Impact of Microfinance on Socioeconomic Status of the Underprivileged: The Case of Coimbatore District

Abstract

It has been observed that in Coimbatore, microfinance has been applied as a poverty eradication strategy. The microfinance support the low - income people to develop their business and increase the productivity by providing small loans, micro - credits and other services which increases the livelihoods of the low income people. Microfinance has had strong links with underprivileged in development for sometime. This means that for a long time, microfinance was used as an intervention strategy to address the marginalized situation of underprivileged with the hope that when they accessing credit facilities would develop the communities and also to achieve socio-economic development. However, much as microfinance services have existed in Coimbatore for a period of time, there is lack of information on the good practices in the area and the exact magnitude of impact of the services on the underprivileged and how the loans are accessed and utilized in order to attain socio-economic development. The research is conducted to determine the role of microfinance in the socio-economic development of underprivileged in Coimbatore. The fact that poverty still exists amidst the attempts of provision of microfinance creates room for exploring how far microfinance has benefited the underprivileged in Coimbatore.