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About Us
History
 

Our organization began its operations in the Mann Desh because of the difficult circumstances confronting our villagers. Our area has always faced the problem of emigration, particularly among male farmers. An annual rainfall of only 5 inches has slowed local agriculture (GDP growth in this area is less than 4% annually), driving many into urban centers in search of work. Consequently, nearly 50% of students leave school before the 10th standard in search of service sector jobs. Early in life women become primary caregivers in the household and are forced out of schooling - for local women, the illiteracy rate is as high as 65%. Many who remain in the area are those who have no opportunities elsewhere, thus, the area is primarily comprised of scheduled caste, backward caste, and OBC members of whom over 75% are below the poverty line.

The MDMSB was founded by illiterate, rural women who won a hard-fought battle for a banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (the top regulatory bank in India). Since then, it has grown from having an initial shareholder capitalization of 600,000 rupees (US$15,000) to a bank with total assets that reached 90 million rupees (US$2,250,000) in 2005-2006, and a repayment rate of 97,5%. It has made a profit of 232,000 rupees. Because of the bank there are now nearly 17,000 women entrepreneurs with annual incomes averaging rupees 20,000 rupees per annum.