Role of Microfinance Intervention in Household's Access to Insurance Services - Findings from Tamil Nadu

Government of India in the past six decades took various initiatives to mainstream poor households with the formal financial system, though with mixed results. In the mid 90's, the group approach adopted by the Self Help Group Bank Linkage programme (SBLP) was a marked shift from the individual target oriented approach adopted earlier in other development schemes or programmes. SBLP adopted an integrative approach by involving various non-government organisations (NGO) and microfinance institutions (MFI) as facilitative agencies to reach the lowest segments of the society. Over years to address the multi dimensional issue of poverty and help poor households manage unforeseen risks in a better way, microfinance intervention included other services like insurance (life and non-life), remittance and marketing services.