Microcredit in India

Despite of the increasing interest in the Microfinance movement, the number of empirical studies that examine the effective sustainability of the microcredit programmes, the social improvements achieved by these projects and the real link between women's empowerment and microcredit are still few. This study wants to contribute to this debate, defining, what empowerment is in the Indian society and measuring which impact microcredit and women's emancipation programmes have on the female empowerment. Besides, this study wants evaluate the sustainability of the project, financial performances and whether there are concrete economic improvements in women's living conditions. The project took place in the challenging environment of the small villages in the West Bengal area, where, for three months, have been collected questionnaires, interviews and financial data. The Indian Institute for Mother and Child is the organization that has permitted the realization of this work, that operates in the area since 1989. In the final findings and during the entire work have been considered either the difficulty of the environmental conditions and the fascinating thousand-year Indian culture.