SKS empowers poor women in India to become economically self-reliant by providing financial services in a financially sustainable manner.
SKS seeks to expand to 500,000 poor households in one of the poorest parts of India, the drought-prone semi-arid Deccan region. Nearly half of the 4.5 million households in the Deccan live in abject poverty (less than $1/day) and the rates of hunger, malnutrition, disease, and illiteracy are among the highest in the world. The majority of these poor are landless laborers or marginal farmers who survive through subsistence agriculture.
SKS delivers collateral-free loans, savings, and insurance products to poor women through a group lending model and the deployment innovative technology applications. SKS keep costs low and is achieving financial sustainability.
Since inception, SKS has disbursed more than $20 million to over 75,000 poor rural women in nearly 800 villages. SKS has also maintained a 97% on-time repayment rate and achieved financial self-sufficiency in 2003.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
