UGC sponsored "Women empowerment through microfinance" conference.

UGC sponsored "Women empowerment through microfinance" conference.

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Sep 27, 2014:  Delivering the key-note address at a UGC sponsored two-day national conference on ‘Women empowerment through microfinance - Challenges and prospects’ organised at St Agnes College on September 26, Prof Yashavantha Dongre, Co-ordinator of Third Sector Research Centre at Mysore University, stated that, even though microfinance is portrayed as a good activity towards women empowerment, the ground reality is different. If there are thousands of success stories of women empowerment through microfinancing, there are lakhs of untold cases of failure in microfinance. Microcredit in itself can not be a solution to the problem, but microcredit system under certain circumstances can be successful.

 Prof Dongre, appreciated the advantages of microfinancing as it provides necessary financial assistance to small groups, facilitates local mobilisation ploughong back financial resources and allows easy management of funds, he also pointed at the instances of negative impact of microfinancing on the beneficiaries. There are cases of microfinancing creating small debts and escalating tension among women beneficiaries, he said.

“There is a huge difference between microfinancing and banking or other financial business. In other types of financing, financial surplus or viability is always in mind, but microfinancing aims at helping the women irrespective of financial viability. The microfinancing system works out well as long as the objective remains intact. Unfortunately, microfinancing has turned out to be a political agenda now,” he regretted. Questioning the very idea of ‘women empowerment,’ the professor asked if women can be called empowered just by attaining economic empowerment. The concept of women empowerment is seen from three different perspectives namely, economic, feminist and socio-cultural. Economist Amartya Sen while commenting on women empowerment from economic perspective had said that more money in the hands of women does not mean that they really enjoy more freedom and privilege. Gender gap ranking

Prof Dongre in his argument with the world ranking of gender gap  added of the 136 countries that are ranked in the study, India stands in 101 position, showing a wide gender gap. According to the study, though women stand in a better position in India as far as political empowerment is concerned (9th rank), the country stands in the last but one position (135) in health survival. 124th position in economic participation of women. The country’s ranking is 124th with regard to gender gap in economic participation and 120th in attaining education.