Table of Contents

Introduction
I. India-7 -8 -9

A Society of Stereotypes need to break free from Stereotypes

II. Pressing

Empowerment of Women
I. Definition II. Need

- 11 - 12 - 12

for Empowerment

Self Help Groups and Women

I. Definition II. Self

- 15 - 16 - 17

Help Groups in Rural India of SHG on Political, Social and

III. Influence

Economical Sectors a. Political b. Social Harmony and Justice-SUTRA and ENSS c. Economy

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Two Highly Successful Co-operative Movements in India

I. Story II. Story

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of AMUL of LIJJAT PAPAD

a. Lijjat Patrika

b. Inclusion/Participation c. Accountability

- 30 - 30

Government Policies on SHG in India United Nations Development Program & Womens Empowerment in India Self Help Group and MicroFinance
I. Concept

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- 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46

of Microfinance

a. SEWA b. WWF c. ICNW d. CASE STUDY

Conclusion References

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Preface
Jagruthi means awareness. This journal is my sincere effort to outline the effects of jagruthi that has been ignited in the minds of rural Indian women by Self Help Groups. The article begins with an Introduction chapter featuring the Stereotypes in Indian society and the crucial need of overcoming the gender bias between men and women. It stresses on the strengths of women and how women-force is leading the future of this nation by participating and even competing with men in every field. In the second chapter about Empowerment, we are going to define it and understand the need for Empowerment in the lives of rural Indian women. Empowerment is THE buzz word in the field of Social Reform and the vision and mission of all the SHGs and NGOs operating in most of the rural parts of India. The question: From where this need for empowerment came from and what are the means to achieve it? Self Help Groups are a transformed form of Co-operative movements and Unions in India and its origin goes back to Bangladesh in the early 1976. Self Help Groups aims at empowering rural women by socially and economically upbringing them through many development schemes like Education, Self Employment, Credit programs and so on. In this section, we will see the role of SHG in rural India and their influences on Social, Political and Economical forums of the nation. Any study of Empowerment of rural women in India would be incomplete without a chapter on UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROPGRAM that started in the year 1966.

The discussion begins with a brief note on UNDP and moves onto UNDP and its achievements in India by taking example of 2 rural women and their success journey. An entire chapter is dedicated to understand the Policies of Government on such SHGs. This is followed by very interesting stories, I can say, about two of the highly successful groups in India. They are not officially called Self Help Groups, because they started as a small union of people engaged in a common activity to improve their living conditions. They are AMUL and LIJJAT PAPAD stories. A whole section is presented to you detailing the organized structure of SRI MAHILA GRIHA UIDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD and how it resulted in the empowerment of millions of rural women. The last chapter is about SHGs and Microfinance. This is the highlighter of the entire journal because Microfinance is that wing of SHG which assesses the success of SHG. We will look into the working of Microfinance sector of some of the SHGs like SEWA, WWF, ICNW and also read 2 interesting stories, again, of rural women who have been empowered to heights, through Microfinance.

Introduction

In a nation like India, women, especially rural women, have always been victims of many social and economical injustices. Be it female infanticide, unemployment, gender discrimination, harassment or denial to Education. Though there have been many social activists in several parts of the country working for these causes, they have been unable to put an end to these practices because of not getting enough support from government or other bodies. When such activists form groups or unions with many like-minded individuals, not only they become a stronger voice but also can get the attention of the government.

India - A Society of Stereotypes

Though this discussion does not seem relevant to the topic at the first glance, it is not so. The need for women empowerment came into light because women were always deprived of their necessities and basic rights just because they are women, different from men in so many traints and characters. This is what we call Stereotype in Indian society. From the ages of Puranas and Vedas, men have been portrayed as head of the family who is alone responsible for everything around him, be it matters of house, occupation or children. Men are expected to be aggressive and self confident as against women who were always pushed into the darkness of their confinement to home. Chores like Bringing up the children, cooking, caring for elders and diseased were always stereotyped as the mandatory duties of a woman, not giving a damn for her choices and ambitions. Even till late, occupations like nursing and office secretaries were labelled for woman but now changing to

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accommodate both genders. This means we are moving towards a modern Indian society which is not gender based. Though this transformation is complete in bigger cities and towns, most of our smaller towns and villages still follow this blind system.

