A series of suicides among borrowers in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh two years ago sparked a nationwide backlash against the microfinance industry... Microfinance Gives Voice to Rural Indian Women March 12, 2013 India has a checkered history with microfinance. In 2010, a series of suicides among borrowers in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh sparked a nationwide backlash against the industry. One group is reviving microfinances tarnished image by focusing, not on profits, but on promoting gender equality among rural women in the north.