Linkage Program Research Articles

Microfinance and Socio-Economic Impact: An Assessment of SHG-Bank Linkage Programme

Microfinance improves ability of the poor to have access to finance, which generally results in improving their socio-economic conditions. Microfinance not only provides poor access to finance, but provides them the opportunity of being a part of formal financial setup. India being in the phase of development has considered microfinance as an important poverty alleviation tool, and has initiated a number of schemes focusing the poor. The current study attempts to assess the impact of a microfinance scheme based on the SHG-Bank Linkage Model (Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, SGSY) on the socio-economic conditions of the beneficiaries. The study has been conducted while taking four districts of Kashmir Valley into consideration. Overall the scheme has been successful in providing access to finance to a large number of financially excluded people. Results reveal that people have improved in terms of income and savings. Microfinance has been a source of social empowerment as people have felt a positive change so far as their decision making, awareness and participation, leadership quality, self confidence, communication skills bargaining and negotiation and respect and recognition dimensions are concerned. All the four districts considered under study show a significant positive improvement, which signifies that SGSY is evenly setting a positive impact.

Design and Implementation of Power Plant Coal Transmission Control Information Linkage System Based on VC++

The implementation of coal linkage program control system and video monitoring system in power plant, which can improve the stable operation of coal handling system, In this paper, the design of a power plant coal handling control information linkage system, Introduces the structure, function and characteristics of the system and Discusses the key technology of receiving and sending, data analysis and display data in VC++ environment, The practical application shows that the system is practical and reliable, good operation.

Financial Inclusion Through Self Help Groups for Rural Livelihoods-An Analysis

Financial inclusion has becoming central to Indian policy making over the past few years and various attempts have been made to expand its scope. Social and economic justice has to be provided for common people through inclusive growth. Since beginning several measures were undertaking by the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India for financial inclusion with a view to develop all sections of the people. In order to achieve this subjective multi model approach was adopted. Service areas approach, priority sector lending differential rate of interest, leading bank scheme issue of general credit and kisan credit and so on to overcome financial hassle to get credit from financial institutions. In this backdrop NABARD has started an innovative programme 1992 from a linking of the banks to SHG groups of rural poor. It now boasts of the worlds largest microfinance initiatives with over 7.4 million representing 97 million rural households directly becoming parts of this great movement. With the emergence of SHGs and SHGs-Bank Linkage programme contributed large for improving the livelihoods especially women folk. SHGs play a significant role by developing thrift habit and providing credit as and when required. In this paper an attempt is made to examine the performance of SHGs, Bank Linkage for financial inclusion and rural livelihoods.

Micro-finance: A tool for fight against poverty in rural India through self-help group formation

Prosperity of India lies in the prosperity of its villages. In spite of being an agrarian economy, the rural scenario of our country projects a rather despondent picture. A large chunk of the rural population still remains in abject misery and poverty. Economic independence and empowerment of rural poor are major challenges faced by the government. Since 1991, the government has intensified its efforts for inclusive growth with its outreach programs. Banks and financial institutions are engaged in massive financial inclusion programs. Although, the percentage of rural population living below the poverty line declined significantly from 27.09% in 1999-2000 to 22.7 in 2004-2005, but still the millions of rural people are living in perpetual bondage write down the specific source. For alleviating rural poverty and freeing the rural people from the vicious cycle of poverty, credit has long been identified as one of the most crucial inputs as access to credit can generate economic activity, growth and development. During the year 2005-2006, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has re-designated Micro-Finance Development Fund (MFDF) as Micro-Finance Development and Equity Fund (MFDEF) and enhanced the fund size from Indian Rupees (Rs.) 100 to 200 crore. An amount of Rs. 113.50 million from MFDEF was utilized during the year towards up-scaling of SHG-Bank Linkage Programme. Under the SHG-Bank linkage programme, over 103 million rural households now have access to regular savings through 7.96 million SHGs linked to banks. About 27% of these SHGs are savings linked, the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) programme–the rural poverty alleviation programme of the Government of India where predominantly households below the poverty line are admitted as members. Microfinance in India is characterized by a high advancement and has brought a number of people above the poverty line. But the coverage is uneven with high numbers of people in rural hinterland still remaining out of the ambit of the outreach programs. Southern region accounts for more than 2/3rd of the total microfinance through SHGs in the country. Key words: Microfinance, poverty, self-help groups, income, employment generation.