Need to break free from the Gender barriers of Indian Society

Indian society is undergoing a major metamorphosis in the field of Education, Technology, Medicine, Agriculture or Manpower. More interesting is the fact that in each of these fields, women are working on par with men and I can say, with more dedication and sincerity. Women are even replacing men in those jobs which were meant to be only for men. Automobile Mechanics, Transportation staff, Jobs in petrol Pumps are some such jobs for the mention. India has seen some great women entrepreneurs recently who are leading thousands of women staff in their organizations and guiding them towards sunshine. Let me mention here one such group of women in rural part of Rajasthan who are trained in mason jobs and are now leading the front in installing and maintaining hand water pumps in the entire district. The mountaineering expedition taken up by a group of 8 women in 1993 to reach the summit of Mount Everest is the symbolic representation of the heights women can achieve in which ever field they are working. For most of the women who have successfully broken the gender barrier of the society and made their name in the chosen field, the journey has not been an easy one. Beginning from decision stage up till the execution stage, it is battling all the way. In their long struggle for existence and
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survival, the roles of women have changed from that of a prisoner confined to the premises of her home to a whole new world of opportunities.

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Empowerment of Women

The word EMPOWERMENT and related facts and myths have been around for many decades now. For the sake of simplicity and understanding of this article, let us stick to the definition as per United Nations (2001). Empowerment is the process by which women take control and ownership of their life by expanding their choices. While doing this, they attain ability to make these choices in a scenario where it has been denied to them due to social and economic constraints prevailing in the society. Women become self confident, economically independent, develop self esteem and earn a respectable position in their household, society and thereby prove themselves as good citizens of the nation.

Need for Empowerment of Women in India

This is probably the most talked about and a winning speech in an Election campaign or the main agenda in the parliament in India. But it is really disappointing to learn that most of the resolutions passed in the assembly house, in favour or rural women have not made it far. Fortunately many Self Help Groups that have been working in many of the states are doing an excellent job in this direction and achieving noticeable results. Some of them work closely with the Government and some are funded by

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NGOs and there are also few Private Institutions pooling in their help. Woman is the reason for our existence and strength of every family. Family is the smallest unit of our country and represents our culture and values. Indias freedom struggle and its consequent win over the British rule has seen many brave Women Warriors who have fought in war field shoulder to shoulder with men soldiers and sacrificed life in doing so. Post independence era has not been so kind to women. They struggled under the rule of village landlords and upper caste that have been cruel to women. They were made victims of harassment over dowry, were made to serve as slaves, were not given right to study, and were not allowed any share in the family property. Many of these wrong practices exist even now. Although the situation is much better now, thanks to many government rural development schemes and Village Panchayat schemes. All these reformations are keeping the issues under control but have not been very instrumental in putting an end to it. Women need to be empowered socially and economically because; this is going to bring about a radical change in their own lives first, then others, in their family and ultimately our nation. In India, lot of stress is being given on this subject and numerous schemes have been in rolled out periodically for the overall development of rural women. Women have been gifted by qualities like Compassion, Patience, Hard work and commitment and they can create wonders when they put all these together for a determined cause. An Interesting point to be noted here is that, many of these cooperative movements and Self Help Groups that have been working for women, have been founded by women and majority of its members are also women.
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An independent and empowered woman clearly is the pillar of strength for her family. Her Involvement and decision making powers can bring about visible changes in her family in matters like Child Education, Family Healthcare and Finance. Today, women are emerging as strong forces in the fields like Education, Biotechnology, Industry, Politics, Aviation and many more. For most of the women who have successfully broken the gender barrier of the society and made their name in the chosen field, the journey has not been an easy one. Beginning from decision stage up till the execution stage, it is battling all the way. In their long struggle for existence and survival, the roles of women have changed from that of a prisoner confined to the premises of her home to a whole new world of opportunities.

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Self Help Groups

Self Help Group can be defined as the Non Governmental and Non Profitable Organizations that are formed by people with a common problem or situation, with the purpose of pooling resources, collecting information and offering mutual support, service and care. The origin of SHG is traced to Bangladesh as early as 1976. It is a common platform for the volunteers to work for some of the social and economical issues of the country. Self Help Groups in India have been instrumental in creating awareness in the minds of rural Indian women. Millions of rural Indian Women have been benefited by the Savings Schemes, Educational Programs, Skills Developmental Campaigns etc Organized by these groups. SHGs have brought a revolution in rural India by utilizing the resources. The main purpose of SHG is to make the rural people financially strong, to utilize their ability to the maximum and helping them to establish small to medium enterprises, so that they source some permanent and fixed income through it. Some of the SHGs are recognized by the State Government and some by Central, run by NGOs and most of them are fully independent bodies. Most SHGs members in India are women from rural parts, who are willing to venture in to small scale business within their purview but need encouragement and financial assistance. Because of their inability to procure credit from public sector Banks or other Government run credit institutions; they are crippled when it comes to small scale business ventures. In such situations, credit facilities provided by SHG come to their rescue. The formalities required by SHGs are minimal they also have flexible repayment options for the principal amount with low interest rates. Apart from financial support, SHG also addresses many social issues like

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Education, medical etc. and works hand in hand with the poorest of the poor.

