.3.4
            
          
        
        
          
            
              6.3.5