Ultra poor or the poorest of the poor are those people that are at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. Ultra poor remain ignored and the safety net or protection fails to cover them up from the continual process of marginalized and perpetual poverty. Ultra poor are those suffering from multiplicity of deprivation. They are usually unable to make any benefit from the mainstream poverty eradication interventions. Due to social exclusion, the ultra poor have always been left out from traditional microfinance services. For microfinance, the general perception is that the ultra poor have too many challenges and are therefore not going to be able to reliably make their loan payments. Given their life circumstances, a conventional micro-loan may not even be the best first step for these people. The biggest challenge that ultra poor face is the lack of a stable income. A low and intermittent income makes it difficult for these people to plan their lives. Access to stable income helps these people plan their expenses and access services like education, healthcare, and financial services.

Considering all these constraints and with the objectives to bring in necessary changes in the economic and social status, and behavior of the ultra poor segment of the society, DFED has been implementing Ultra Poor Program since 2010.