Self Help Groups in Rural India

When we compare the life of urban women with rural counterpart, we all know for a fact that rural women have to really struggle for existence. In a democratic country like India, urban women are enjoying all the freedom in their life, competing with men and proving themselves in every field. But in contrast, rural women are still living their life in uncertainty, unaware of any of the developments happening in the country. Heinous crimes such as Female Infanticide, Domestic Assault, Children being sold for money is seen everywhere and women stand as mere spectators, helpless to stop it. All though the line between urban and rural women is becoming thinner and thinner as we are progressing to becoming a developed nation, it has not yet merged into one. Some of the SHGs fights for causes like Compulsory Education, Providing hygienic living conditions, fight against caste or gender discrimination. Right to Information is a very important right that each and everyone are entitled to and indeed a very powerful weapon for winning the war against injustice. SHGs bring together, people from similar background and status and listen to their problems and make them realise their own potential to solving them. SHGs motivates these people for free thinking and are their window to the outside world, though which they can be a witness to the technological advancements happening in the nation and be a part of it in their own way. Some SHGs have been very instrumental in fighting some
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crucial battles in rural and backward communities in India. For example, some SHGs have been able to purchase or lease lands to community forests (Nepal) and fishing Ponds (Bangladesh), thus tapping resources for development. Another case is Grameen Bank in Bangladesh that disperses loans to members who have track record of three loan cycles and those who possess title deeds of the lands in which they have a house. This way most of the Grameen members, who are women are entitled to get a loan which they can utilize for the Education of their children, investing in agriculture or starting their own ventures. This results in boosting the confidence of women in their own household and them becoming a role model for other women. It is time that rural women break off their barriers and bring a change within them. But this is easier said than done. Without any support from outside, this is a task almost next to impossible. Small Help Group is the outcome of a similar though and SHGs are just the right solution for all their problems and lets see how.

Influence of SHG in Political, Social, and Economical sector of the nation

There is another face to SHG in India which is, brining a revolution in Indian rural society in the form of Social, Political and Economical progress. How exactly SHGs achieve this is the subject of narration in the following section. Political: More and more women, who are members of SHGs, are actively participating in the political field, beginning from the Gram Panchayat Level and higher. This is mainly because of

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the awareness created in them by the volunteers of the SHG through campaigns. SELF Help Groups have succeeded in making the people realise that solution to the issues of rural women can only be implemented in full, when it becomes a policy or law. To form a law, one has to be backed up by a political party to take it to the Parliament level. To do this exactly, women have to be in the forefront of rural politics. SHGs have been very instrumental in this cause and has successfully crafted many women leaders, who are actively involved in fighting some of the civic issues like issue ration card, BPL cards, building of schools, ensuring proper medical services in villages, facilitating healthy and clean drinking water in scarce areas and so on. Number of women who are active in politics is still low but enhancing, which is a good sign. Studies show that 70% of total women contestants win. A good percentage of villages and small towns have women Panchayat Presidents and volunteers who are working hand in hand with the government and non government agencies to implement development plans in their villages. Talking about numbers, here are some facts. One in every 4 SHG women members has contested an election at Panchayat level. Out of every 5 SHG, one woman has been elected. Studies also reveal that as compared to the South Indian Villages, number of active women Panchayat heads is more in Northern Rural India. Local election period is a significant time for SHG volunteers to organize awareness campaigns, both prior and after elections where they reach maximum number
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of people. Post Election Campaigns are also held by few SHG, to help its members to systematically approach their social issues and get them resolved, with the aid of Political members.

Social Harmony and Justice

Indian Society is a hierarchical caste based system, which has traditionally been very unkind to those who are at the bottom of the system, like Scheduled caste and Schedule tribe. Many unethical practises like slavery, behaviour towards Untouchables existed till recently. Most of the Self Help Groups are single caste groups, which means majority of the members come from a single caste or community. The reasons for this are, the members living nearby can more easily be brought together into the movement and in Villages the formation of neighbourhood is usually caste based. Another advantage of these single caste groups is the ease with which the Government policies and benefits meant for these people can be passed on. In contrast to this, there are SHGs that are operating in cross caste instances in which the members come from different caste. In this scenario, SHGs are able to unite them under one roof and eliminate any clashes or misunderstandings they have in their minds against each other and bring in social harmony. In spite of all these efforts, we have not witnessed considerable changes in the structure and operation of Indian Society. So strong is the existence of caste barrier, that it takes the cumulative efforts by another hundred and thousands of groups to completely uproot the caste system and atrocities happening in its name. But the achievements of self help groups in this direction are really appreciable.

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At the individual level, it is every ones moral to treat people equally irrespective of their caste and sow the seeds of a society free from this so called tradition.

