In India, gram panchayats (GPs) were given constitutional legitimacy following the passage of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, which was meant to decentralise power and responsibility to them to improve local public service delivery and governance.

IFMR Rural Finance has been appointed as one of the first Interested Non-Governmental Agencies (INGA) by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, to participate in its Rashtriya Swastya Bima Yojana (RSBY).

IFMR Capital recently structured and arranged a Rs. 173 million securitisation transaction. The transaction is backed by 21,170 microloans originated by one of the leading MFIs in the country, Ujjivan Financial Services.

It is happening again - regulators debating openly to clarify their turfs. This time it is PFRDA Vs. IRDA for regulation of pension products offered by insurance companies,

The importance of financial inclusion can never be overstated, not just in India but across the developing world. It features high on the agenda of global development and reflecting its global importance, last week, delegates from Central Bank of West African States visited IFMR Rural Finance to understand the financial inclusion initiatives taken here.

We think that the Indian economy is ripe for deregulation of savings rate. The recent monetary policy released by the RBI highlights that the Indian economy may experience a slow growth over this year, given an inflation focused tightening of the monetary policy.

Agriculture incomes in India are volatile because of a number of unforeseen factors, such as weather, disease/pest infestations and/or market conditions.

My colleague and I were once asked at a conference, “So, how exactly does a bank account reduce poverty?” Great question.

Gopal G., a native of West Bengal, moved to Delhi 14 years ago to find a job to support his 11-member family. In Delhi, he works with a goldsmith, earning Rs 3,600 a month, much of which he sends back home.

Suyash Rai of IFMR Finance Foundation, Raghav Narayana of IFMR Rural Finance in an informal conversation with Mr. Praveen Chakravarty, who is a volunteer in the Financial Inclusion team of UIDAI.