Enhancing Financial Inclusion Attitudes in Rural India

1. Pp A Training Programme addressing attitudes of staff delivering financial services to the rural poor in India: design & evaluation [Poster presented by Dr Marylin Williams, University of Reading,UK] 1. ISSUES & BACKGROUND 3. TRAINING DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION THE ISSUES • Whilearound 50% cultivator households in India are indebted, only 27% of debt is sourced from formal sector • Yet there are over 44,000 rural & semi-urban bank branches, offering the potential to improve financial inclusion • Possibility that barriers to effective outreach arise from ‘attitudinal’ factors was investigated in earlier project BACKGROUND: The Earlier Project (Jones et al, 2003, funded by DFID)* • 60 BMs in Datia, Betul & Indore districts of Madhya Pradesh (MP) interviewed re their perceptions of: clients/rural context their organization (bank) selves (goals, resources, risks) • quantitative & qualitative analyses revealed negative attitudes • BMs with more training were less negative • Training identified as means of promoting innovation & encouraging positive attitudes 4. EVALUATIONS TRAINING • positive concurrent evaluations by trainees & trainers ATTITUDE CHANGE • pre- & post- training attitude measures (developed via earlier Project) demonstrated significant positive attitude change. OUTCOME EVALUATION • visits to bank branches 2½ - 3 months after training by C.P.Mohan & A. Sharrma (CAB), & UoR interviewers • 12 accessible & representative branches chosen • semi-structured interviews in each location with branch manager (BM), bank staff group, individual clients & bank-linked SHGs • barriers to achieving action plans included lack of resources (staff & time), language, NPAs & environment/infrastructure, but: • all BMs had increased confidence, & majority evidenced more positive attitude & behaviour towards poor clients & increased empowering of bank staff • new initiatives were under way, including lending for new activities; client base was expanding SUSTAINABILITY • training programme successful due to being demand-led, innovative in content & style, balanced in attention on the individual as well as on collective issues, & supported by senior banking officials; it is now mainstreamed within CAB FUNDED BY DFID/EDIF CONDUCTED BY: University of Reading (UoR): School of Agriculture, Policy & Development (Dr Howard Jones & Esse Nilsson) School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences ( Dr Marylin Williams) & Reserve Bank of India (RBI) (Dr Yashwant Thorat) IN COLLABORATION WITH: College of Agricultural Banking (CAB); CARE, India; All India Women’s Conference; Confederation of Indian Industry; Bank of India (BoI); Central Bank of India (CBI) …………………………………………….. *Ref:Jones,JHM, Williams,MJ, Thorat,YT & Thorat,A (2003) Attitudes of Rural Branch Managers in Madhya Pradesh, India, toward their Role as Providers of Financial Services to the Poor. Journal of Microfinance, 5, 2, 139-167 2. IDENTIFYING TRAINING NEEDS • BASELINE SURVEYS • Conducted with & by collaborators, to examine: • existing training provision & materials (informed by banks - staff, trainers, training institutes, & non- financial companies) • bank services (informed by individual clients & SHGs) • AREAS OF TRAINING NEED IDENTIFIED • problem-solving in rural context (eg re rural lending) • social skills development • development of positive attitudes to selves, organization & poor clients • participatory & innovative training methods