Hello hello everyone. A lot of you would have heard about microfinance through mass media coverage. Almost invariably the coverage is negative. But that isn't how the microfinance story in India was meant to be. It was all about mobilising rural and poor urban women. Making them aware of their rights. Getting them access to those rights. Education. Empowerment. Entrepreneurship. Community. Giving women a voice. Giving them economic freedom.

Now that the dust has settled on various microfinance scams, it is time we got back to the basics of what the SHG movement was supposed to do for people. @[1102442552:2048:Kalpana] has put together a book that does exactly that. Now, I'm sure the book is written in what I call JNU English, making it a little inaccessible to mortals like us. But I also has a lot of data and it's analysis. And often a picture speaks a thousand words.

I have a lot of faith in microfinance and it's power to empower rural women. Let's hope this book changes the popular discourse around microfinance.