Information Communication & Technology Module on impact of Microfinance on Coastal Indebtedness in Indian Marine Fisheries Sector

For the ecosystem management and sustainable development of the Indian marine fisheries sector, the Microfinance Institutions (MFI) and Self Help Groups (SHG) play a pivotal role by reducing the coastal indebtedness among f isherfolk. The study takes care of assessing the extent of indebtedness among marine f isherfolk in India and the role of Microf inance Institutions (MFI) in redeeming the debt, credit utilization pattern, repayment behaviour, supply of credit and empowerment of marine fisherfolk and elucidation of success cases of microf inance in entrepreneurial capacity building which in turn led to the development of an Information Communication & Technology(ICT) Module on impact of microf inance on coastal indebtedness in Indian marine f isheries sector. The study was undertaken in the entire coastal belts of India covering four zones such as North East, North West, South East and South West zones comprising a total of 8 maritime states. Situational analysis was done through Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) in the selected potential maritime locations and the f isherfolk from the various strata such as mechanized, motorized and traditional sectors were drawn as representative samples. Data were gathered through personal interview with a pre-tested and standardized data collecting protocol from members of 12 selected MFIs in each state and non-members in marine fisheries sector comprising of 600 respondents from each state (Grand total 4800) to assess their impact on indebtedness level, supply of credit and empowerment. Success cases of MFIs on entrepreneurial capacity building which played a significant role in the poverty alleviation and debt redemption were also documented and the whole results were brought out as the ICT module which is a compilation of interactive multimedia cyber extension package consisting of video clippings, 2 D and 3 D animation movies, audio records, still picture gallery, ICT based presentations and synergies and outlines represented by full text of the ‘e book’ on microf inance on coastal indebtedness. The results of the study revealed Odisha as the state with highest level of indebtedness (89%) and Maharashtra as that with the least level of indebtedness (78%). The study also showed that the level of indebtedness of members of MFIs was less compared to the non-members. Though the indebtedness was more in certain cases, the level of repayment was found to be significantly improved in MFIs. In the traditional and tertiary f isheries sectors, there is an extreme necessity of strengthening the MFI ventures. It was also found that the MFIs ranked better in most of the major attributes in the perception of stakeholders compared to banks and non-institutional credit sources. Success stories documented on entrepreneurial capacity building, debt redemption and poverty alleviation in the ICT module can serve as a practical manual/case model for mobilizing MFIs in any key areas for the ecosystem management and sustainable development in the Indian marine f isheries sector