HWF held anWorkshop on Interest Free Micro-Finance

KolKata: The two-day residential state-level workshop on interest-free microfinance of the state W. Bengal was held on 6^th & 7^th December, 09 at Raigachi in Kolkata. The workshop, first of its kind in W. Bengal, was jointly organized by Human Welfare Foundation, N. Delhi and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, W. Bengal.

Forty two (42) persons from across W. Bengal participated in the workshop which was addressed by the two resource persons of the Task Force set up by the project VISION 2016 0f Jamaat-e-Islami Hind , Jb. Arshad Ajmal (coordinator, Task Force on microfinance) and Jb. M S Khan(member, Task Force) besides several luminaries of microfinance from W. Bengal such as Mr. Shah Alam, secretary, Amanat Foundation Trust (AFT), Mr. G M Shahid, state project coordinator, AFT and Dr. Manav Sen, civil servant & Director LOKO –Kalyan Parishad, W Bengal.

Jb. Rahmat Ali, President JIH, W Bengal, delivered the inaugural speech.

The workshop discussed all the topics essential for the capacity building of a practitioner such as: Concept of micro-finance; Formation of SHG; Legal Aspect of Multi-state co-operative societies; Techniques of Survey; Experience of the interest-free society, Al-Khair, Patna.

Mr. Arshad Ajmal while giving the outlines of this interest-free microfinance workshop told the participants that the two specific goals of the workshop were to achieve in two days i.e., to prepare a detail Roadmap of establishing microfinance institutes (MFIs) or at least SHGs in W. Bengal and to build the capacities of the participants so that they could conduct the surveys of the areas before launching Micro-Finance centers in their localities.

Mr. Ajmal clarified that the practitioners of this interest-free microfinance would not depend upon the external funding but the Model which is to be followed or practiced will be simply the system of general bank meaning it should be self-sustained. Microfinance is the alternative banking accessing those who are unbankable which consists of four components: Micro-deposit; Micro-credit; Micro-enterprise and Micro-insurance, he informed the participants.

Mr. M S Khan told the audience how microfinance could intervene in the economic system of the country which requires very small steps in the beginning but its effects are great. His deliberations focused around how capitalist economic system, over a period of time, led to a profound poverty and severe dissatisfaction of the needs of many individuals. The capitalist economy made 70% of the population inactive and the role of the poor people in the decision making process has become unimportant. Emphasizing the purpose of Deen-e-Islam he told the audience that when Prophet (pbuh) reached Madinah, he first established the Mosque as well as the Market.

The participants were made aware of the functioning of the interest-free society of Patna , Al-Khair Cooperative Credit Society and the three basic problems usually faced by the practitioners, Mr. A Ajmal told the prospective practitioners, were fund raising, how credit be given and to meet the recurring cost. He suggested the ways to address these three problems.

Mr. Shah Alam, secretary, Amanat Foundation, Kolkata shown his trusts’ activities through power point presentation. He addressed the workshop telling them how AFT was helping the widows by his microfinance center. He said basically Amanat Foundation is a non-profit making, non-govt. social voluntary organization working in the field of social mobilization being a partner of govt. Unicef, DFID, UK and other agencies in country and abroad started its journey in 1994.Amanat’s intervention in SHG-MF programme took place in 2005 as an emergence in responding to the substantial needs of poor and socially excluded section of the community. He informed the workshop that AFT had not emerged as an MFI from the beginning but gradually it turned its motion towards microfinance to work on an integrated approach of social development imperatives.

The project VISION 2016 of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has choosen Al-Khair model for microfinance practice because of its interest-free nature. This co-operative model of microfinance could be called as Imdaad-e-Bahmi in urdu and follows the rules of Co-operative Credit Society Act of the constitution of India.

The kind of workshop held in W. Bengal would also be organized in all states of the country as planned by the project VISION 2016, told Mr. Arshad Ajmal, coordinator, Task Force on microfinance. At the end of the day, there would be 500 institutes of interest-free microfinance spreading all over the country fighting poverty and hunger in its working areas by providing financial support to poor people for promoting their initiatives also empowering rural poor people for realizing their rights, raising voice and working on various social issues.

At the end of the workshop, the house requested JIH, W. Bengal to form a Coordination Committee for the establishment of Interest-Free Societies all over Bengal.