Several leading International news agencies have picked up the news story about the microfinance crisis in Andhra Pradesh. Links to some of these articles are given below :
Voice of America – Indian State Seeks Limits on Microfinance After Reports of Abuses
Microfinance is a fast-growing part of the financial industry in many developing countries. Micro lenders give small loans to poor people to start or expand businesses.
Microcredit offers a chance to improve lives and reduce poverty. But officials in Andhra Pradesh, in southern India, are investigating if debt collections are linked to a series of suicides among borrowers. Read more on VOA
When a little help becomes a huge curse
It’s meant to lift people out of poverty. But the women of Peddammagadda say microfinance has become a curse. This shanty town on the outskirts of Warangal, a city in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has been overrun by loan agents from India’s highly competitive microfinance industry. Read more on Sydney Morning Herald
Microfinance: Little loans, big trouble
Microfinance was supposed to mean economic empowerment for the poorest of the poor, many of them female villagers living in India’s southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. Instead, the sector has spiralled into crisis in recent weeks, where the state is blaming 57 recent suicides on aggressive loan collectors. Read more on Globe and Mail
