STUDY OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MAHARASHTRA STATE

STUDY OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MAHARASHTRA STATE ( 2012- 2017) Surendra S Jogi Asst. Professor Madhukarrao Pandav College of Engg. Bhilewada, Bhandara Dr. Mukul A. Burghate Head and Associate professor Dr.Panjabrao Deshmukh Inst. of Management, Technology and Research Abstract Formulation of Problem Some MFIs such as Equitas, Ujjivan, Janalakshami and others have set up strong HR systems and practices over time; however other MFIs still need to invest in this area. Post the crisis, due to the RBI’s guidelines for NBFC‐MFIs to comply with (particularly the stipulated margin cap), MFIs are further constrained to reduce costs with obvious implications on costs of hiring, training and retaining human resources. Hence, a study on current human resource practices in MFIs in India, to document best practices that can enable replication, identify gaps, highlight challenges and provide recommendations on areas that need MFI as well as sector investment to bolster this agenda was thought of by the researcher. Thus whether the HR Management area is growing at the pace so that it can equip the growth rate of Microfinance Institutions comfortably is the basic research problem for the current research. Keyword: MFIs, Human Resource Practices, Microfinance Institutions Introduction In the recent years, most of the countries across the globe are in a sweeping mood to promote microfinance not only as a positive rural development intervention but also as a rural development solution. As a result, the developmental economists in underdeveloped and developing economies have increasingly become enthusiastic in promotion and development of microfinance as one of the rural development initiatives. The logic of such an initiative is to promote the welfare of the society as a whole by targeting the most talked developmental objectives of poverty alleviation and balanced regional development throughout the country. In this model, the borrower has to repay the loan in weekly instalments spread over a year. The functioning of Grameen Bank also involves enchanting of “16 Decisions” at the start of their weekly session. These decisions include production of fruits and vegetables in kitchen gardens, investment for improvement of housing and education for children, use of latrines and safe drinking water for better health, rejection of dowry in marriages etc. Although observance of these decisions is not mandatory, in actual practice it has become a requirement for receiving a loan which eventually increased the sustainability of the borrowers. Until the banks in India were nationalised in the year 1969, co-operative banks were the only banks that provided small and medium loans to the economically underprivileged sections of the society. Till then, small borrowers did not have any other source of financial assistance. In those times, loan applicants had to furnish some form of security to the bank. They also had to make arrangements for a guarantor in order to apply for a loan. The chief objective of banking was profit, which is still prevalent in today’s commercial banks. Institutions offering microfinance started to emerge and began to change this only profit-oriented banking scenario. Nationalisation of banks