Microfinance Focus, August 17, 2011: The not-for-profit arm of Kolkata based microfinance institution Bandhan and Axis Bank Foundation, CSR arm of Axis Bank have launched a financial inclusion program called ‘Axis Bank Bandhan Holistic Assistance’ (ABHA) in West Bengal to target the ultra poor.

The two organizations will be setting up a Rs. 100 crore fund for this grant-based initiative aimed at graduating 50,000 ultra-poor families from the districts of Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas, thereby linking them to the larger economic ecosystem over the next 5 years.

The program was inaugurated by Dr. K. C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India in the presence of Ms. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO, Axis Bank, Mr. C Babu Joseph, Executive Trustee & CEO, Axis Bank Foundation and Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Founder & Mentor, Bandhan.

With this program, Bandhan aims to create pathways for the poorest-of-the-poor section to find their rightful place in the socio-economic mainstream through a 24-month grantbased intervention encapsulating crucial elements like livelihood, skill development, education, health, social awareness etc.

Bandhan, first forayed into development services in 2006 with its introductory program ‘Chartering into Unventured Frontiers Targeting the Hard core Poor (THP) Program’. Presently, the program is reaching out to 5,000 poorest of the poor families in 4 states, out of which 96.88% of the eligible families (who have completed 2 years) have graduated to mainstream finance. However, a scale-up was essential to replicate and amplify the impact amidst a greater number of such families.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. K. C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI said, “We always profess that the credit-worthy should receive loans. But what about the population which is not creditworthy? Do we sit idle and watch their plight? They were born poor; poverty wasn’t the fallout of any crime! Axis Bank by contributing its 1% profit and Bandhan with 25% contribution in the coffers has pledged to revive the lives of that segment.”

During the launch, ten beneficiaries were handed over farm and non-farm assets for enterprises like goat-rearing, meat, fish, poultry, cosmetics businesses.