Traditionally, development programs planned, implemented and maintained by the Government line departments used to follow a typical blueprint approach. Credit requirement of the marginalised especially those considered as "Below the Poverty Line" [BPL] are tried to be addressed through different schematic tie ups with a tagged in subsidy component. Thinking process in the planning and execution of such schematic linkages goes in a line of making BPL families, as unit of intervention, economically viable through such links and promote income-generating activities. But frequent household credit needs for various reasons remained out of purview of such operations in-spite of broad network of regional rural banks [RRB] and cooperatives.

Formal institutional credit availability and in time credit accessibility for commons remained a distant possibility in most of the rural areas of the state. Such hindering factors gradually pushed "the families at the need of credit" to informal money lending system resulting indebtedness and repayment of usurious rate of interest with the cost of their prevailing family asset base.

Realizing the persisting vulnerable situation of the people with regard to their access to formal institutional credit, CENDERET in its field interventions, especially in Capacity Building Project, tried to address this credit requirement component through group approach. During 1996-1997, a number of women groups were formed at intervention villages called "MAHILA MANDALS". Thrift and internal credit activities were initiated at group level to meet their emergency financial requirements. As formal credit linkage system was relatively poor during that period, "credit supportive funds" were provided to women groups for its internal rotation in order to meet member's credit requirement.

It was just a beginning for XIMB-CENDERET to reflect upon the earlier gained experience and knowledge on rural poverty situation and recognizing the importance of micro credit to mitigate it. Earlier to these field interventions, during 1994-95, exclusive training programmes were organised in collaboration with NABARD and SIDBI for the bankers of Regional Rural Banks and Cooperatives in order to make them understand the importance of self help approach and to motivate them in a positive direction by erasing out their traditional mind set. Organising such orientation cum training programmes for bankers as well as for non-government agencies helped XIMB-CENDERET to build up a functional network with prime stakeholders. Frame collaborative approach gradually shaped to a collaborative action in the name of Centre for Micro Finance exclusively to deal with micro credit operation.

In collaboration and with the support of NABARD, micro finance programme was launched all over the state with the objective of facilitating promotion of self help groups and its ultimate linkage with formal financial institutions for credit support. In the arena of micro finance promotion in the state, CENDERET, Xavier Institute of Management had been providing technical support to various government and non-government agencies operating in the state through skill up gradation and consultancy services. Through district level platforms Xavier institute started its advocacy role to bring a change in the life of rural poor through institutional credit access. Micro finance since than, became an integral part of the institutional development agenda, which was addressed through training and development projects in various parts of the state.

Institutional experience on micro finance was further strengthened through different research and allied activities.

From such innovations and based on received feedback and experiences, XIMB - CENDERET felt the need of a state level micro finance resource centre who could able to bring a movement in self help promotion in the state with a collaborative framework. The basic objective was to break the prevailing inertia in the field of development, accelerate the pace of growth of micro credit in the state through self-help approach and to widen the scope of SHG as an people's institution for effective credit access and credit delivery.

NABARD as premier financial institution in the country and being pioneer in SHG and micro finance movement, warmly accepted the proposal of setting up of state level centre for micro finance and with the auspices of NABARD, "Resource Centre for Micro Finance" was set up at Xavier Institute of Management - CENDERET. In its venture for the fulfillment of its objective, the Centre for micro Finance (CMF) initiated its strategic intervention in eleven districts of Orissa, which includes the infamous KBK region.