Rural Credit: How Do the Poor See It?

Abstract

Rural banks notwithstanding, the poorest of the poor in the continually droughtprone regions still prefer the village moneylenders. How is it that the poor persist in this exhorbitant and exploitative exchange when the rural banks are not far away? Why is it that, after nine years of ‘integrated approach’ towards rural development, the plight of the poor remains unchanged? There is an alarming mismatch between the official bankers' views on rural credit and those of the poor. Correcting this requires serious monitoring of how the poor view rural credit. In this article based on careful field observation, Anil K Gupta and Manu Shroff present the viewpoints of the poor and draw implications.