By IANS
New Delhi : Vice President Hamid Ansari Friday said innovative approaches like participatory banking were necessary to bridge gaps in human resource development to bring overall peace, security and progress.
“Whether a country followed capitalism or communism, whether ruled by a king or governed through a democracy – modern banking catered to the basic productive urge of humanity and its drive to lead a better life,” Ansari said.
“Yet, the picture of human development across the globe is patchy, stratified and characterised by inequality and widening gulf in wealth and opportunity,” he told a seminar on participatory banking.
He accordingly, stressed on the need for proliferation of self-help groups for the poor, micro-finance and micro-insurance – collectively called participatory banking – which address the needs of those left out by mainstream institutions.
Ansari said even though the concept originated to address ethical and religious concerns of Muslim communities, its basic approach of no reward without risk and participatory ties between creditor and debtor are used by private equity and venture capital funds.
“Where creditor not only has a financial interest but also infuses technical and managerial inputs for ensuring the success of the joint venture, the probability of success of an entrepreneurial venture is significantly enhanced.”
He said people today lived in an era of multiple options where they sought much better access to goods and services and goods so as to lead a better quality of life with dignity. This, he added was creating gaps in human development.
“This must be bridged for there to be peace, security and progress for all. And innovative approaches such as participatory banking and finance should help in plugging such gaps.”