Rural credit : lessons for rural bankers and policy makers.

As the title indicates, this book is primarily intended to draw some lessons for the practising rural bankers in the Third World countries. Its contents would also be useful for those concerned with rural credit issues in donor agencies, governments, central banks, non governmental agencies, and academic institutions.

During the course of my career as a rural banker, I have had the privilege to interact with several of them at different layers of bureauc racy: from the field level bank worker to the Minister concerned with rural credit policy. They were indeed a heterogeneous group, some very dedicated, knowledgeable, and creative, many others frustrated, in different, baffled, or ignorant. One common thread that seemed to run among most of them was their relatively limited exposure to ex periments outside, other than those with which they were directly or immediately involved. I remember the remarks of the chairman of a bank with a substantial rural credit portfolio when I presented him with a copy of my last book, Rural Financial Intermediation. In all innocence he queried, 'What is this Rural Financial Intermediation all about?" Coming from the same clan, I can appreciate his predicament: when you have so much on your desk to clear every day, you have neither in clination nor time to comprehend the ever increasing, often esoteric academic literature. Somehow, you come to assume that they are meant for the committed academic, the long-haired, star-gazing tribe, with plenty of time on their hands for debate and writing which are not of much practical value. (Indeed, some academics with very limited feel of the field did nothing to dispel this notion; on the contrary, by making excessively silly and impractical suggestions they reinforced it!) In a way this book is a modest attempt to provide a bridge necessary for that link between these two groups.