People’s Bank

Inaccessible to reasonable financial resources hampered the economic development of the target communities for generations.

Aim

To develop an internal credit system under the command of local communities.

Target

Traditional fisherfolk and coir-workers communities, numbering to 3,00,000 living in 85 villages.

Reasons

•Commercial banks are reluctant to associate with these backward communities.
•Local moneylenders are virtually enslaving the communities by charging interests from 36% to 120% on loans.
•Stagnancy in financial front has frozen their growth.

Functioning
•Resources are mobilized by Micro Cooperatives (SHGs) through savings and local fund mobilization.
•Micro Cooperatives control financial resources.
•Accounts are maintained both at the central level of PB and local community level.

The idea of the Peoples’ Bank surfaced when the community realized that it was lacking in sources of financial resources. There are two sources of from which the community receives support but they were off in human exploitation not only making them slaves of very unhealthy and inhuman economic system but also totally hampering their march towards self reliance and development. Therefore it was decided to mobilize the resources of the community as well as from external sources so as to make sufficient financial sources available to the community for various needs. Until then the fishermen for their fishing needs depended on the middlemen and that often lead to a slavish system of exploitation where as the women depended on the money lenders who were charging 48 to 120% interest on their loans. Therefore Samhathi initiated the formation of the Peoples’ Bank by put a link together all the local resources mobilize to the Self Help Groups and making use of the credit facilities of 4 commercial banks to provide sufficient financial resources to the community. Today thousands of families are freed from the clutches of the money lenders and where offered opportunities to start their own income generation activities so that each family will have more than one source of income which often helped them to avoid dependence on local money lenders and the middlemen. Today Peoples’ Bank in collaboration with 3 other banks generate sufficient financial resources to the community and every year on an average more than 300 income generating projects are promoted through the Self Help Groups of women, youth and fishermen. It is in its way of getting legally registered with the government so that its operations can be widened and reach out more people and also provides still more resources to the areas development.