국립민족학박물관의 전시·교육·운영·지역연계프로그램에 관한 조사 연구

This study investigated and analyzed the exhibition, education, operation, and regional linkage program around a case of the National Museum of Ethnology in Netherlands, Germany, Mexico, England, and Japan to suggest necessary directions when constructing the national museum of ethnology of Korea. Interview by visiting the site and email interview were conducted for the investigation and suggestions according to the analysis are as follows. 1) It is necessary for the exhibition program to suggest a comparison exhibition by continent, and to be specific, occupation, style of living, representational culture, religion and view of the world, relation of power, and development culture are essential for the culture contents. 2) The education program needs to be constructed based on the age and level, and specific education program was suggested in this study. 3) Managing library, restaurant, cafe, and museum shop is essential for the operation program, additional service operation was suggested to cover additional financial areas, and professional research workers and professor manpower are necessary. 4) The regional linkage program needs to be composed by considering special qualities of the country and region, and needs to satisfy the expected effect of the local community and local residents.

Customer Satisfaction of SHGs with the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS): Evidences from the Field

This paper analyses and discusses the customer satisfaction of the members of SHGs who obtained microfinance from the Cooperative banks, since India is the homeland of the SHG Bank linkage programme model of microfinance. The study concludes that the Cooperative banks treat the SHG members as customers and all the respondents informed that they were treated as good customers. The study concludes that majority of the respondents (87.7%) are satisfied with the banking services of the PACS and 11.7% of the respondents are satisfied to some extend and there is only one unsatisfied customer and the study reports that there is a significant relationship between the year of SHG formation and satisfaction of banking services. The study also found that there is inadequacy of loans and women members were forced to visit many times to obtain loans.

Transformation from Class Banking to Mass Banking through Inclusive Finance: A Paradigm Shift

The strategies of rural transformation in India focused on improving the standard of living of rural population has undergone several changes keeping in view the mammoth size of population, its changing dynamics and socio –cultural diversities of our country But the economic stagnation of vast chunk of rural population still suffers from social and financial exclusion resulting with high incidence of poverty, rising unemployment, growing inequality along with rich-poor divide widening. The high growth story of our country in the post reform era is not broad based, regionally imbalanced and socially inequitable Indian Banking industry in conformity with national policy objectives has reoriented from Class Banking to Mass Banking approach to enhance its outreach to bring the marginalized and excluded population into its fold for mainstream economic activity. The branch expansion was accelerated and institutional credit flow to poor rural households reached new heights to relieve them from the clutches of usurious informal money lenders. Modern banking in India has leveraged IT driven initiatives to bring the excluded population into the fold of mainstream banking, develop new products to suit their needs and more importantly educate them on financial products and services to enable them to take informed decisions. The Institutional mechanism, for enhancing access to institutional credit have been strengthened by establishing pro-poor institutions like Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and National Agricultural Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) etc. The business delivery models like Self Help Groups (SHG)-Bank linkage programme, and Micro finance institutions have been encouraged to provide microfinance services at doorstep of marginalized households. The Agent/Correspondent Banking model of commercial Banks have been given a big boost to provide wide access of low income/marginalized people to Financial Markets. Financial inclusion being a gigantic task, it calls for an appropriate and well-coordinated/collaborative strategy by all the stake holders involved in its implementation. The government needs to increase investment in economic and social capital by increasing investment in basic rural infrastructure. Banking system is poised to provide efficient economic infrastructure like savings, access to easy credit and robust payment system. The community based organizations/NGOs should catalyze local participation to enhance efficiency and transparency in delivery of financial services to common man for making inclusive growth a reality.

