MICROCREDIT AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN KERALA
Authors :Sajan Thomas
Abstract
This paper aims to contribute to the existing literature on microcredit movement in Kerala, particularly its effects on poverty alleviation. The dispersal of small collateralfree loans to jointly liable poor group members in Kerala is either modeled after the Kudumbashree experiment or linked with the State institutions in one way or other. However, the sustenance of the microcredit movement in Kerala is largely attributable to the transformation of Kerala State and the emergence of a consumption society. Unlike other Indian states with a poor track record with the decentralization of political and economic power, the decentralization experiments in Kerala has triggered the penetration of new state processes at the grassroots level, of which microcredit is an integral part. The functioning of microcredit groups in Kerala, particularly the Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) of Kudumbashree, is closely linked to the panchayath raj institutions.This article explores the poverty alleviative effects of microcredit movement in Kerala in the context of the ‘disciplining’ practices existed in the Kudumbashree groups.
Key Words: microcredit, exchange relations, Kudumbashree, consumption, privatisation, discipline.
