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(1) Facilities for loans.
The sources of borrowing in this village fall into two
classes : (i) money-lenders and (ii) the local co-operative
credit society.
(i) There are at present two professional money-lenders
in the village in addition to a few non-professional and
petty money-lenders. A few of these latter are what are
called 'Janasudhar* sowkars or those who lend money
only on the security of ornaments. Besides these, there is
a host of professional and non-professional money-lenders
residing outside the village, some in the neighbouring
villages and others at Bulsar, who have dealings with the
people of this village.
(ii) The Co-operative Society was started in 1917 and
has during the last ten years become a powerful force in
the economic life of the village. It serves as an organised
institution, advancing loans to its members.
Relation between (i) and (ii) : The primary object of
the former group is usually to increase the volume of in-
debtedness of the client, with a view to keep him under
control, and thus make him a steady source of commission
and interest to themselves. The primary object of the
Society is to enable its members to be free from debt, and
to increase their earning capacity and enable them to stand
on their own legs in course of time. Conflicting as these
two aims are, the relations between the money-lenders on
the one hand, and the Society on the other, are in this vil-
lage cordial, thanks to the forceful personality of the
chairman of the Society and to the steadily increasing
stability of the Society as a financing agency.
(2) The rates of interest.
There is a great difference between the rate of interest
charged by the money-lenders and that charged by the
Society. Even among the money-lenders the rates of
interest vary with the nature of security offered. With
the Society the rate of interest is the same whether the
loan is advanced on personal or landed security. The fol-