SUTRA (Social Upliftment through Rural Action)

Sutra was started as a small community to act as Conscious Keeper of the society. Its main objective was working with issues related to gender discrimination and eliminating it by spreading awareness amongst people in rural areas, especially. SUTRA was founded by SUBHASH MENDHARPURKAR in 1977, with the help of an NGO called Gender and Equity.

Project Ekal Nari Shakthi Sanghaan (ENSS, Himachal Pradesh)

SUTRA, along with few similar organizations has formed this body, to work for the upliftment of single women in the regions of Himachal Pradesh. It strives to provide justice to unmarried, divorced, widows and deserted women, by providing and restoring their rights to Education, Employment and land. ENSS today is home to approximately 6000 members and operates across 190+ Panchayats spread over 18 development regions. Block, Zonal and state level gatherings are held regularly where issues are discussed and resolutions will be passed to act upon them. Some of the projects that are launched by this group are, Mother Teresa Scheme, Widow Pension and Chief Ministers Kanyadan Scheme. Camps are organised to spread awareness to
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act against crucial issues like domestic violence, dowry hara s s m e n t , gender injustice and etc. Computer Literacy Programs are also being undertaken to educate them. SUTRA is now battling with the state Government to provide 10 bighas of agriculture land to single women in the state and also provide free medical checkups and provide free medicine for the needy and poor.

Effect of SHG on Economy

Establishing Economical stability is the core value of each and every SHG and it proposes to achieve this motto through several schemes and reformations. What is discussed in this section is found in either part of full throughout this paper because that is exactly this work is about. Empowerment is the effect of gaining economical freedom. This section highlights some of the effects caused by SHG on Indian Economy, more importantly on rural Indian Economy. 1. Boosting up the Entrepreneur abilities of rural Indian Woman- SHG have encourages rural women to become self employed and start their own business, however small it might be. Women who have stayed as a member in any

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SHG for longer period of time gain so much knowledge and confidence that they change their business from small scale to medium scale and higher and also venture out into direct sales and marketing. 2. Easier access to credit. Microfinance through SHG has time and again proved that even rural Indian women are bankable. The savings schemes has remarkably changed their attitude towards their life and made them more responsible. Microcredit has saved many people from the cruel hands of money lenders and things like Pledging jewellery and collateral property and losing their lives over it, has all been considerably reduced. 3. Being self employed has proved advantages for women because they can manage their business and family efficiently. More than 50% of SHG members take loan to start their business. The loan amount varies between Rs 500-5000, catering to the needs of women in flower business, fruits and vegetables, food processing and so on. A business model not only benefits the proprietor but also provides employment Opportunity to many local rural women. 4. Programs like Skill Training and Entrepreneurship development that are conducted by the SHG educate these women about benefits of expanding their businesses to towns and cities, thus increasing their profits. 5. Rural women are now keener on sending their children to better schools, owning a house, investing wisely in saving schemes and above all, are independent to take their own decisions in life.

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Two Highly Successful Co-operative Movements of India

In this section, I will be talking about two of the highly successful so called cooperative movements in India. They have rewritten the story of mass movement in India and role models for all Self Help Groups. They have provided self employment opportunities to lacs and crores of rural women and shaped their future.

ANAND MILK UNION Ltd. (Popularly known as AMUL)

As the name indicates, this movement started in Anand, then, a small village in Gujrat in Western India in 1946. The strategy behind this movement was to implement market-oriented strategies to help the farmers to own and operate their own ventures, thus enhancing the value of the primary products that they make. The unfair attitude of the middlemen who bought milk from locals for meagre price and then sold it for profitable price in the city led to the formation of this movement. The farmers who worked at their farms were not paid the right amount and struggled for a living. As suggested by great Political leaders like Sardar Vallabha Bhai Patel and Morarji Desai, they decided to get rid of the middleman and form a co-operative society to include all the farmers and sell the milk them-

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selves. It was initially called as Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd and started with just 2 villages that procured around 247 litres of milk every day. Today AMUL has made India proud by making it as the largest Producer of milk in the World. More than 15 million milk producers pour their milk in 1, 44,246 dairy cooperative societies across the country. Their milk is processed in 177 District Co-operative Unions and marketed by 22 State Marketing Federations, ensuring a better life for millions.

AMUL Story Continued . . . .

As already mentioned in the previous paragraph, AMUL started in the year 1946 in a small village by name Anand in Gujrat under the guidance of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel. There were considerable progress in the Cattle and milk Industry under the first Five Year plan (1951-56) and the Third Five Year Plan (1961-66). Many state governments implemented several schemes in their respective states to encourage Dairy and Milk industry to serve the urban population by setting up dairy farms in cities like Mumbai, Calcutta and Madras. Operation Flood Program was implemented by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) between 1970-96. Under this initiative, many milk Co-operative societies were set up in several villages and there was significant increase in both Production and consumption of milk all over the country. The main aim of this program was to distribute the profits directly to the farm men, thus avoiding the commission which earlier they were paying to the middlemen.

