Alleviation of rural poverty and improvement of socio-economic situation is one of the main motos of CRSS. With a view of eliminating poverty, improving the socio-economic conditions and establishing women’s rights CRSS has contributed credit to the group members and other small enterprises since 2005. The main objectives of CRSS are to help vulnerable and helpless rural people by providing small and medium credit to develop their livelihood. This micro-credit loan goes to productive and manufacturing-oriented initiatives such as homesteads, fisheries, poultry rearing & animal husbandry, cultivation of diversified crop productions, employment generation facilities both in urban & rural level and other agricultural activities, small home-based manufacturing units, and other small traders’ and enterprises’ loan. We charge 12% service charge yearly and other forms of loan recoveries to cover our micro-credit operational and overhead costs associated with this program.
The goal of the Micro-Credit Program
The goal of the micro-credit program is to extend financial support to the beneficiaries for creating employment opportunities, running income-generating activities and thus establishing as a sustainable earning adequate income for ensuring food, shelter, health, education, water & sanitation and environment development services as well as established CRSS as a non-profitable & self-sustainable organization.
The objective of Micro-Finance Program
- To empower the poor/ ultra-poor women through their direct involvement.
- To create self-employment and scope of wage employment through the formation and enhancement of enterprise.
- To create a positive environment that encourages savings among members.
- To alleviate poverty in Bangladesh and build up leadership of poor women in the community.
- To increase the empowerment and social status of women.
- To utilize the local resources at the optimum level.
- To enhance individual business capacity and competency of entrepreneurs.
- To develop CRSS as a sustainable development organization.
Micro Finance intends to improve the living standards of the poor in rural hard-to-reach remote areas and low-income and slum settlements in urban areas and connect them to the mainstream of the country’s economy.
Center for Rural Service Society (CRSS) has been running microfinance programs since 2002. Since the inception of microcredit operations until today CRSS has provided diverse microfinance services. The present number of branches is 5 the number of active borrowers is 3867 and the loan outstanding is BDT 8.57 Billion (as of June 30, 2023). Around 33 educated and skilled employees are serving CRSS microfinance and the operational area covers 157 villages under Two districts of Bangladesh including metropolitan Cities- Barishal.
Microfinance products
CRSS is trying to develop need-based microfinance products to meet the demand of the most vulnerable poor who require additional support to develop the skills for self-employment to come out of abject poverty. Together with addressing extreme poverty, CRSS has been supporting enterprise financing, house repair, and agriculture financing in rural areas. The products of CRSS Micro Finance are as mentioned below:
- RMC (microfinance for Marginal poor in urban and rural areas)
- ME (Financing Micro Enterprises)
