Janseva Co-operative Credit Society SHG Interest-Free Microfinance Program

Janseva's self-help-group program, run by a dedicated Micro Finance Division targeting marginalised women and men. Members save INR 5 per day for at least 25 days a month (INR 125 per member, INR 1,875 per typical group monthly), with weekly, fortnightly or monthly deposit options. In the initial fee-based model, INR 1,500 of the group's monthly deposit is savings and INR 375 is deducted as monthly membership fees; after three months of consistent saving, grants become available on published criteria (attendance, loan utilisation), and after twelve months the SHG qualifies for an interest-free loan of twice its savings on pure joint liability with no collateral, paying a 1% processing fee plus a 4% contribution to the SHG's own reserve fund (returned to members at closure or after three years, and usable to cover a defaulting member). After two years the program migrates to a profit-based model: Janseva finances small businesses in partnership with SHG members and profits split 70% to members, 30% to Janseva for costs and reserves. Repayment schedules are member-chosen (daily, weekly or monthly) (crawled janseva.in 2026-08-06).

Janseva's SHG program is the most ambitious Islamic microfinance design in India: it starts as fee-based qard, builds group equity through a reserve that stays with the members, and graduates into 70/30 profit-sharing partnerships, which is Mudaraba economics at slum scale. The honest cost is the fee-based phase, where INR 375 of every INR 1,875 goes to fees; Janseva discloses this openly and frames it as transitional. For SHGs choosing between conventional microfinance at 20%-plus annual interest and this, the structure and the endgame favour Janseva; insist on the phase-transition terms in writing.