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Women in Dairy industry

AMUL soon realized that women population involved in dairy farming is considerably more than men. So, many training programs were conducted in the initial period of Operation Flood and special incentives were given to all women dairy co-operative societies, purely encourage more and more women to start dairying and to become financially independent.

How women became socially empowered through AMUL movement?

Women Dairy Co-operative Societies (WDC) played a major role in creating self-Employment Opportunities for rural women by venturing into dairy business. WDCs operating in the villages are a very well organized structures where daily transactions happen methodically. Villagers who are members in these groups are influenced by the success of these unions and implement these methods in their own lives too, reforming from within. Women are trained on modern Technologies like Artificial Insemination in Animals and how better feed and hygienic conditions of the cattle can improve both the quantity and quality of milk. With all this knowledge gained through Co-operative societies, they are able to establish themselves firmly in the dairy industry and in their own lives.

Story of Lijjat papad

Lijjat Papad is a household name for the crispy and crunchy papads in most of the homes in India. This establishment was started as a small co-operative movement back in 1959

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from Bombay. Seven women residing in a flat in Giragum, in south of Bombay came up with the idea of making papads at home and selling them. Their decision that day resulted in 4 packets of papads , which later went on to become 40,400 and now in lacs. The firm has grown at a tremendous rate majorly in Bombay and Gujrat regions and is run by a team of 21 efficient women who manage the affairs of the firm. The firm is proud of its annual turnover which exceeds 301 crores at present. It employs over 40,000 women all over the nation who are involved in different activities at all the branches. Lijjat does not have any direct sale system but markets the products through Distributors and dealers. What works best behind this huge enterprise is the simple Gandhian model of business that they have employed and still followed at each and every branch. The three main principles that form the core of this business are Business, family and Devotion.

Lijjat Papads Success Mantra

Lijjat Patrika As the company grew from a few hundreds to thousands of women, it became more difficult to keep them informed about the companys affairs. Monthly regional meetings, Annual meetings were held to discuss company affairs like
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production rates, quality issues, accounts and day to day issues faced by Sanchayikas. All these are done through Lijjat Patrika which is circulated among those who are interested at a nominal price. Apart from columns about the company, articles about woman achievers are also included to motivate the members. Literacy programs are held in most of the Lijjat Papad centres to educate the members and enlighten them about the importance of education and encourage them to educate their children in turn. Those members who are involved in direct transaction of the company are given training on skills, management and finance. Inclusion/Participation: The simplicity of the systems in place at every Lijjat Papad branch is the backbone for its success. Any woman can become a member by signing in a pledge and start working as a Sister, as all the members are addressed. Every activity like dough mixing, making masala, weighing papad, rolling out papads are given equal importance and all members are free to choose any role they want. This does not make a difference in their income. Any sister can apply for a loan through the company for any reason. Working in Lijjat Papad has made them socially and financially independent and secure. Accountability Lijjat papads business success and women empowerment can also be attributed to the ethics set in place for all sisters and management members. Some key features are, 1. Management committee members are selected from sisters. Any sister can become a management committee

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member with the consent of other sisters. 2. Open Discussions give way for free thinking and expression of ideas by all sisters. 3. Account books are easily accessible making the entire system transparent. 4. There is no credit system in daily transactions of selling papads. There is weight based calculation and per piece calculation for the papads made every day. 5. Profits are shared every six months in all branches in the form of cash or gold, which is decided by sisters of that branch. Lijjats Success mantra has empowered women in many dimensions of life. This is a complete by the women and for the women group which provides a home-like working environment for women in its branches where sisters work in harmony as members of one family. Those who were deprived of Education now get a chance to study and make them self sustainable in daily activities like reading a letter, handling banking, or teaching their children. The income from sisters is a great add-on to their family income, which has brought respect to them in their own family and society. These two groups are built on strong foundation of their vision and following some of the best practices. Khadi Gramodyoga Bhandar is another such movement which has been highly praised. Back then, when these movements started in different parts of the nation, no one, not even its founders dreamt that they will become so big one day, that they no longer remain as a small union started in small homes but revolutionise the whole nation. They all started
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with humble social and economic objectives, which even now is the vision and mission of every Self Help Group.

