Impact of Microfinance Linkage Banking in India on the Millennium Development Goals - Summary of Major Results from Existing Studies

This study, initiated by National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) and supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), is an assessment study on the impact of the Linkage Banking Programme (LBP) on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The report summarizes:

• Background information on the current status of achieving the MDGs in India,
• The progress of the LBP,
• The tangible results of the already existing impact studies of the NABARD LBP with relevance to achieving the MDGs in India.

The document summarizes the impact of the LBP on the MDGs and deals with the following:

• Design aspects of the studies;
• General study results;
• Some socio-economic characteristics of study participants;
• Impact on:
  • Study participants and their households;
  • Access and use of financial services, asset accumulation, income and poverty alleviation;
  • Education;
  • The empowerment of women;
  • Health.

The study concludes with recommendations resulting from the impact studies:

• More efforts need to be geared towards institution building;
• There is a need for the development of more effective management information systems to promote the further consolidation of sustainable financial service delivery through well performing SHGs;
• The future strategy should also focus more on training and capacity building of SHG members;
• More emphasis should be put in future strategies on widening the outreach of the program in the Central and Eastern Regions of the country;
• SHGs' role in development could be further enhanced through an increased involvement in development programs in the area.