Indebtedness and Financial Inclusion Among the Tribal:An Experience of Woman Self-Help Group Member Households in Andhra Pradesh

In the recent years, community based microfinance is renowned as an instrument for financial inclusion and inclusive growth. The Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are linked to banks under SHG bank linkage programme to provide financial services to the poor and vulnerable sections for poverty reduction, and to reduce dependence on traditional sources, whose interest rates are over priced. In the tribal areas, majority of the households are away from formal financial institutions for varied reasons and mostly depend on traditional sources for credit. In this context, the present study is to know the indebtedness of tribal households, to assess the SHGs' contribution to household credit, to know the extent of dependence on traditional sources, to know the issues in accessing credit and to evolve strategies to reach the un-reached.

The study covers 189 households whose women members are enrolled with SHGs in 63 villages of 21 mandals/ block in 7 integrated tribal development agencies (ITDAs) of Andhra Pradesh. Qualitative as well as quantitative data were collected by administering pre- tested interview schedule with household members, and focus group discussions with SHGs and their federation members. Fieldwork for data collection was carried out between October and November 2012.