MICROFINANCE
With a vision to alleviate poverty and improve the socio-economic condition of disadvantaged communities, Pabna Protishsruti has been implementing its Microfinance Program since its establishment in 1989. The organization formally partnered with PKSF on 16 April 2007 to strengthen its financial inclusion initiatives. Pabna Protishsruti is currently operating its microfinance activities across both rural and urban areas, covering 42 branches in 4 districts of Bangladesh. Through this program, the organization is serving more than 56,000 members, primarily targeting poor, landless, and marginalized populations who have limited access to formal financial services.
The Microfinance Program plays a significant role in poverty reduction by providing collateral-free loans to micro and small entrepreneurs, along with need-based savings products. Special emphasis is given to both the immediate financial needs and long-term development of beneficiaries, enabling them to become self-reliant and economically empowered. With a people-centered approach, continuous innovation, and gradual integration of modern systems, Pabna Protishsruti’s Microfinance Program is contributing effectively to sustainable development and financial inclusion in its operational areas.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM
The overall objective of Pabna Protishsruti’s microfinance program is to achieve sustainable development through improvement in the livelihood of the target people through financing and proper guidance to their IGA’s.
The other objectives are as follows:
- Socio-economic development of hardcore poor.
- To provide financial support to the rural poor people.
- Employment and proper utilize the local resources.
- Motivate and Create own fund, Reduce gender difference
- Increase the Skill ness of the small business and trade.
- Create more acceptances on social activities
Components Of Microfinance Program
PABNA PROTISHSRUTI’s microfinance program is a specially designed program for socio-economic development and poverty alleviation.
The components of this program are:
- Savings Products
- Credit Products
Savings Products
Pabna Protishsruti encourages its group members to mobilize savings in order to reduce their dependency on others. Group savings help build a strong financial base for the members, enabling them to invest in income-generating activities. Moreover, these savings empower members and play an active role in enhancing their participation in family decision-making processes, contributing to their overall socio-economic development.
The components of this program are:
- General Savings
- Voluntary Savings
Credit Components
Credit is the most significant component of the microfinance program. The members receive capital through credit facilities to improve their IGA’s and fight against poverty. Pabna Protishsruti has several special designed loan products as follows:
- Jagoron
- Agrosor
- Sufolon
- Buniad
- Ujjiban
Jagoron
Jagoron is the name of a credit instrument of PKSF to initiate household based enterprise development in Bangladesh. Pabna Protishsruti extended its financial services for the rural poor of working area through this program. With a view to improve the economic status of the poor and disadvantaged people through involving themselves in employment and income generating activities Pabna Prtishsruti has been implementing Microfinance Program since April 1996.
Agrosor
he Organization has been carrying out the Micro enterprise Program under financial assistance of Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF). This program helps organization to extend its financial services to the progressive members of other credit programmes for undertaking economic activities that require bigger amount of capital. This program upgrades micro enterprise policy on the basis of the needs of micro-entrepreneurs. At present, apart from the progressive clients of other credit programme, Pabna Protishsruti provides financial services to interested & efficient micro entrepreneurs for expediting employment generation.
Sufolon
PKSF launched Seasonal Loan (now known as Sufolon) programme in the year 2006. This groundbreaking programme of PKSF offers flexibilities and has become a prominent core programme of PKSF covering a major share of the yearly loan disbursement. Since its inception, this unique loan product has created tremendous impetus for the investment of different IGAs such as crop cultivation and processing, livestock, fisheries, agro-forestry agro-processing etc. The provision of the loan repayment in a single installment after the sale of the product has made it very popular among the borrowers, especially those engaged in beef fattening and crop cultivation. Pabna Protishsruti worked with Sufolon commponent from October 2011.
Buniad
Since inception Pabna Protishsruti has been working for the poor & helpless people to reduce poverty through employment generation. The ultra-poor have always been left out form the classical microcredit services because of the perceived belief that they are vulnerable to loan repayment. Ultra-poor people voluntarily exclude themselves form microcredit at times because of the fear of not being able to repay in time and getting further indebted. requirement for a fresh loan.
Buniad as another mainstream program of Pabna Protishsruti, that works to address the needs of the excluded ultra-poor of the society who had otherwise been chronically left out from the conventional microfinance services. Their exclusion was much due to a once-pervasive notion that they would be unable to return the loans provided to them.
Ujjiban
The Ujjibon Loan Program of Pabna Protishsruti is designed to improve the socio-economic condition of poor, lower-middle-income, and emerging entrepreneurs by providing collateral-free financial support. Under this program, medium and large loans are provided to support business expansion, agriculture, livestock farming, trading, and other income-generating activities. The program helps beneficiaries strengthen their economic capacity, create employment opportunities, and achieve financial stability. Alongside financial assistance, Pabna Protishsruti encourages proper loan utilization, savings practices, and sustainable income generation to ensure long-term socio-economic development of the members and their families.