English

The microfinance sector in India has expanded rapidly over the past few years by providing small loans to emerging entrepreneurs to start or expand businesses. In India, micro finance sector is dominated by Self Help Groups (SHGs) – Bank Linkage Programme, aimed at providing a cost-effective mechanism for providing financial services to the ―unreached poor‖. The SHG movement is successful in not only in meeting needs of the rural poor, but also in nurturing self-help groups at the local level, leading to their empowerment. The UNDP’s Human Development Report, 1995 found that 70% of the 1.3 billion people living on less than $1 a day are women. Studies in Latin America and elsewhere show that men typically contribute 50-68% of their salaries to the collective household fund, whereas women ―tend to keep nothing back for themselves.‖ The paper attempts to find out the role of micro finance on the empowerment of women. The research was conducted in the rural areas of kancheepuram district. The primary data was collected from 200 respondents through questionnaire survey and results were drawn.

A novel MIP gene mutation analysis in a Chinese family affected with congenital progressive punctate cataract.

Congenital cataracts are one of the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness in children, and genetic factors play an important role in their development. This study aimed to identify the genetic defects associated with autosomal dominant congenital progressive punctate cataracts in a Chinese family and to explore the potential pathogenesis. Detailed family history and clinical data were recorded, and all the family members’ blood samples were collected for DNA extraction. Linkage analysis was performed by microsatellite markers that are associated with punctate cataracts, and logarithm (base 10) of odds (LOD) scores were calculated using the LINKAGE program. Positive two-point LOD scores were obtained at markers D12S1622 (Zmax = 2.71 at θ = 0.0), D12S1724 (Zmax = 2.71 at θ = 0.0), and D12S90 (Zmax = 2.71 at θ = 0.0), which flank the major intrinsic protein of lens fiber (MIP) gene on chromosomal region 12q13. Direct sequencing of the encoding region of the MIP gene revealed a novel mutation (G>D) in exon 4 at nucleotide 644, which caused a substitution of glycine to aspartic acid at codon 215 (p.G215D) for the MIP protein. The mutation cosegregated with all patients with congenital progressive punctate cataracts, but it was absent in the healthy members. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the mutation affects the function of the MIP protein. The wild type (WT) and G215D mutant of MIP were transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP) into Hela cells separately, and it was found that the G215D mutant was aberrantly located in the cytoplasm instead of in the plasma membrane. In summary, our study presented genetic and functional evidence linking the new MIP mutation of G215D to autosomal dominant congenital cataracts, which adds to the list of MIP mutations linked to congenital progressive punctate cataracts.

The Impact of Micro Credit on Women Entrepreneurs Towards Their Empowerment: A Study on SHGs in Rural RR District of Telangana

Women empowerment encompasses a wide range of interpretations right from seeing it as the means by which individuals and groups take the control of their circumstances and achieve their own goals to as the process of challenging the existing power relations and transforming structures and institutions that perpetuate gender discrimination. In the last two decades of 20th century world intelligentsia recognized the role of women empowerment in the development agenda and World Bank included GDI and GEM as a part of its developmental goals also.In India SHG – Bank linkage program is very popular model of microfinance and is regarded as ‘magical wand’ of women empowerment. SHG (Self Help Groups) Federations is a development over it. The federation model known as IKP is implemented in the study area RR district. The research questions that prompted for this study are – What exactly is the process of empowerment? Is it true that micro finance and self help groups can bring empowerment? Can gaining access to credit and other facilities itself expand their choices and decision making abilities? The present paper is a probe into the conceptual intricacies and also contains an investigation conducted in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh. The study mainly aims to assess the empowerment aspects among women in economic, family, social and political fronts by classifying them into two categories namely ‘micro entrepreneurs’ and ‘passive beneficiaries’.

Availability of insurance linkage programs in U.S. Emergency departments.

IntroductionAs millions of uninsured citizens who use emergency department (ED) services are now eligible for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the ED is ideally situated to facilitate linkage to insurance. Forty percent of U.S. EDs report having an insurance linkage program. This is the first national study to examine the characteristics of EDs that offer or do not offer these programs.MethodsThis was a secondary analysis of data from the National Survey for Preventive Health Services in U.S. EDs conducted in 2008–09. We compared EDs with and without insurance programs across demographic and operational factors using univariate analysis. We then tested our hypotheses using multivariable logistic regression. We also further examined program capacity and priority among the sub-group of EDs with no insurance linkage program.ResultsAfter adjustment, ED-insurance linkage programs were more likely to be located in the West (RR= 2.06, 95% CI = 1.33 – 2.72). The proportion of uninsured patients in an ED, teaching hospital status, and public ownership status were not associated with insurance linkage availability. EDs with linkage programs also offer more preventive services (RR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.37–2.35) and have greater social worker availability (RR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.12–2.33) than those who do not. Four of five EDs with a patient mix of ≥25% uninsured and no insurance linkage program reported that they could not offer a program with existing staff and funding.ConclusionAvailability of insurance linkage programs in the ED is not associated with the proportion of uninsured patients served by an ED. Policy or hospital-based interventions to increase insurance linkage should first target the 27% of EDs with high rates of uninsured patients that lack adequate program capacity. Further research on barriers to implementation and cost effectiveness may help to facilitate increased adoption of insurance linkage programs.

