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ASSCOD is a NGO based in Tamil Nadu, Southern India.
They concentrate on alleviating poverty through facilitating the formation
of Women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in lower and tribal caste villages. I
worked for them in 2007 and wrote a number of case studies. Please read the
case study below.
Case
Study into ‘Vetri’ Women’s Self-Help Group
Sembur Village, Vandavasi, Thiruvannamalai District
Formed by Association for Sustainable Community Development
Tamil Nadu, India. Written by B.M.Ware
Overview
This is a case study
that focuses on one particular Women’s Self-Help Group (SHG) that was
formed in 2004 with the help of ASSCOD. The Vetri Self-Help Group
identified in this case study is considered to be one of the most
successful and productive SHGs that ASSCOD has helped to form. The women
have started a very successful micro savings and micro loan operation that
they use for a variety of Income Generating Activities. The women have
also begun to take an active leadership role in a number of health,
education and political related issues in Sembur Village.
Left to
Right: Mrs V.Usha, Mrs V. Manonmani, Mrs P. Rukmani
ASSCOD
and Sembur Village
ASSCOD
first identified Sembur as a target village when it launched its “Women
Empowerment” project in 2003. Target villages must have a high number of
“Below Poverty Line” (BPL) families. There are several criteria that are
used to identify a BPL family. They are as follows:
·
Monthly income of 2000 rupees or below.
·
Poor access to safe drinking water.
·
Poor diet (minimum 2400 calories daily per
person).
·
Children unable to attend school.
·
Do not have access to basic Health Services.
·
Poor agriculture / casual labourer.
The ASSCOD ‘Women
Empowerment’ project concentrated on selling the concept of the Self-Help
group to women of BPL families. Women were then encouraged to take the
initiative and form their own self-help groups with the guidance of ASSCOD.
Women and families
from the lower caste of Indian society are especially vulnerable to
poverty, social injustice, illiteracy and poor health. These women have
discovered their own voice through ASSCOD’s facilitation of small SHGs.
This empowerment has helped members to look for solutions to their social
and economic issues. They learn how to use financial resources for savings
and income generating activities. They attend training schemes in health,
education, leadership skills and entrepreneurial development. They also
learn about their rights and how to gain access to local and national
government schemes.
Life in Sembur
Village
Sembur village is
located near the town of Vandavasi, which is in the Thiruvannamalai
District of Tamil Nadu, South India†1.
The village is populated mainly with people from the lower castes. These
include both Tribal caste (TC) and Scheduled caste (SC) people. These are
people who have been accorded special status under the constitution of
India and make up approximately 24% of the total population†2
of India. TC and SC people are often the victims of socio-economic
discrimination.
The village has a
population of just over 1700 people. Most of these people rely on
agriculture for their income. The main crops are wheat and rice, the
latter being dependent on the monsoon season. While in the fields, they
undertake all manner of physical work from sowing, ploughing, digging and
harvesting. The average daily wage for one person is 40 rupees ($1), but
there is no guarantee of work. Approximately half of the villagers
undertake casual work. This is when they are hired by another person for a
days labour, usually in the fields or the local rice mill.
There are
approximately three hundred houses in Sembur. Half of the houses are
temporary houses or ‘kechi’ as they are known locally. The other half are
made from a mixture of brick and concrete. Usually the whole family will
live, eat and sleep in a single room dwelling.
Most houses do not
have any facilities such as toilets, running water or electricity. In
Sembur, water is obtained from a central bore well. This one bore well
serves the entire village of 1700 people. There is an electric pump that
pumps water to different taps in other parts of the village, but this only
works when the electricity is available. During the dry season, the water level
in the bore well drops and is subject to quality problems.
The nearest government
hospital is three km away in the nearby town of Vandavasi. It is a small
hospital with very limited facilities. There is a better hospital 35km
away in Kancheepuram. Most villagers do not have their own transport, so
they rely on the local bus service. Health care is supposed to be free in
India. However, because of their low social status, they are often asked
for money by the hospital staff. This means that minor ailments such as
fevers and injuries often go untreated as they simply do not have the
money to pay.
The SHG ensured that
all the village children received their polio vaccinations and arranged
for the villagers to be checked for the disease Filaria which is common in
these parts. The SHG group also arranged for books and school equipment to
be distributed to the school-aged children to try and reduce the number of
school drop-outs.
Vetri Women’s Self
Help Group
In January 2004, Mrs
P. Rukmani heard about the concept of the SHG from ASSCOD. Her husband is
a farmer and their family has been identified as a target BPL family. She
was very interested in helping to form a SHG and spoke to many other women
in her village about the idea. In total, she managed to rouse the interest
of twenty other women. Mrs P. Rukmani holds the title of ‘Animator’ which
means she holds a special position in the group and frequently attends
leadership workshops run by ASSCOD. She is responsible for motivating and
guiding the other women.
 All
the women in the SHG come from the same background and are identified as
BPL families. They are all from the lower castes and their main income is
gained from agricultural activities.
Mrs Rukmani also
identified two other women to hold positions in the group. Mrs V.
