Bandhan's Targeting the Hard Core Poor Program: A Qualitative Study on Participants' Ascent out of Extreme Poverty

In 2009, Bandhan targeted 300 women in one of the poorest districts of West Bengal, India to implement the ‘Targeting the Hard Core Poor’ (THP) pilot.  In this study, factors that have kept THP participants steady on the pathway out of poverty 3 years after the pilot has ended and the challenges they continue to face were identified. The study shows that although poor households exist in a social and political environment that strongly influence their life trajectories, Bandhan’s experience proves that the Graduation approach can enable the poorest to embark on a path towards economic freedom.

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