Transforming Nigeria’s Universities from Local to Global Centres of Learning

The collapse of universities following the adoption of SAP in the 1980s opened a window of opportunity for developing country universities like those in ‘Nigeria to foster collaboration with those in the developed high income countries in order to improve the quality of their institutions. It has also helped them to show appreciation for the possible contributions of their citizens in the Diaspora. This paper is about the attitude of home based scholars to the possible role of Nigeria’s scholars in the Diaspora to the development of the university system in particular and the country as a whole. A study was conducted in five universities on attitude of top echelons and beneficiaries of linkage prorgammes to Nigerian Diaspora scholars in the US and Canada. It is undeniable from the study that all recognize the benefits of linkage programmes and are prepared to welcome Nigerian scholars in the Diaspora. The paper concludes by highlighting variants of collaborative relationships, the challenges underlying them and how Nigeria’s universities can be transformed from local to global centres of learning.

Microfinance Services: A Boon for Poor in Southern India

Despite the phenomenal increase in the physical outreach of formal credit institutions in the past several decades, the rural poor continue to face difficulty in availing credit according to their needs. Credit Institutions have also faced difficulties in dealing effectively with a large number of small borrowers, whose credit needs are small and frequent and their ability to offer collaterals is limited. This led to the development of an alternative credit delivery model that would fulfill the requirements of the poor. It is in this context that micro credit has emerged as the most convenient due to its easy to adapt and understand its rules and regulations. Micro credit encourages poor people to be united and solve their problems through their own collective resources. Self Help Group (SHG) Bank linkage program has shown the fruits of this remarkable concept and now a number of Microfinance Institutions are in the fray to provide credit and other financial services for improving income and living standards of the economically underprivileged. This study has showcased a good range of credit products, suitable to credit needs of the economically underprivileged, provided by various Microfinance Institutions. These institutions are also providing a broad range of financial services such as deposits, loans, payments, money transfers, and insurance to the low-income households and their micro enterprises.

Les onychomycoses dues aux moisissures

This session shares experience of obtaining and implementing a highly successful University Linkages Program between the University of Cincinnati, USA and Salahaddin University, Kurdistan, Iraq. The authors will reflect on practices and make recommendations for setting and implementing achievable goals; negotiating and maintaining personal and institutional relationships; and strategies for addressing potential challenges during and beyond the linkage. This session should be of interest to administrators, faculty, and staff who are currently involved in and/or planning on working with international partners.

Reflections on the University of Cincinnati and Salahaddin University Linkage Work

This session shares experience of obtaining and implementing a highly successful University Linkages Program between the University of Cincinnati, USA and Salahaddin University, Kurdistan, Iraq. The authors will reflect on practices and make recommendations for setting and implementing achievable goals; negotiating and maintaining personal and institutional relationships; and strategies for addressing potential challenges during and beyond the linkage. This session should be of interest to administrators, faculty, and staff who are currently involved in and/or planning on working with international partners.

Agricultural Credit in India – Innovations in Design and Delivery of Products and Services

The concept of bringing farmers together in a voluntary group was initiated in 1982 through the Farmers’ Club Programme. This institutional innovation has received a renewed focus from 2007–08 onwards. Nevertheless, access to farm credit sector has not been easy and adequate. In this paper, innovative approaches to improve agricultural credit flow have been captured from the secondary sources and analysed using compound annual growth rate and descriptive analytical tools. The share of private moneylenders has decreased with the institutional agencies making inroads into the rural scene. The structure of the sources of credit has witnessed a clear shift wherein the scheduled commercial banks and RRBs have emerged as the major sources of direct and indirect institutional credit to agriculture in recent years. The SHG-bank linkage programme, Kisan Credit Card, Farmers Clubs, Joint Liability Groups and Interest Subvention Scheme have been promoted to supplement rural credit delivery effectively and have also shown a significantly increasing growth rates over the years. In addition, there are a number of other small innovations that have taken place across the spectrum of agricultural credit markets. All these would eventually contribute to making sustainable access to agricultural finance leading towards a path for prosperity of farming community, especially the small and vulnerable farm households.

