Tribals in the Formal Financial Landscape:Review of Issues in Provision and Access in the Context of Gujarat

Despite the policy pronouncements and development efforts made over the years, there is lack of clarity regarding the extent of indebtedness among tribal population as also the trends and patterns of credit flow to them. This paper reviews the available secondary material to assess the overall situation with respect to flow of credit to the weaker sections of population, including the tribal population, with special emphasis on micro finance in the state of Gujarat. Having been lagged behind others in the SHG-bank linkage programme, Gujarat embarked on an ambitious programme of SHG promotion under the Sakhi Mandal Yojana a couple of years ago. The district-wise distribution of sakhi mandals reveals impressive coverage of the programme in all the districts with significant tribal population. The paper argues that the implications of such sudden proliferation of SHGs must be adequately appreciated. Formation of SHGs in large numbers does not translate into sustainable development and positive contribution to poverty reduction and livelihood security unless focused efforts are made to balance the quality and quantity of SHGs.