About the BookThis book presents an overview of the evolution and contributions of different financial institutions, as also the challenges faced by them, in supporting agriculture and rural development through credit. In order to ensure easy availability of banking services in rural areas, a multi-agency rural credit delivery system has evolved in the country comprising commercial banks, cooperative banks, regional rural banks, and microfinance institutions. The book presents a historical perspective of this development. It also brings out the important role played by the Reserve Bank of India and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in the development of priority sectors through credit and various innovative steps taken by RBI and NABARD to ensure access to banking services for the poor and the farmers. The book dicusses in detail the Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme, which has emerged as the largest microfinance programme and forms the basis for the Deendayal Antyoday Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission. An overview of the evolution of the concept of Farmers' Producers Organisations (FPO) for increasing their income is also given here. This book will be useful for the staff of banks, NGOs, government agencies and MFIs engaged in agriculture and rural development as well as for the students and researchers in the banking and management fields.About the AuthorRajendrakumar Thanvi has over three decades of experience in the field of agriculture and rural development. After obtaining his M.Sc. (Dairying) from the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, he began his career as an officer with NABARD. After retiring from NABARD as the Chief General Manager, he has been engaged as a freelance writer and consultant in the field of agriculture and rural development. He has decided to write a series of books in Hindi on his field of expertise. This is the second book in that series.