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Government Policies on SHG

Let us recapture the most commonly accepted definition of Self Help Group. They are voluntary organizations which comprises of service minded people who work towards some of the social, economical issues within their reach. Most of the Groups when they were formed did not associate themselves with either the state of the central government because of the stringent policies of the Government and their way of approach to the issues was entirely different than that by the Government. SHGs worked at the root level of problems, which was in rural India whereas most of the Government policies took a longer time to reach. But we have to stress here that without the help of Government it is very difficult to implement the measures and be successful in it. Some of the issues need new laws to be formed and policies to be set, without which it cant be implemented in full. In this section, we will look into the association between the Government and SHG and how this has speeded up the work of SHG. Literally, it is among the responsibilities of the Government to help the rural poor woman with its schemes and benefits, which it is doing to a great extent. Some of the examples in this section are, 1. The department of Social Welfare of Woman and Child conduct training programs for members of SHG, where they are taught tailoring and handicraft work. 2. Department of Social Welfare organizes exhibitions to showcase the work of rural artisans thus expanding their business. 3. Department of Health and Education conduct free medical checkups and health awareness camps and also

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conduct Adult Literacy Programs under few schemes for some SHGs. 4. SHGs operating in rural areas function closely with the Town Municipal offices for rehabilitation of slums and providing drinking water, improving sanitation facilities and bringing the slum children to school and so on. For example, SHG from Dibbur Slum (Tumkur district in Karnataka) persuaded the Municipality to install taps for drinking water in the year 2003. 5. The elected representatives of the Local Panchayat and Town Municipality encourage the people to be a part of the SHG and reap benefits from their schemes. They represent the Government and work in favour of the SHG, as far as the implementation of the policies is concerned. Though there have been instances where people holding positions in the Government bodies work against the SHG activities causing many of the work to be stalled halfway. But such situations are rare. 6. In situation where any SHG is not able to perform within its operating boundary in a satisfactory manner, the local government will take over from the SHG and continue its services. The reason for this is the inadequate funds and infrastructure in SHG and lack of volunteers to cover the entire village or town.

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United Nations Development Program

IN 1951, the Indian Government associated itself with the UN Special Fund and the Extended Program for Technical Assistance (EPTA), which later merged as one under United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the year 1966. In this section to follow, we will talk a little about this partnership of over forty years and how India has not only utilized the essentials of all the developmental schemes rolled out by UNDP but has exceeded its expectation in contributing a lot to it. What India has achieved since its inclusion under UNDP is remarkable benchmark in its administrative and financial system, massive food production to meet the demands of growing population, efficient railway and road network and etc. Successful establishment and smooth operations of large Industrial sector, banking and a complete transformation in the Education field are some other to name. But what has distinguished India from other countries that have also partnered with UNDP is that, all these developmental projects have ignited new ideas in the minds of talented Indian men and women who have completely taken the country by storm and transformed the lives of many. Some of the areas that UNDP covers are, Poverty reduction, Energy and Environment, Women Empowerment and Inclusion, Human Development, HIV and Development and so on. UNDP works in nine states of India at present, alongside several partners in these states. The states are Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Assam. For more information about UNDP and India, please refer the link

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In the following section, let us see how UNDP has changed the life of Pushpa Devi Maurya (from Chak Padri, a village in Uttar Pradesh in northern India) from just a rural woman to an entrepreneur? UNDP-IKEA started a pilot project called SWAAYAM in Uttar Pradesh, which aimed at empowering rural women in the state socially, politically and also economically. Pushpa attended the Skills Development Program at SWAAYAM in the year 2009 along with some other women from her village, which later transformed her life and her co-workers. Thousands of women in and around her village who were working individually in dairy and Milk business and those who received knowledge through SWAAYAM campaigns realised the power of collective working and its potential. 9000 such women came together and started their own milk union and called it SWAAYAM KSHEER in November 2011. Here, each member holds equity in the companys share and company hopes to have 12,000 members soon.

Achievements:
On an average, the companys profits have doubled in the last year. The company has two milk chilling centres and the company plans to set up four more. The companys recent business figures around 3 crores and over the next few years, it is expected to reach around 14 crores. Close to around 50,000 women from almost 500 neighbouring villages have been benefited by this project.
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 The program is speculated to reach out to total of 2.2 million women in the coming years. The chilling centre is responsible for collection of about 2000 litres and milk from 56 villages and supplies the same to the state milk corporation. A real achievement came in the form of establishment of SWAAYAM KALA, a union of 5000 and more rural women artisans who are expertise in handicrafts to make this union closely based on SWAAYAM KSHEER model.

