In a recent press report the Union Minister for Rural Development has said that Micro-finance institutions would not solve the problems of poverty whereas it can serve as an instrument in bringing the people into the network of financial services. He underscored that the findings of a study reveals that the MFIs do not provide a strong financial support compared to that of Self Help Groups (SHGs).
He also said that a good regulatory system would be framed governing MFIs in the coming months to encourage the working of MFIs.
He added referring to the malfunctioning of the Micro Finance Institutions in Andhra Pradesh that there was a saying regarding the MFIs that they would not solve the problems of poverty. If that were not true then MFIs could have averted such criticisms. If the MFIs were clear in their targets the criticisms against such institutions which pushed them back could have been much lesser. This fervor of criticism against those institutions was directly proportional to the overstatements given by most of these institutions.