Retrospects and Prospects of Agricultural Finance by Commercial Banks in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh

This article starts with the background of the problem, on the basis of the identified issues; objectives were drawn to prosecute a fresh study in the study region. An attempt has been made to cover the retrospective study under the heads of CBs and agriculture finance, rural credit format in India, priority sector(PS) and agricultural finance, statistical profile of priority sector and agricultural finance by CBs both at aggregate and disaggregate level. The SR got the lion’s share in PS lending. Andhra Pradesh has achieved the highest share not only in SCBs advances to priority sectors in SR but also in the disbursement under RIDF. SHGs Bank Linkage programme succeeded well in AP, besides distress among farmers is also higher. The central government has identified suicide prone districts in AP. The study felt the disagreement between the higher statistical share in agricultural finance and farmers’ distress in the same state. An attempt has been made to analyze the farmers’ perceptions relating to agricultural finance by employing quantitative tools viz., ANOVA and Chi Square tests. Suggestions for the policy makers and avenues for further research to the scholars’ who would like to undertake research in this area are also mentioned.

The Issue of Mutuality in Canada-China Educational Collaboration

This paper examines the power relationships in two major Canada-China university linkage programs which ran between 1989 and 2001: the Canada-China University Linkage Program [CCULP] (1989-1995) and the Special University Linkage Consolidation Program [SULCP] (1996-2001). The study adopts the cosmopolitan concept of mutuality as a theoretical lens and employs the analytical method of constant comparison of qualitative data to explore the context surrounding the mutuality evidenced in CCULP/SULCP. The findings show that both programs manifested the four characteristics of mutuality identified by Johan Galtung: equity, autonomy, solidarity and participation. Human values or cultural agency were identified as the key factor making mutuality possible, as well as nurturing and sustaining the relationships between Canadian and Chinese participants. This study suggests that cosmopolitanism be given more attention in this increasingly interconnected world. Its primary emphasis is on human relationships, and this dimension needs to be given more space in international academic relations.

HUBUNGAN HUKUM KEMITRAAN DALAM LINKAGE PROGRAM PERBANKAN SYARI’AH

Linkage program is a strategy that aims to empower and provide access to capital for small and medium enterprises (UMKM) through the involvement of participation in the financial industry. It is based on the fact that BPR/S or Shari'ah microfinance institutions like Baitul Maal Wa Tamwil (BMT) sometimes have problems in mobilizing public sector funds. While commercial banks on the other hand tend to have excess funds that the public sector (over liquidity) but space is limited to micro business reach its movement.In other words, that the benefits of this program, commercial banks have easy access to UMKM and BMT benefit from the availability of funds to be distributed to the debtor, with due regard to the risk management process so as not to encourage an increase in the ratio of financing problems (non-performing financing).

Microfinance and the Cooperatives in India: Can the Poor Gain from Their Coming Together?

Linkage with microfinance is the latest amongst the series of efforts aimed at reforming credit cooperatives in favour of the poor. The article is an attempt to identify and discuss some of the relevant conceptual and policy issues and the emerging lessons of the adoption of microfinance by cooperatives with a focus on the Self-help group (SHG)-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) in India. The findings reflect the severe constraints of cooperatives in realizing the twin goals visualized of the linkage viz. inclusion and sustainability. Despite a few noteworthy efforts by the cooperatives, the overall results of the linkage leave much to be desired. Constraints of policy and organizational abilities of cooperatives for adoption of microfinance, not to mention certain inherent limitations of microfinance, have been identified as factors influencing the observed performance. Theoretically, the article points to a possible overriding effect of the historical dilemma of elite capture on the role of cooperatives.