Nirdhan Utthan, “The Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha for upliftment of the poor” is a micro-finance established in November 1998 under Company Act of Nepal 1997 (now Company Act 2006). Nepal Rastra Bank, the Central Bank of Nepal, granted a license in April 1999 to undertake banking activities under the Development Bank Act 1996. It started its formal operation from July 1999. Now, operated under Bank and Financial Institutions Act 2017, Nirdhan Utthan  provides micro-finance services such as Loans, Deposits, Micro-Insurance and Remittance services to low income families of Nepal. NULBSL follows group lending based on Grameen Bank, Bangladesh model as well as group lending based on NULBSL developed Self-Reliant Group model through a network of 181 branch offices spread over all 77 districts of Nepal.

Though, legally established as a company in 1998, the operation of NULBSL is a continuation of micro-finance services provided by NIRDHAN NGO which was providing micro-finance services since March 1993. The story behind the establishment of “NIRDHAN” starts from 1986 when Late Dr. Harihar Dev Pant, then senior officer with the Central Bank of Nepal visited Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. This visit inspired him to launch micro-finance program in Nepal resulting the birth of “NIRDHAN” or “People Without Money” in 1991. NIRDHAN began its micro-finance operations in March 1993.

NIRDHAN, as an NGO had limited resources and capacity to satisfy unmet demand of poor people in different parts of the country. As a result, NULBSL was established and started the operations under then Development Bank Act 1996. In July 1999, NIRDHAN transferred all micro-finance operations to NULBSL. Strategic reasons for promoting NULBSL are:

• Micro-finance are supervised and regulated by the Central Bank, which will enforce banking standards;
• A micro-finance can have access to different sources of funding enabling it to satisfy financial need of low income households;
• A micro-finance can lend to a wider range of clients, including group graduates interested to receive individual loans. Further, it can also accept collateral for potentially larger and diverse loan products.

Apart from Financial Services Nirdhan also offers non financial services to its members. The non-financial activities undertaken by Nirdhan are Financial Literacy Training, Skill Development Training, Entrepreneurship Development Training, Center Chief Workshops, Guardian Workshops and financial support for Critical Illness among member’s household, maternity support for members, financial support during natural calamities and scholarship for member’s children.     

Vision

The vision of Nirdhan Utthan is to be a MFI with a social conscience that enables poor to contribute equally to a prosperous, self-reliant rural society through self-employment and social awareness, and help to reduce poverty in Nepal.

Mission

The mission of Nirdhan Utthan  is to extend financial services and social awareness to the poor in under-served and un-served areas of Nepal in a sustainable manner.

Goal

The primary goals of Nirdhan Utthan are to:

• Reach a maximum number of poor households with potential and financial viability by adopting proven delivery mechanism.
• Develop a well-managed institution with high staff morality.
• Enhance women’s “self-respect” through social awareness, proper use & on-time repayments of loans, regular savings and provision of related micro-finance services.