SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

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The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy
International Conference
purchasing power sufficient to procure a collection of basic items of consumption
deemed to constitute ‘basic’ or ‘minimum’ collection, but also elementary education
for all children up to 14 years of age; minimum public health facilities integrated
with family planning and nutrition for children; protected water supply; amenities
for landless labour and slum improvement in larger towns; and rural roads and rural
electrification.
The idea of direct, targeted poverty alleviation programmes quickly took root
and gained widespread acceptance across the entire political spectrum.
Governments, at the centre and in the states, have since viewed with each other in
increasing allocations and devising new schemes (or the same schemes under
different names) under this rubric. Along with the number and variety of schemes,
financial allocations have also increased progressively. Motivations were of course
not as high minded as the slogans made out. In this juncture, the evolution of
microfinance plays a significant role.
Microfinance, which includes micro savings, is gradually emerging as one of
the most effective strategies to alleviate poverty. It can effectively generate
employment and sustain the income of the households by giving them opportunities
of work. Although micro credit institutions are effective weapons in the war against
rural poverty they alone cannot neutralise non physical symptoms of poverty which
deprive the poor of a full social existence.
Since 1970s, developing countries, including India, have increasingly focused
on micro credit to facilitate the access of poor households to financial services like
credit, savings, insurance etc. As the rural population in India, forming about twothird
of her total population is still dependent on agriculture, there is a crying need
for timely and adequate availability of funds for agricultural and rural finance is a
must for improving the lot and income of the poor.
Some Facts Related to Demand-Supply of
Micro-Finance
There is a vast unmet gap in the provisions of financial services to the poor. A
very little segment of the poor people is being served by the formal financial system
for micro-credit. Majority of the poor population depends on informal financial
system for their credit needs. Let us look at some facts.
According to the World Development Report (2000), 1.8 billion people
live in extreme poverty, subsisting on less than US $ 1 a day and almost half of the
world population (2.8 billion) live on less than US $ 2 a day. South Asia is the home
to half of the world’s poor families. In African countries, women account for more
than 60 per cent of the agriculture labour force and contribute up to the 80 per cent
of the total food production, yet receive less than 10 per cent of the credit provided
to small farmers.