Sahaj e-Village joins hands with Sidbi to include poor states in the financial system

KOLKATA: Sahaj e-Village has joined hands with Small Industries Development Bank of India ( Sidbi) to implement the Poorest States Inclusive Growth (PSIG) programme in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.

Funded by the Department for International Development ( DFID), UK, the programme aims to improve the income and employment opportunities of poor women and men in eight low income states (Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal) by enabling them to participate and benefit from the wider economic growth in India. It has been set up to improve income, and reduce vulnerability of the poor people by expanding their access to finance and markets.

Sahaj will facilitate financial services institutions, including banks and MFIs to provide services for rural population in the three states as well as supplement microfinance programmes with training for women to improve their knowledge and confidence in financial services. It will not only facilitate studies but also improve the policy environment for microfinance and improving overall business environment in the Low Income states. Additionally, Sahaj will fund commercially sustainable approaches that demonstrate responsible client practices and complement the Government of India programmes.

Sahajis uniquely positioned to ensure implementation of the program owing to its huge rural infrastructure and availability of trained manpower at the grass-root level. It has already been acting as business correspondent points for various banks and facilitation of micro pensions. Leveraging on its channel of 455 banking counters and nearly 7 lakh enrolled customers, Sahaj will be creating 4.75 lakh financial inclusion (no frills accounts) clients, 1 lakh micro pension clients, 0.25 lakh micro insurance clients under this programme.

Incidentally, Sahaj has over 14,500 IT enabled centers at Gram Panchayat levels in these three states, offering over 50 Government and consumer services to the rural population.