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Self Help Groups and Microfinance

Most of the SHGs have a common motive of encouraging rural working women to save from their earnings and pool in that money in a fund, from where they can avail the credit in needy situations. This principle is called Microfinance and some of the SHGs are funded by Government bodies like NABARD and other by NGOs and rest by Purely Private organizations. These organizations not only provide finance at a lesser interest for causes like Education of children, for marriage or medical needs but also, motivate them to start their own small scale ventures by funding capital investment required. That way, they become independent and also provide employment to other folks in the village. Microfinance is another wing of most of the SHGs which provides credit at low interest rate to women who come from poor and BPL women folk, for their necessities like Education of their children, childrens marriage or agricultural needs etc. Most of the members in Microfinance institutions are women because women are more reliable and sincere borrowers than men. Microfinance has given a new dimension to the vision of SHG and has accelerated the result. Microfinance is a great window of opportunity to the rural women to realise their dreams of living a free and fearless life. In the upcoming section you will be reading two Microfinance institutions who are working for the empowerment of rural women in India and they are: 1. SEWA (Self Employed Womens Association) 2. WWF (Working womens forum)

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SEWA
SEWA was born in December 1971 in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, as a trade union of self Employed Women. It was inspired by the Textile Labour Association (TLA), Indias largest and oldest union of textile workers formed in 1920 by a woman named Anasuya Sarabhai. SEWA Bank - Swashrayi Mahila Seva Sahakari Bank is SEWAs largest co-operative bank in India which is owned by self employed women as share holders. What began in 1974 with 4000 members is now 1, 50,000 member strong and has Rs 400 million working capital. This is the banking sector of the group which has formulated saving schemes to the rural women and also gives credit at lower interest. Some of the schemes from SEWA back are Housing finance scheme. Women farmers credit scheme. Sunrise Scheme for business development. Sanjeevani Programme. SEWA has served thousands of rural women through these schemes. Not only they are able to repay the loan on time but have continued to take further credit from SEWA. SEWA has become the sunshine in their life and continues to be so. They have regained their respect and value in the society. SEWA banks loan repayment percentage is around 90% which is far more than 70%-80% what is seen in any other Public sector bank. This is a clear indication of the banks
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success story. SEWA bank has proved beyond doubts that the poor women are also credit worthy. The money solely comes from deposits from the poor working womens savings. Initially, extending SEWAs banking service to the poor and working women was a great challenge in itself, because of their illiteracy. There were late repayments which was affecting the finance system. So, SEWA has come up with doorstep banking where officials from the bank go door to door and help them with the paper work required to facilitate the credit. SEWA also holds campaigns to spread word about their programs. There have been occasions where members failed to repay the loan on time due to their failing health condition or unable to gather money because of natural calamities like floods and draughts destroying their crops and so on. Hence EWA has flexible repayment plans like daily, weekly and monthly deposit schemes to suit the convenience of its members. Microfinance in SEWA also helps its members to form their own union in their respective village and then link it to the district level unions for obtaining better profits from their business. Suppose majority of SEWA members from a village are involved in farming, SEWA helps to organize them into their own milk cooperative society. Through this, members not only get a fair price per litre of milk depending on the quality but also can escape the wrath of middlemen.

WWF- Working Womens Forum

WWF was born in the year 1978 at Madras, India out of an activists commitment to prove that the poor are also entitled for basic rights like Education, Clean Living conditions,

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Credit facilities and healthcare. The organisation that started with just 800 women members has now reached an unbelievable 6 lakh mark. The finance section of WWF is called Indian Co-operative Network for Women (ICNW), which aims at bettering the socio-economic conditions of women by making them financially stronger. This movement was started in 1981 by some 2500 members of WWF contributing Rs 20 each towards this bank. The ICNW has over 2, 30,000 working women as shareholders and has effected a disbursement of over Rs.440 million with recovery of 96% covering 1003 slums and over 2700 villages.

Highlights of ICNW
Simple and systematic is the way of banking in ICNW, where every member is a share holder and can voice his opinion freely in the matters of the organization. Loan amount can be anything from as small as 1600 to 30,000 and repayment options are made to suit the members convenience. Non-collateral loans are also given based on mutual guarantee by another member. The repayment rate is 98%, which itself is a mark of self confidence and determination it has sparked in the minds
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of its members. The network has achieved self sufficiency in terms of both financial and operational methods through computerization of its branches to meet the constant growing demands of its members. WWF also empowers poor women through its institutional structure by training them to act as health promoters and credit officers in their neighbourhoods. Apart from Microfinance, WWF has active participation in preparing the working rural women to fight for better wages and living conditions. WWF plays a key role in moulding the women to actively participate in both Political and legal front in their own villages to hold up for women causes and civic issues.

