• Dates: September 4th
• Time: 1pm GMT
• Link to join

Microfinance started in Latin America, Bangladesh and India in the eighties as a social project to provide credit to the poor without collateral security. Plugging into its success the World Bank and IMF promoted microfinance as a profitable business. From service the objective became profit alone leading to higher rate of interest and coercive recovery methods, which have become more and more ruthless over the years despite attempts at regulation.

On the other hand the Self Help Groups (SHGs) promoted by NABARD became a very successful model of women led enterprise but has not been promoted. On the contrary, Liberalization Privatisation Globalisation promoted since 1992 has encouraged Non Banking Finance Companies(NBFCs) and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) leading to exploitation of the poor.

An alternative Self Reliant Model lead by women without foreign funding and without dependence on state funding has emerged in Kanyakumari Dist of Tamilnadu as a women’s movement for economic, social, community development called MALAR( Mahalir Association for Literacy Awareness and Rights)which also focuses on women’s right and development. With 30 years of history and going strong, this is a replicable model to learn from.

Founded in the 1990s the Timbaktu Collective (www.timbaktu.org),working on alternative education, on inclusion of people with disabilities, on large-scale ecological restoration of wasted savannah grasslands, on financial inclusion of women, helping smallholder farmers regain food sovereignty, enhancing livelihood opportunities for the marginalised communities and revitalising the local village economy.

See the session transcript here

Has worked in the public sector banking in India during its most pro-people phase and served in the most underserved areas of the country. Former General Secretary All India Bank Officers Confederation and of the Tamilnadu Science Forum. He has been an active Member of the Vikalp Sangam and has volunteered to be part of the Facilitation team. He is also active as a Working Group member of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) in India. He is part of the International Steering Committee Member , Global Labour University and the SBOA Educational Institutions, established by the State Bank Officers Association Trust. He has been an Advisor to Mahalir Association for Literacy Awareness and Rights (MALAR). He is also an Author, a well known Columnist, Social Activist and Debater.

Otherwise known as Bablu is from Chennekothapalli village, Sri Sathya Sai (erstwhile Anantapuramu) district, in Andhra Pradesh. He manages an Organic/Biodynamic farm and has been involved in the field of rural development since the late 1970s, helping empower small holder farmers, agricultural labourers, Dalits and other disadvantaged and marginalised communities, artisans, women, children and People with Disabilities.

He was one of the founding members of the “Andhra Pradesh Federation of Unions of Agricultural Labourers and Peasants” involved in movements for land reforms, wages, housing and food rights and spearheaded the demand for a national bill for employment guarantee as far back as 1985. In 1990, he co-founded the Timbaktu Collective, a not-for-profit organisation, and established the 32-acre ‘Timbaktu’ agro-forest habitat and intentional community. Bablu has been instrumental in the genesis and growth of a number of development institutions, peoples’ organisations and networks for over four and half decades. He is presently Chairperson of the Timbaktu Collective, Executive Trustee of the Timbaktu Kutumbam Foundation, a World Board member and a Vice President of IFOAM Organics International. He represents the Timbaktu Collective in the Vikalp Sangam.

An active member of the Vikalp Sangam, Sehjo has been working on supporting people's movements and women's groups on the ground for taking more ownership of their lives, livelihoods and resources. She was one of the first independent women film makers working on these issues, and later worked directly through people centred support organisations, including setting up a worker owned weaving company in Ethiopia. She has a special interest in women's leadership and enterprise in responding to the poly crises we are faced with.

• Sangam Report - Credit and Economic Alternatives Sangam 2025

• This activity is organized by the GTAGlobal Tapestry of Alternatives Assembly “Solidarity Economies” Working Group