Micro-Credit and Rural Poverty

This paper reviews empirical evidence on NGO-led micro-credit programmes in several developing countries, and compares them with state-led poverty alleviation schemes in India. The study shows that micro-credit programmes have been able to bring about a marginal improvement in the beneficiaries' income. However, the beneficiaries have not gained much by way of technological improvements, given the emphasis on 'survival skill'. Also, in Bangladesh the practice of repayment of Grameen Bank loans by making fresh loans from moneylenders has resulted in the creation of 'debt cycles'.