Study of Microfinance and women empowerment through 2 examples

Story of Putlibai, a fisherwoman from RaJpally. Putlibai belongs to fisherman community in RaJpally, a small village in the district of Medak, Andhra Pradesh in South India. Her family lived on the income they made by selling fish which they caught from reservoir in the nearby town markets. They could barely make the end meets with this small income. They earned only Rs 2 per week which was almost nothing at all. Putlibai soon realised that few more fishing nets could go a long way in catching more fish. But she could not afford to buy them nor was she eligible to obtain credit from any of

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the banks. The reason being she did not have any collateral to take the loan. The only option was to take loan from local moneylenders who charged heavy interests and thus even this door was shut on her. The year 1998 proved a lucky one for Putlibai as SWAYAM KRISHI SANGAM (SKS) started its operation in the name of SANGAM in their village, which comprised of four joint liability groups, each had 5 women as members. They owed to mutually undertake each others loan obligations. Each member saved 10 cents/week and the unit started to give loans of Rs 50 to members within 3-6 weeks of its operation. The loan had to be repaid in 50 equal weekly instalments. Putlibai availed loan of Rs 35 after four weeks of joining the centre and added more fishing nets to her business. By doing this the quantum of daily fish catch tripled and her weekly income went up from Rs 2 to Rs 6. A second loan of Rs 100 for the same purpose increased her income to Rs 10 per week. In her third year with the group, she borrowed Rs 150, which resulted in increase of her daily catch of fish to about 150 Kgs. As she could not sell all these fish in a single day, she started to store the fish in a nearby cold storage plant. Her family income has increased by 150% because of the benefits she availed from this SHG and she does not intend to stop at this. Like Putlibai, many more women in this village have taken financial help from SKS and enhanced their income.

Story of Rajamma in the city of Silk- Karnataka This is not the story of just one woman, Rajamma but of the hundreds of women like her who are forced to send their
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children to work as labourers in the Silk Firm, thus depriving them off the fundamental rights to Education. But since 2009, thanks to the developmental work taken up by SHGs in Silk Producing districts of Karnataka like Channapattana and Ramnagar and neighbouring districts, these women are a happier lot now. With the help of the volunteers of the group, they are able to earn more for their family and stopped their children from working as labourers and are sending them to schools. Rajamma herself started working on the silk reels to feed for her three young children and later helplessly had to send her children to work as well. The SHG program running in this region is supported by International Labour Organization and takes funding support from Italian Organisations and Government of Karnataka. The main objective of this was to spread awareness in mothers of child labourers and make them financially stronger that they can take their children out from silk looms and give them education. They provide training on Saving Practises, to organise groups and work collectively and on some of the best methods in Silk Industry. Rajamma is now a successful micro entrepreneur and employs 20 women like her in the group. She visits women like her from door to door, explaining the benefits of joining this SHG and her efforts have not gone wasted. Many women have her example and became members in the group. They are able to procure microcredit from banks to expand their business, educate their children, buy agricultural land and manage their family well, which would have been otherwise impossible. The project has formulated a training manual which is being used all over the state. With the hard work and commitment

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shown by these mothers of child labourers, most of the objectives of the groups have been fulfilled. Ultimately, no SHG or Government or any NGO can be successful in upbringing ones life, without self determination and efforts. Rajamma and her husband work in the Silk looms now and her children are happily attending schools and college. Her elder son is attending Industrial Developmental Training and youngest is in 7th grade and daughter in 12th. The group has brought back smiles on the lips of countless mothers who were once helpless spectators of their own childrens miserable conditions and now beam with pride when they see their children becoming literates. The group has been able to rescue more than 6000 children from the clutches of Child labour practise.

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Conclusion

Empowerment is a powerful word. The article presents several factors that define Empowerment as applicable to rural Indian Women. Economic growth alone does not empower them. They have to be educated, should develop leadership qualities by which they can create many more independent and fearless women like them in their village. They should be moulded to become better citizens of the nation by imbibing good civic sense in them. Emphasis has to be given to rural and cottage industries in every state that are run by women, to expand their retail base and enter export market. All these make women a stronger force in their own family, village and nation. SHGs are working in all dimensional aspects of women related issues and making a huge difference to their world and ours.. Progress of a country is guaranteed if both men and women work united towards common goals and empowerment of women is an important step in moving towards this progress.

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References

1. SUTRA- http://www.sutra.org.in/enss.htm 2. AMUL-http://www.amul.com/m/about-us) 3. UNDP-http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/operations/about_undp.html 4. SEWA-http://www.sewa.org/ 5. SEWA BANK-http://www.sewabank.com/ 6. Research paper on SEWA -http://www.sewaresearch.org/ Thanks_papers.asp?id=18 7. Working Womens Forum-http://www.workingwomensforum.org/ 8. Definition of SHG-http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary. com/self-help+group 9. Story of Rajamma-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpM BY1ZRAa4&feature=related 10. Articles about Microfinance
http://www.edarural.com/documents/SHG-Study/ExecutiveSummary.pdf http://www.aptsource.in/admin/ resources/1273818040_SHGs-keystone-paper.pdf http://www.microfinance.lu/comas/media/37_swain_an.pdf http://www.microcreditsummit.org/papers/empowerment.pdf

11. UNDPhttp://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/womenempowerment/successstories/india--transforming-poor-ruralwomen-into-successful-business-ma/ http://www.in.undp.org/india/en/home.html

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