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Directions (Qs. No. 105-110): Read the following passagecarefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to helpyou locate them while answering some of the questions.
The Guardian once cited one question that the entranceexamination paper for a trainee program at Merrill Lynchin 1972 had: “When you meet a woman, what interestsyou most about her?” The correct answer was beauty. Those who thought intelligence, were given low marks There was, of course, no question on what interests one themost when meeting a man. This is gender discriminationat its worst in the financial sector. Do we see this in 21stcentury India? There is no gender discrimination in theIndian financial sector—whether at the organizational levelor in choice of consumers. Then why did the ex -financeMinister P. Chidambaram want to set up a bank exclusivelyfor women customer and run by women?
One reason could be political. Women as a gender arenot a separate constituency yet in India. There are urbanwomen, rural women, wealthy women and poor women butwomen as a gender are not a vote bank. This is a relativelylow-cost experiment to create that. Beyond politics, as asymbol of women’s empowerment, this is not a laughingmatter or an idea to ridicule, but translating this intosuccess is no easy job. There are quite a few cooperativebanks in India that give loans to women borrowers. Thenthere are two cooperative organizations run exclusivelyby women—the Ahmedabad-based Shri Mahila SewaSahakari Bank Ltd and Maharashtra based Mann DeshiMahila Sahakari Bank Ltd.—but both of them have asuccessful but limited geographical presence.
Globally too there aren’t too many instances of banksrun by women, for women. Tanzania has one such example. In 1999, a group of women entrepreneurs mooted the idea of a women’s bank to then president Benjamin WilliamMkapa and it took eight years for the Women’s BankPublic Ltd Co to set up, with the government holding97% equity stake and private entities the rest and on theday the bank was launched, 110 women opened accounts.It focuses on low-income earners, small businesses andsmall and medium enterprises and men can also openaccounts in this bank based in Dares Salaam.
Ahead of Tanzania, Pakistan had set up First WomenBank Ltd. Late prime minister Benazir Bhutto wasinstrumental in establishing this to meet the needs ofwomen entrepreneurs. It commenced business in December1989, with five leading public sector banks—NationalBank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd, Muslim CommercialBank Ltd, United Bank Ltd and Allied Bank Ltd.—holding90% stake and the government the rest. After 23 years ofexistence, the bank has about 60,000 women customers,handled by 600 employees spread over 41 branches over24 locations. The only other example of a special vehiclefor women is Women’s World Banking, Savings and LoansCo. Ltd. Starting operations in 1998, it has seven branchesin Ghana.
In India, the self-help groups (SHGs) and microfinancemovements have been driven by women. Such groups arean intermediary between the banking system and borrowers.Banks and microfinance institutions are comfortabledealing with women borrowers as they are more responsibleand disciplined in their approach in paying back themoney. While many men in rural India spend their meagreearnings drinking alcohol and gambling, women keep thehearth fires burning and take care of children’s education.
A woman’s bank will not become successful in Indiaif it focuses only on banking. If our government is seriousabout this project, it must see that this bank goes beyondtaking deposits and giving loans and becomes a vehiclefor changing attitudes about women and their money,taking care of other things such as education, vocationaltraining, etc and help in empowering women by educatingthem about self-finance. At a parallel level, we also needto address two structural issues—women must have rightto property (otherwise they can’t offer collateral for a loan)and get adequately involved in formal economy throughjobs and entrepreneurship. Professional urban women donot need a bank of their own but rural women, particularlyin those pockets of India which are fraught with casteismand gender discrimination, will find in it an oasis.
The Guardian once cited one question that the entranceexamination paper for a trainee program at Merrill Lynchin 1972 had: “When you meet a woman, what interestsyou most about her?” The correct answer was beauty. Those who thought intelligence, were given low marks There was, of course, no question on what interests one themost when meeting a man. This is gender discriminationat its worst in the financial sector. Do we see this in 21stcentury India? There is no gender discrimination in theIndian financial sector—whether at the organizational levelor in choice of consumers. Then why did the ex -financeMinister P. Chidambaram want to set up a bank exclusivelyfor women customer and run by women?
One reason could be political. Women as a gender arenot a separate constituency yet in India. There are urbanwomen, rural women, wealthy women and poor women butwomen as a gender are not a vote bank. This is a relativelylow-cost experiment to create that. Beyond politics, as asymbol of women’s empowerment, this is not a laughingmatter or an idea to ridicule, but translating this intosuccess is no easy job. There are quite a few cooperativebanks in India that give loans to women borrowers. Thenthere are two cooperative organizations run exclusivelyby women—the Ahmedabad-based Shri Mahila SewaSahakari Bank Ltd and Maharashtra based Mann DeshiMahila Sahakari Bank Ltd.—but both of them have asuccessful but limited geographical presence.
Globally too there aren’t too many instances of banksrun by women, for women. Tanzania has one such example. In 1999, a group of women entrepreneurs mooted the idea of a women’s bank to then president Benjamin WilliamMkapa and it took eight years for the Women’s BankPublic Ltd Co to set up, with the government holding97% equity stake and private entities the rest and on theday the bank was launched, 110 women opened accounts.It focuses on low-income earners, small businesses andsmall and medium enterprises and men can also openaccounts in this bank based in Dares Salaam.
Ahead of Tanzania, Pakistan had set up First WomenBank Ltd. Late prime minister Benazir Bhutto wasinstrumental in establishing this to meet the needs ofwomen entrepreneurs. It commenced business in December1989, with five leading public sector banks—NationalBank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd, Muslim CommercialBank Ltd, United Bank Ltd and Allied Bank Ltd.—holding90% stake and the government the rest. After 23 years ofexistence, the bank has about 60,000 women customers,handled by 600 employees spread over 41 branches over24 locations. The only other example of a special vehiclefor women is Women’s World Banking, Savings and LoansCo. Ltd. Starting operations in 1998, it has seven branchesin Ghana.
In India, the self-help groups (SHGs) and microfinancemovements have been driven by women. Such groups arean intermediary between the banking system and borrowers.Banks and microfinance institutions are comfortabledealing with women borrowers as they are more responsibleand disciplined in their approach in paying back themoney. While many men in rural India spend their meagreearnings drinking alcohol and gambling, women keep thehearth fires burning and take care of children’s education.
A woman’s bank will not become successful in Indiaif it focuses only on banking. If our government is seriousabout this project, it must see that this bank goes beyondtaking deposits and giving loans and becomes a vehiclefor changing attitudes about women and their money,taking care of other things such as education, vocationaltraining, etc and help in empowering women by educatingthem about self-finance. At a parallel level, we also needto address two structural issues—women must have rightto property (otherwise they can’t offer collateral for a loan)and get adequately involved in formal economy throughjobs and entrepreneurship. Professional urban women donot need a bank of their own but rural women, particularlyin those pockets of India which are fraught with casteismand gender discrimination, will find in it an oasis.
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