“Never provide poor solutions to poor people,” says Chetana Gala Sinha, Founder of Mann Deshi Mahila Sahkari Bank and Foundation, focused on women micro-enterprises.

Sinha, who set up the cooperative bank in 1997 with a small amount raised from friends, has been a proponent of financial inclusion and one that treats all as equal. The bank now has a capital of Rs 150 crore and over one lakh rural women are banking with Mann Deshi.

Speaking on the sidelines of recently concluded Sankalp Summit on impact investing, Sinha said rural people have come out of poverty mindset and are embracing technology. “Mainstream banking sector needs to take more risks with women micro-entrepreneurs. Microcredit being given to rural women self-help groups need to be extended women run micro-enterprises.”

Women run micro-enterprises are already there, and they need scaling, which is difficult with the fragmented economy in India. She also spoke about creating an ecosystem to facilitate micro-enterprises by leveraging technology and improving ease of doing business in rural areas.

Here’s an excerpt from the conversation Sinha had with CNBC-TV18 about impact investing and the funding challenges for women micro-entrepreneurs running social enterprises.

Q: I was reading some data which said that while in the normal commercial enterprises only about 8 to 10 percent women are running it, but when it comes to social enterprises a lot more women are running social enterprises and when it comes to financing for that how far are we?

Chetna: So honestly, we have to walk 1000’s of miles for that, but one thing I’m a bit more hopeful about that things is now very different. When you talk about women-owned businesses, women-owned social enterprises and investing in that. Because of technology, you have real-time cash flows. A lot of informal economy is coming in digital. The question is that if it would be easier for them, that whole supply chain of digitalization should be done and people are coming forward. So, if you have that, on one side you have the credit rating, on the other side you have the digitalized working capital or you have those transactions. You can find out how much is the working capital required, so you have real-time data on the financial transactions of these people.

And then the third is with technology we can leverage the last mile.

Finance Minister talked about the social stock exchange. How will the social stock exchange operate, if the micro-enterprises don’t flourish? So micro-enterprises are ready, these women have already started the business, and they now need to scale. Scaling is difficult with the fragmented economy in India, the way we have villages, but now, the shared economy is coming together and e-platforms are coming up. Let me give you an example of GST or registration of businesses for micro-enterprises or getting food and drug licenses. I feel that ease of business is still a big challenge in this country and this is what the government has to make real.

Q: Ease of doing business ranking comes in every year. And we see that India is improving in a lot of parameters. You are saying that it’s actually not reflecting especially on the rural side or micro-enterprise side?

Chetna: India is like a mini Europe. So in some states, you will see that it’s doing very well. But in some states like North India how many women enterprises are there? Like in Bihar, UP, I know Ajeevika is doing great in Bihar but I think we should now graduate from that. So in that way, I think that ease of doing business index has improved but do you just want to surpass five more countries or want to surpass thirty-five countries like China? In villages, women have never been to school but they are doing digital transactions. So why do we think that we are happy being better than just five more countries? India is having the highest number of IT Engineers. I think we just have to be more ambitious.