Microlenders in India may benefit from workers returning home: Dr Yunus

As industries in India struggle to restart operations after millions of labourers returned home, having lost their jobs amid the coronavirus outbreak, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus has said this "reverse migration" of workers can offer fresh business opportunities for microlenders in the country.

The Indian industries face a huge shortage of labour after a two and a half-month-long lockdown, as workers have left their places of work following the shutting down of industrial units. The overall shortfall has been estimated at around 45 percent.

Since a significant section of these workers are not keen on returning to their workplaces far away from their homes and would look to set up their own ventures for sustenance in their native villages, the microlenders may tap this opportunity, he said.

This calls for rethinking on the part of microfinance lenders as far as their strategy is concerned and customise products as per the requirements of these emerging borrowers, the Grameen Bank founder told Indian microfinance industry leaders on Saturday last through a webinar, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"Building the rural economy is the essence of microfinance. Rural economy should not be left as appendix of urban economy but have an identity of its own," he said.

"It's a shame that people are forced to migrate outside in search of jobs and livelihoods," said Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The webinar titled "Financial Inclusion in a post Covid Era" was organised by 'Sa-Dhan', a body of microlenders.

Yunus stressed that "we have to rethink, redesign. Coronavirus has given us a great opportunity to reinvent."

He expressed optimism that microfinance would emerge stronger and flourish after the pandemic as long as long as the customer connect is maintained.

He suggested a national disaster fund which should be for the micro finance sector and managed by it.

Construction and real estate sector, healthcare and pharmaceutical, and manufacturing segments are particularly staring at the labour crisis.