Grameen Dialogue -- a regular publication from Grameen Trust

Balamma is a widow struggling to provide for her 6 children in the village of Thatteguppe, in southern India. Her dire financial situation was worsened by the high interest rates she was paying on the loans she took to pay for her daughters’ weddings. At that time she came to know of Grameen Koota and soon she applied for her first loan of Rs. 4,000. Balamma used the money to buy a cow and started selling milk. Her income not only covered her loan repayments, but she also had enough to pay for her household expenses. Balamma took a second loan of Rs. 7,000 from Grameen Koota to buy another cow in order to expand her business. As a result her income grew substantially and she is now looking forward to submitting her third loan application.

Grameen Koota was conceived in 1997 by the trustees of T. Muniswamappa Trust who were inspired by Alex Count’s book, “Give Us Credit”, which described the dramatic impact that microcredit had on the poverty stricken lives of the poor in Bangladesh and the U.S.A. With financial assistance from Grameen Trust, which provided the seed capital funding, Grameen Koota started its operations as a Grameen Bank type microfinance institution from 30th May, 1999, for the benefit of the poor population in Avalahalli, India.

Currently Grameen Koota has 9 branches, which cover 273 villages, and a head office in Avalahalli. The organization employs a staff of 55 to assist their growing client membership, which currently stands at around 9,000. As of November 2003, Grameen Koota has disbursed loans, totaling Rs. 51.5 million, while loans currently outstanding were Rs. 21.7 million. The loan repayment rate has been a perfect 100%. Grameen Koota’s members’ savings increased dramatically to Rs. 4.4 million. Apart from its microcredit program, Grameen Koota also conducts periodic socio-economic development workshops for its members where various topics such as health, nutrition, adult literacy, AIDS awareness issues are discussed. Grameen Koota’s goal is to provide 30,000 poor families like Balamma’s, with income generating opportunities through small business loans by the end of 2005 and to become a financially sustainable microfinance institution.