Which one among the following promoted the concept of Self-help groups (SHGs) for financing the poor ?

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is the primary agency that promoted the concept of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for financing the poor in India. While the concept evolved over decades, the movement gained significant momentum in 1992 when NABARD launched the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) [t2]. This initiative was designed to connect rural poor, particularly women, to formal financial services by using SHGs as intermediaries [t1][t2]. NABARD provides promotional grant assistance to Self-Help Group Promoting Institutions (SHPIs) and offers 100% refinance support to banks for financing these groups [t1][t5]. Although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) supported the movement by allowing SHGs to open savings accounts and enabling banks to lend to them, NABARD acted as the 'champion' and lead coordinator for the ecosystem's development [t1][t4][t7].

Sources

1. [1] https://www.nabard.org/contentsearch.aspx?AID=225&Key=shg+bank+linkage+programme
2. [2] https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/94b33fbf-3818-5512-822c-591fd4e7b87f
3. [3] https://www.rbi.org.in/commonman/english/scripts/Notification.aspx?Id=767