Accessible financial resources to the rural poor, marginalised and vulnerable groups are an important prerequisite for poverty reduction, financial inclusion and sustainable growth of the nations.  Microfinance is a better way of empowering the poor by adopting the SHG-Bank Linkage Program model. The present paper makes an attempt to analyse the performance of the program in India and across various institutions-commercial banks, cooperatives, nabard and regional rural banks. The paper also studies the impact of this program in a social and economic manner.

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Keywords: SHG, Bank Linkage, Credit, NABARD, RBI, Loan.