At the Kalupur Co-operative Bank in Ahmedabad, an estimated 600 of the 4,500 accounts dedicated to microfinance belong to members of the vimukta jatis, or the nomadic tribes, of Gujarat. It is the only independent bank in the country that issues loans to these tribals, many of whom do not have address proofs or stable permanent addresses let alone bank accounts or a steady income. Since 2006, the bank has issued loans of Rs 50,000 to 100 nomadic tribals to purchase houses under a government scheme, and disbursed loans of a maximum of Rs 25,000 to others to expand their small businesses at a 10% rate of interest.
The bank is able to issue loans on trust alone, based on the long-term relationships that the Vicharata Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM), an Ahmedabad-based organisation run by Mittal Patel that devotes itself to nomadic denotified tribes, has established over 15 years.
Read more of this in a report by Gayatri Jayaraman published in Hindustan Times...
