Abstract:
Social impact analyses of microfinance programs aim at gauging the ‘wider impacts’ of
micro-lending on the lives of the poor. This wider impact can be taken to be a ‘public
good’ that benefit the sector in its entirety: the microfinance institutions (MFIs), donors,
borrowers, and even the non-borrowers. This paper intends to provide an insight of
the role played by microfinance institutions in enhancing the socioeconomic benefits
of the poor in Sikar district of Rajasthan. 100 SHG members from four clusters of Sikar
district (Laxmangarh, Harsh, Dhodh and KhoriDungar) which were formed by the
NGO across the four directions of the district. Since the main occupation of the people
here is agriculture, therefore the clusters are formed according to the productivity of
the land and availability of irrigation facilities. Each cluster of the district contains 25
villages, and on an average four SHGs are working in each village, each SHG consist of 15
members in a group. Twenty five SHGs were selected for the study from each cluster and
one member mainly the coordinator is taken as the sample. The paper further identifies
the variables and indicators of an impact assessment and builds a generic model of the
process. The study found that microfinance programs can improve the socioeconomic
conditions of the poor people in the district. The study concludes that microfinance
sector should extend its hand in the interest of the poor who definitely need a full range
of financial success, including financial literacy and educational development.