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Microfinance and its Relevance to India
Microfinance has been defined by theWorld Bank as the “Small loans that help poor peoplewhowish to start or expand
their small businesses but, are not able to get banks to lend to them.” These small loans, also referred to asmicrocredit, are
provided to people lacking access to traditional financial institutions...
Vikram Akula: The Driving Force Behind SKS
Akula’s family had migrated from India to the US when he was three years old. Son of a surgeon, Akula grew up in
Schenectady, upstate NewYork. His first realisation of the poverty in Indiawas at the age of seven, when he was on a visit
to his aunt’s house atHyderabad, India. He said, “A street hawker came in to sell us pots. She was dressed in a torn saree
and had a son ofmy age, who was also dressed in rags.As children tend to do, wemade eye contact and sort ofmade a
connection. I distinctly remember thiswoman dropping a fewgrains of rice on the floor and kneeling down to press her finger
into each and every grain and pick up those single grains one-by one. It was then that I realised what povertywas.”..
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