Ujjivan, a Grameen Trust partner with its headquarters in Bangalore, India, received the Microfinance Process Excellence Award (MPEA) at a ceremony held at the Ashok Hotel in Delhi on November 11, 2008. The award was sponsored by ABN AMRO and Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) in partnership with PlaNet Finance India.
Established in December 2004, Ujjivan is a fast growing MFI in India. It is currently operating in 43 districts of ten states: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Maharashtra. Currently it is implementing microcredit program through four regional hubs located in Bangalore, New Delhi, Kolkata and Pune. Including 48 urban branches and 77 semi-urban branches, Ujjivan has a total of 125 branches.
Ujjivan has 229,334 members, 100% of whom are women. It has loan outstanding of Rs. 1,280 million, with 99.75% repayment rate. Ujjivan has achieved 89% Operational self- sufficiency and 86% financial self-sufficiency in a very short period of time.
Report by A. S. M. Shahidul Haque
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Microcredit Initiative of Grameen (MIG) will launch its microcredit operations in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala in April 2009 with financial and technical assistance from Grameen Trust, Bangladesh. Whole Planet Foundation of USA is supporting GT in this initiative.
The project will operate through three branches to be established in Trivandrum, Parshala and Natikara. Two technical persons from Grameen will be in Kerala by the end of April. They will be responsible for successful implementation of the project with the help of locally recruited staff who will be trained on Grameen technology and methodologies of serving the poorest women with financial services.
The Project Director of MIG Kerala visited Trivandrum in February 2009 to identify the poverty pockets, select branch locations and meet the potential borrowers. He also met with the authorities concerned and community leaders to explain the objectives of MIG Kerala and to seek their support.
MIG Kerala is expected to reach 10,500 borrowers in four years and make a disbursement of Rs. 238 million in total as micro-loans. It will help its members generate their own employment and income, improve their quality of life and overcome poverty.
Report by Golok C Roy |
