I have mentioned it multiple times that the primary mandate of microfinance is to provide access to finance to the unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who otherwise would have no other access to financial services. This means that we generate self-employment opportunities for those who never had access to capital to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

But what we fail to highlight regularly is the extent of indirect employment the microfinance industry creates through our borrowers.

Our internal sample survey indicates that for every new business opportunity that we create for an aspiring entrepreneur, other than those engaged from immediate family, an average of three individuals get employed from those at the bottom of the financial pyramid. As our customers grow their business we expect this number to grow further, but even as it stands today the indirect employment created through our customers looks considerable.

What was not possible to capture through our survey was the employment created beyond the immediate micro-organisation that our borrowers have set up. For example, a JLG which might be producing artifacts and other items of handicrafts would need someone in logistics to deliver it to the customer. It will not be uncommon if we find a logistics provider setting up shop in such a hub, employing local candidates to do the job - a job that would not have been there had the microfinance borrowers not started their business.

While the quantum of such employment creation through microfinance will be extremely difficult to measure, I feel the levels in which jobs creation happens are:
• Direct employees of Microfinance organization
• Entrepreneurs who borrow from microfinance companies, sometimes including family
• Those who get employed in such micro-enterprises
• Those recruited to provide ancillary services to such micro-enterprises

With digital commerce getting more popular by the day, expanding the market for our customers, such ancillary job creation is also expected to grow further, creating more employment.

It gives me great pride to be able to contribute to so many lives and families who have been overburdened with financial challenges for so long. Handholding towards prosperity has been a dream long nurtured by our society, to be fulfilled by us.