BANKING AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The SHG-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) was initiated as an action research by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 1989 and was subsequently crystallized into a pilot project in 1992.

Detailed explanation-2: -Self Help Group – Bank Linkage Programme (SHG-BLP) What started as a pilot to link around 500 SHGs of poor to the formal financial institutions during the year 1992-93 has now become the largest microfinance programme in the world, in terms of the client base and outreach.

Detailed explanation-3: -We can trace the origin of the concept of SHGs in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been acknowledged as a pioneer in the field of micro-finance. Dr. Mehmud Yunus, Professor of Economics in Chitgaon University of Bangladesh, was an initiator of an action research project ‘Grameen Bank’.

Detailed explanation-4: -NABARD, in 1992, formed the SHG Bank Linkage Project, which is today the world’s largest microfinance project. From 1993 onwards, NABARD, along with the Reserve Bank of India, allowed SHGs to open savings bank accounts in banks.