The silent microfinance crisis facing Punjab’s Dalit women

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Editor's note: KD (we’ll call her that to protect her identity) is a 45-year-old mother of two. She took pride in the fact that she was one of the few women in her neighbourhood, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, who repaid her microfinance loan instalments even when most others defaulted.  Situated on the outskirts of Punjab’s Mansa town, the area has a handful of cattle along with nearly 1,800 voters, most belonging to Ramdasia and Mazhabi Dalit Sikh castes. Amid the criss-crossing drains and streets, the houses are so cramped that it is hard to tell where a house ends and another begins. KD, along with her husband and daughters, works as a daily wage labourer. Even when combined, the income of the family does not exceed Rs 20,000 a month. She skipped dinner for days on end to save money for monthly and weekly instalments as long as she could. She felt it was her duty to repay, even if it meant going hungry.  But in April 2021, her bubble burst when she realized she had a pile of microfinance loans that …