Role of Microfinance on Coastal Indebtedness in Marine Fisheries Sector of Maharashtra, India

摘要

The Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and Self HelpudGroups (SHGs) play a pivotal role in Indian marineudfisheries sector in reducing indebtedness amongudmarine fisherfolk. This paper makes an attempt toudassess the extent of indebtedness among marineudfisherfolk in mechanized, motorized and traditionaludfisheries sectors and the impact assessment of MFIsudon coastal indebtedness in Maharashtra. The studyudwas carried out in five coastal districts of the state.udSituational analysis was done through participatoryudlearning and action (PLA) in the selected locationsudand the sample respondents (n=600) were selectedudfrom mechanized, motorized and traditional sectors.udThe results showed that the levk1 of indebtednessudof members of MFIs was less compared toudnon-members. In certain cases, eventhough indebtednessudwas more, the repayment capacity wasudfound to significantly improve in MFIs. There is anudextreme necessity of strengthening MFI ventures inudthe traditional, secondary and tertiary fisheriesudsectors in the state. A comparative assessment of theudsources of credit, the purposes of credit and-theudutilisation pattern of loans in the state also wasudundertaken to draw valid conclusions. It was alsoud; found that the MFIs were ranked better in most ofudthe attributes in the perception of stakeholdersudcompared to banks and non-institutional creditudsources