OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2012. Shri R. M. Malla, CMD, IDBI Bank was conferred the ‘Microfinance India Contribution to the Sector 2012’ Award. The award was presented to him in an Individual category for demonstrating highest level of commitment towards the microfinance sector by ‘ACCESS Development Services’, a company providing technical services in the field of Microfinance and Micro Enterprises. ACCESS assists the growing microfinance sector through streamlined and structured services to emerging MFIs and supports the enabling environment through the Microfinance India platform.

This is a lifetime achievement award to honour long-term, significant contribution of an individual to the issues in the microfinance sector. The award was conferred to recognize the dedication of Shri Malla, towards the issues and challenges of the sector and his active involvement in influencing policy interventions and sector building efforts. Shri Malla’s contribution to the sector has been of extreme significance : earlier as CMD of SIDBI, helping it to become the largest microfinance lender in the world and subsequently as CMD of IDBI Bank, where under his leadership, IDBI Bank was among the few banks that continued to lend to the microfinance sector in India.

On this occasion, Shri Malla said “. IDBI Bank and SIDBI have recognized the MFIs as an important channel for lending to the poor and has continued to support the well managed MFIs, which has proved rewarding for both the Bank and the ultimate customers. The sector has been seeking an enabling and facilitative environment to operate in. The recent guidelines on NBFC- MFIs, Priority Sector Lending are some of the regulatory prescriptions. It is now up to the various stakeholders in the sector, including the funding agencies, to operate within the given framework and reach the unreached and promote financial inclusion.”