Financial access
67 self-help groups of Karur district were linked to a nationalised bank for a ₹1.33 crore loan to rear cows, and 100 NABARD joint liability groups opened accounts for 600 members in Kadavur block.
Microfinance & financial inclusion
Financial access and credit linkage for women's economic empowerment — delivered through Self-Help Groups.
67
SHGs linked to nationalised banks
₹1.33 cr
Bank credit those groups obtained
100
NABARD joint liability groups formed
600
Members given bank accounts
Understanding
What microfinance & financial inclusion means
What is microfinance?
Microfinance provides financial services — small loans, savings opportunities, insurance and other financial products — to low-income individuals and communities who typically lack access to traditional banking, helping them start or expand small businesses and build financial resilience.
Coodu Trust is not itself a lender. What the annual reports record is financial inclusion work with women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs) — organising the groups, training them, and linking them to banks and government credit schemes so that the money reaches them. Under Mahalir Thittam, 50 groups in Kadavur and Thogamalai blocks were trained in financial inclusion and 67 groups of Karur district were linked to a nationalised bank for a ₹1.33 crore loan for rearing cows.
The trust has been at this since 2002–03, when its report described providing micro-finance to self-help groups to free poor families from money lenders. The most recent recorded work is with NABARD: in 2020–21 NABARD Karur sanctioned 150 joint liability groups to the trust in Kadavur block, of which 100 were formed and opened bank accounts for 600 members. The 2023–24 report still lists micro-credit among the trust's fields of work, but describes no micro-credit activity of its own for that year.
- Micro-credit services
- Savings mobilization
- Financial literacy
- Poverty alleviation
- Entrepreneurship promotion
Why this work matters
The challenge on the ground — and our answer
The challenge
Locked out of formal banking
Low-income women and their communities typically lack access to traditional banking and financial services altogether.
Our response
Credit through the group
Groups open savings accounts first, then borrow together. Every one of the 67 new Kadavur and Thogamalai groups had a bank account by 2007–08; 38 of them were linked to NABARD and the DRDA for economic assistance that year.
The challenge
The poorest stay trapped in poverty
Without access to credit, the most vulnerable women cannot invest in livelihoods or break the cycle of poverty.
Our response
Target the most vulnerable first
The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh lends solely to poor women. Its first-phase outlay of ₹7.5 lakh through Coodu Trust put a milch animal in the hands of 30 women farmers and credit for petty shops and sheep rearing in the hands of ten more.
The challenge
Money skills no one ever taught
Rural women are rarely given the financial knowledge needed for money management, savings and business planning.
Our response
Financial literacy alongside credit
Training builds better money management, regular savings habits and informed financial decision-making.
The challenge
No capital to start a business
Women with viable enterprise ideas lack the credit, training and market access needed to act on them.
Our response
Credit, training and market linkages
Credit is paired with enterprise skills — 201 women were trained in dairy, tailoring, nursery management, vermicomposting and mushroom production in 2009–10, and 120 commercial sheep farms took root in Kadavur block on Mahalir Thittam finance.
At a glance
The essentials
- Active since
- 2002“Microfinance and poverty alleviation” first appears in the 2002–03 annual report
- Our role
- Mobiliser & linkage agentCoodu Trust organises and trains the groups and links them to lenders; the credit itself is bank and government money
- National scheme partner
- Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK)The National Credit Fund for Women lends solely to poor women; ₹7.5 lakh first-phase outlay through Coodu Trust in 2008–09
- Project portfolio
- 4 programmesMicro-finance, RMK, Mahalir Thittam bank linkage and NABARD joint liability groups, 2002–2022
- Most recent delivery
- NABARD joint liability groups100 groups formed and 600 members given bank accounts in Kadavur block, 2020–21
- Delivery model
- SHG-based linkageGroup savings, financial-inclusion training and bank and scheme credit
Track record
Project portfolio, 2002–2022
| Programme | Period | Type | Highlights | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microfinance and poverty alleviation | 2002–2003 | Key activity | Foundation work — micro-finance to self-help groups to free poor families from money lenders | Completed |
| Mahalir Thittam financial inclusion | 2006–2016 | State programme | 50 groups trained in financial inclusion; 67 groups of Karur district linked to a nationalised bank for a ₹1.33 crore cow-rearing loan | Completed |
| Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) project | 2007–2012 | National scheme | Micro-credit exclusively for poor women — 50 milch animals, 3 petty shop loans and 10 educational loans in Kadavur block | Completed |
| NABARD joint liability groups | 2020–2022 | Bank linkage | 150 groups sanctioned in Kadavur block; 100 formed and bank accounts opened for 600 members | Completed |
Impact
What financial inclusion changes
Entrepreneurship development
Credit is matched with skills: 201 women trained in dairy, tailoring, nursery management, vermicomposting and mushroom production in 2009–10, and 120 commercial sheep farms established in Kadavur block.
Financial literacy
Training on financial inclusion was given to 50 self-help groups of Kadavur and Thogamalai blocks under Mahalir Thittam — savings, bank accounts, revolving funds and the routes to grants and subsidies.
Economic independence
The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh outlay of ₹7.5 lakh put a milch animal in the hands of 30 women farmers and petty-shop and sheep-rearing credit in the hands of ten more.
Get involved
Support financial inclusion
Help us expand microfinance services to more women and communities. Your support enables us to provide crucial financial access, promote entrepreneurship, and create pathways out of poverty for vulnerable women.