Robert Ashton explains how he came to understand the potential impact of micro-finance on a recent trip to India.

I spent the Christmas holidays travelling in southern India. It is perhaps the best time of year for me to go on holiday; free of deadlines and with few, if any, people expecting me to be around and working. I have also learned, the hard way, that to work constantly without any real break is bad for both productivity and health.

But of course even on what was a particularly pleasurable holiday, work does remain on my mind. They say that travel broadens the mind. India certainly broadened mine, with each day challenging perceptions and confronting prejudices.

Of course the contrast between rich and poor is striking and the poverty real. But so, too, is the growing prosperity and increasing use of technology. I saw plenty of new brick or block houses being built next to the wooden dwellings the owner could now afford to upgrade. It was also interesting to read that smart cards were to replace the food vouchers given to alleviate the poverty of unemployment.

But what struck me most was the massive difference a modest investment had made to a lady who wove string from coir. A simple device with an electric motor and two rotating hooks enabled her to double her productivity. She had saved for ages to buy the machine. Now she could weave more string and earn significantly more money. She was buying bricks so that in time, her family could have a new, more substantial home.

And so I realised the power of micro-finance in places like India. I realised the impact these investments can make, and was moved by the obvious pride she had for her enhanced ability to provide for her family.

Most of all I realised that investing in micro-enterprise really can lift people out of poverty. So why are we not offering more support and incentives for those willing to lift themselves out of poverty. Investment here would be far more than simply money for old rope.

First-class rail travel is a relative luxury both here and in India. But put an Indian train into service on the most complained about commuter route in Britain and people would perhaps see how well off we really are.