Success and Short comings in Self Help Group-Bank Linkage (Case Studies from Goa)

The study attempts to understand the dynamics of linkages between the Self help Groups (SHGs) and Banks with loan as an important factor. The paper is based on empirical qualitative research involving 72 Bank managers and 30 Women Self Help Groups from various parts of Goa, India. The Qualitative data was collected in personal interviews with respondents, whereby real life case studies and incidents are captured and reproduced in the paper. Findings report that the banks do not follow uniform criteria for loan disbursement to the SHGs and as a result the financial assistance by way of loan does not reach the needy. A list of various criteria followed by banks is compiled which reflects the variance in the criteria followed by different banks. The findings also focus on the problems the banks encounter while sanctioning loan to SHGs, how the banks monitor usage of loan sanctioned to SHGs and the efforts taken by banks to ensure repayment of loans.