Chennai, February 22, 2023

Sa-Dhan an association of impact finance institutions, which includes microfinance institutions, and an SRO appointed by RBI for the microfinance sector is organising the ‘South India Conference on Financial Inclusion in Chennai, a regional level conference, for the first time. The daylong conference will focus on financial inclusion achieved in Southern states of India, basically by extending credit to unserved and underserved population through microfinance, in south India.

Speaking about the conference, Jiji Mammen, ED & CEO, Sa-Dhan, said, “South India leads the rest of the country in financial inclusion. The success of microfinance in south India has contributed significantly to this.  Be it the Self-Help Affinity Groups promoted by MYRADA in the 1980s, which evolved into the SHG bank linkage programme, or the demonstration of the scale-up potential of lending to Joint Liability Groups by specialized institutions called MFIs, it has been the states of southern India that have shown the path.” He further added, “South India, therefore, has valuable lessons for the real financial inclusion. These emerge both from the successes as well as the problems that the sector has encountered. This conference will aim at disseminating these lessons to a wider microfinance audience in India and the world.”

Policymakers, regulators and industry stalwarts will share their perspectives on the sector. The policy framework introduced last year by the Reserve Bank of India has set in place a cohesive rule for the microfinance industry.

RBI has enabled the microfinance industry to grow and reach to the underserved in a hassle-free manner and recent regulatory changes are testimony of the same. NABARD has been at the forefront of extending loans to microfinance institutions for last-mile engagement. The SHG Bank linkage programmes was also promoted by NABARD in early nineties, which took root in South first. Similarly, Tamil Nadu is one of the torch bearer of Microfinance movement in the country. All the three are actively involved with the conference.

The conference will be inaugurated by Shaji KV, Chairman, NABARD, who will deliver the inaugural address at the conference.  Hans Raj Verma, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary & CMD – of Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC) will deliver Keynote address. Smt Uma Sankar CGM RBI will deliver special address.

The conference will have speakers like R S Isabella, CMD – Repco Microfinance Ltd, K Paul Thomas, MD & CEO – ESAF Small Finance Bank, P N Vasudevan, MD & CEO – Equitas Small Finance Bank, S Srimathy, Executive Director – Indian Overseas Bank, among other leading luminaires of the sector.  The four sessions that will have a robust discussion on the microfinance industry and financial inclusion are – “Contribution of Microfinance in Financial Inclusion: Micro & Macro Perspectives,” “Facilitating Inclusive and Sustainable Growth,” “Innovations and Impact in Financial Inclusion – Learning from the South,” and “Meeting the Funding Need: Opportunities & Challenges.