With recent developments in the banking Industry regarding the Reserve Bank of India’s call for applications for bank licenses, underlining financial inclusion as a criteria for assessment, the question rises as to whether MFIs (Microfinance Institutions) are likely to be … Read More
Impact Evaluation Culture
One thing I like about Impact Evaluation is the discipline it imposes on your thinking. It makes you think twice before jumping to conclusions, and it makes you open to learning — both qualities I think the world could use … Read More
Old and Poor
To continue the conversation from my earlier blogposts ( Link : 1 and 2 ) and the last CMF meet, this post will attempt to briefly summarize the micro-pensions market in India. This summary may be ambitious for a single post, the … Read More
Banking Licenses in India – Inviting them All
It is well known by now that 26 applications (complete list given below and categorized according to my own whims) were received by the Reserve Bank of India last week for the fresh round of banking licenses which are expected … Read More
What is Livelihoods?
Growth is the most pressing issue in a system, so much so, that growth has become synonymous with success. Higher are the growth figures bigger are the smiles that they incite, and so it should be, because growing is nothing … Read More
A Report on the Implementation of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission – Aajeevika: In Tamil Nadu
This is the first of a two part post: This post introduces the reader to the National Rural Livelihoods Mission in India, focusing on how Tamil Nadu has adopted and internalized the national scheme within its existing infrastructures.The second part … Read More
Is the Food Security Bill the Answer to India’s Hunger and Malnutrition Problems?
The much delayed food security bill has recently been kindled by the media as the parliament considers holding a special session to pass the bill. Introduced in December 2011 in the Lok Sabha, the bill was tabled earlier this year, … Read More
An Average Ravichandran
In 1951, the Times of India commissioned cartoonist R.K. Laxman to illustrate the common man’s reactions to current events in a daily comic strip, “You Said It”. The comic strip had an extremely successful run and more than 60 years … Read More
Financial Inclusion – The Challenges of Implementation
CMF’s Savings Monitors Study provided me an opportunity to get a first hand feel of some of the challenges faced in implementing financial inclusion among the poorer, rural community. Recent research has shown that individuals across the world have … Read More
No Country For Women!
What is women’s empowerment? And more importantly, how is a woman valued in India? A brutal gang-rape of a medical student, who gave in to her injuries a fortnight later, shook the nation last December. The incident and the events … Read More