Microfinance India Awards

As a part of its Microfinance India initiatives, ACCESS Development Services with the support of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in India instituted the Microfinance India Awards in 2009.

We were honoured to receive Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Mr. U.C. Sarangi, Chairman, NABARD and Ms. Cherie Blair,  as special guests at the Awards ceremony in 2009.

As Microfinance in India wades through turbulent times to reach maturity and growth it seems befitting to honour institutions and individuals that have contributed significantly. The Microfinance India Awards aim to recognize the contribution of notable thought leaders, policy makers, promoters and institutions which help translate the vision of reaching the poorest in a sustainable manner into reality.

The nominations for the Microfinance India Awards 2010 are now open.

The Awards will be presented on the inaugural day of the Microfinance India Summit - November 15, 2010 at Hotel Ashok, New Delhi.

The distinguished Jury panel will be chaired by Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country Head, The Hongkong And Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, India and Malcolm Harper, Professor Emeritus, Cranfield University. The illustrious panel consists of Mr. Rakesh Rewari, Deputy Managing Director, SIDBI, Mr. Vijay Mahajan, Chairman and Managing Director, BASIX Group, Mr. Brij Mohan, Chairman ACCESS Development Services.

Deadline for the submission of the completed nomination forms is September 15, 2010.

Nominations are solicited for three categories

Microfinance India Awards 2009

Institution of the Year Award 2009

The Award seeks to recognise pioneering thought or product leadership or best practices followed by an institution. Representative parameters for growth achieved, potential to upscale operations and process/product/technological innovation towards achieving financial inclusion are some of the important considerations.

Bandhan Financial Services Pvt Ltd

Bandhan is working towards the twin objective of poverty alleviation and women empowerment. It started as a Capacity Building Institution (CBI) in November 2000 under the leadership of Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh. During that time, Bandhan was providing capacity building support to local microfinance institutions working in West Bengal. Realising that a direct intervention in the microfinance sector was also important, Bandhan opened its first microfinance branch at Bagnan in Howrah district of West Bengal in July 2002.

Having started with 2 branches in 2002-03 in the State of West Bengal, Bandhan today counts 670 branches across 10 States in India. The organisation had recorded a growth rate of 500% in the year 2003-04 and 611% in the year 2004-05. Till date, it has disbursed a total of Rs. 1,759 crores among almost 13 lakh poor women. Loan outstanding stands at Rs. 547 crores. The repayment rate is recorded at 99.88%. Bandhan has a manpower strength over 3,980 employees.

Click here to read the full interview of Mr. C.S. Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director, Bandhan.

Contribution to the Sector 2009

This is a long-term achievement award to honour significant contribution of an individual to issues in the microfinance sector. This Award recognises the dedication of the professional to the sector over and above the immediate sphere of his / her organisation through active involvement in influencing policy interventions and sector building efforts.

Vijay Mahajan, Chairman and Managing Director, BASIX Group

Vijay Mahajan is the Chairman & Managing Director of BASIX, a “new generation livelihood promotion institution” that he established in 1996. He started his career at Philips as a marketing executive for four years. Soon after graduating from IIM-A, he started working in the rural development field in Bihar. In 1983, he established an NGO, PRADAN. He was a member of the Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reforms, and also of the Rangarajan Committee on Financial Inclusion. Vijay was named among the 50 most powerful people in India 2009 by Business week. He is serving as Co- Chair in the Global Agenda Council on Social Entrepreneurship (GACSE) formed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). He is a member of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and the Rajasthan Mission on Livelihoods. He also serves on the Boards of Association for Sarva Seva Farms (ASSEFA), Gram Vikas, ARAVALI, Development Support Centre (DSC) and the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), and on the Executive Committee of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a global microfinance body. He is a graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, a post-graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a midcareer fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, USA.

Click here to read the full interview of Mr. Vijay Mahajan, Chairman and Managing Director, BASIX Group

Jury's Special Award 2009

The jury also gave a special award to late mentor Sitaram Rao for his contribution to the sector.

A trained chartered accountant, Sitaram Rao had held several senior advisory positions with finance, microfinance and international marketing companies includ­ing Equitas, the DCL Group (India), Muscat Finance Company (Sultanate of Oman), Laila Group (India), and Paradigm InfoTech (USA). He had also served as a visiting faculty member at Management Develop­ment Institute (Delhi), Industrial Finance Corporation of India, Computer Mainte­nance Corporation, and the State Bank of India. He firmly believed that one of the effective ways to enhance the effectiveness of microfinance is to focus on value addition for microfinance borrowers through health, education and other services. He was widely acknowledged as the strong force behind SKS’s evolution.

He received several awards including the Microfi­nance Accelerator Award from Unitus, Ex­cellence Award from Grameen Foundation, MIX GAAP Financial Transparency Award, ABN AMRO Planet Finance Award for Pro­cess Planning, Stockholm Challenge finalist and CGAP Pro-poor Innovation award. The microfinance community was grief-stricken on hearing the news of his demise, as we lost a devoted and longstanding campaign­er for microfinance movement in India, a great man deeply committed and compas­sionate to the poor.

He was also a board member and treasurer of SADHAN, apex institution for MFIs in India, and chaired its ethics committee. Mr. Sitaram Rao was associated with ACCESS Development Services as Director, CARE India, Unitus (India), Centre for British Teachers (India), Grameen Foundation, Washington, US, Microsave India, M-CRIL, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, International Labour Organisation, AP Rural Livelihood Programme, MIX-IFAD, DFID, Ankuram Sanghamam Poram Co-op Soci­ety, Roshan Vikas Co-op Society.

Mr. Sitaram Rao will be remembered for his great contribution to microfinance, being a guiding and motivational force for numerous institutions and many leaders of microfi­nance in India.

“We have lost our mentor and our guide. He was committed to the values and principles of microfinance and worked to promote the movement until the last minute.”
Mr. Suresh K.Krishna, MD, Grameen Koota

“Sitaram was amongst the most loved figures in the Indian and global micro­finance fields. I distinctly remember the first time I met him outside the Microfi­nance India Summit 2007. He was by far the most energetic person at the event. While I was a relative newcomer to the Indian microfinance scene, he treated me like a close friend from the first moment we met. I had looked forward to meet­ing Sitaram and wondered what great insights into making microfinance more effective he might share. Instead, he im­mediately launched into a juicy story of confrontation between two CEOs of top Indian MFI’s that he had just witnessed. His passion for the poor and microfi­nance was so all encompassing that he even enjoyed spreading the gossip in the sector.
Sitaram is definitely missed as a mentor, guide, creative spirit and life force. The world is definitely a much better place as a result of his incredible efforts.”
Eric Savage, MD, Unitus Capital

Why Participate?

• The awards will recognise organizations and individuals for their achievement in the sector. The winners will be examples of excellence, hardwork and dedication to sustainable development and will be role models for the rest of the sector
• Cash prize of INR 100,000 and a trophy will be presented to the winners in each category to commemorate the achievement of the selected institution/individual.
• Profiles of the short listed institutions/individuals will be widely distributed as part of the compendium during the Microfinance India conference proceedings
• The Awards presentation ceremony  will be attended by prominent microfinance practitioners, luminaries from the financial and development sectors , and researchers associated with the sector.

Jury and the Secretariat

Microfinance India Awards 2010 Jury

Awards Secretariat

Contact

Please mail awards@accessdev.org for all information and queries related to Microfinance India Awards 2010.

Mailing address:

Secretariat - Microfinance India Awards 2010
ACCESS Development Services
28, Hauz Khas Village
New Delhi - 110016
Phone: 91-11 - 26510915 Ext. 214

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