Manonmani is the acting president and Mrs V.Usha is the second president.
The three women divide the leadership responsibilities amongst themselves.
The twenty women
conduct their meetings every Saturday around 6pm in a local rice mill.
They have divided themselves into three informal sub-committees. One
sub-committee will deal with all the banking issues such as deposits and
withdrawals. Another committee will be responsible for the relationship
with various government offices, such as the local Block Development
Office. The last committee will seek guidance from ASSCOD about various
issues that arise with the women, the SHG and the village itself. These
may include arranging more training, or seeking advice on legal or
legislative issues.
Micro Savings and
Credit Initiatives
ASSCOD encouraged the
women to adopt a policy of thrift and to save money on a regular basis.
Consequently, the SHG opened a savings account at the local branch of the
State Bank of India. They each started to save 10 rupees per week and they
put the money into a central savings account. This small amount is all
that most of the women could initially afford. Most of the women were
given training by ASSCOD in basic accounting, so they are able to keep
their own records.
The money is deposited
in a bank savings account where it earns approximately 12% interest per
year.
The SHG can then issue
internal loans to the individual members. The loans have a repayment
period that is agreed between the SHG and the recipient. The SHG also has
complete autonomy in deciding what interest rate to charge. This can range
from nothing, to around 5% on average. A typical loan is between 5000 and
10,000 rupees, usually repaid over a 12 month period.
Accounts are kept for
all internal loans, and these are made available to ASSCOD or the Bank
itself for inspection. Loans are issued only with the agreement from all
the SHG members. A new member cannot take out a loan immediately, without
making some contributions.
If the women are
unable to pay for whatever reason, then they are encouraged to discuss the
matter with the SHG and to come to a mutual arrangement. The success rate
for loan repayment is about 98%.
 When the Vetri SHG was
first formed, and to encourage the functioning of internal loans, they
were given an initial grant of r25,000 from ASSCOD. This enabled five
women to each take a loan of r5000, which they used for various purposes.
Since its formation in 2004, the total contributions of the women amount
to r53,200 ($1,330).
Other SHGs have also
benefitted from contributions made by supporting organisations such as the
Rotary Club of Madras Temple City and Helping to Help (Spain).
In 2007 the SHG
decided that they would like to start their own milk co-operative. Each
member of the SHG needed to borrow r10,000 to buy a cow. They approached
the local branch of the State Bank of India and requested a loan of
r200,000. The bank manager duly visited them and examined their accounting
records and observed their meeting. In October 2007, the loan was
approved.
Income Generating
Activities (IGAs)
Many of the women have
benefitted greatly from their involvement with the SHG. Through their SHG,
they have attended Entrepreneurial Development Workshops run by ASSCOD.
Now many of them have started other income generating activities.
Mrs M. Sarasuzhi is 64
years old and has 6 children. 3 are married, and 3 are unmarried. She and
her husband have been working in agriculture all their lives. It became
apparent to her that at her age, she could no longer rely on agriculture
as a livelihood.
After attending a
workshop run by ASSCOD, she decided that she would start making and
selling savoury snacks. These snacks are called
Muruku and sell for one rupee each. They
are made from flour, eggs and milk and are lightly spiced. They are then
deep-fried and are best eaten fresh.
She obtained a loan of
r1000 to buy the pots, pans and the special press that gives
Muruku
its distinctive shape.
In a single batch, she
can make up to 50 Muruku. She will
sell these to passers-by or to a nearby petty shop. She can make up to
 two
batches per day, depending
on demand. On average, after she has paid for the ingredients, she will
make 30 rupees profit per batch.
The work is much less
physical than her previous agricultural work and she is now earning the
same amount of money as she was before. She also has much more spare time
to undertake other activities, such as visiting her children.
One of her sons
recently enrolled at a local government ITI training centre to study
catering technology. She was able to help him pay for the course fees.
 The women of the Vetri
SHG have all decided to purchase milk animals to try and increase their
incomes. The keeping of milk animals is a very popular source of income
for people in the rural areas. They can be purchased for around 10,000
rupees ($250).
The typical yield of a
cow is around 6 litres of milk per day. Each litre can sell for around 10
rupees. This means an income of approximately 60 rupees per day. It takes
just one person to look after several cows or buffaloes. The dung is used
as a fertilizer and can be used as a fuel when dried. Buffaloes are also
used as a draft animal. The animals are usually milked early in the
morning and around late afternoon.
The women intend to
form a milk co-operative. This means that they will collect the milk
themselves and sell it as a single lot. The co-operative will give them
the power to be able to negotiate a better price, and to deal more
confidently with wholesalers.
Owning a cow or
buffalo requires specialist training. The animal will need to be washed
and groomed daily, and it will occasionally need a check-up from a
veterinarian. ASSCOD runs workshops in Animal Husbandry, which most of the
women have attended. The women are also encouraged to share their new
skills with other members of their SHG.
Empowerment Expands
In 2006, Mrs Rukmani
contested and won as a ward member in the local Panchayat Election. She
had the full backing of her SHG. She has since raised a number of
important matters at the government district level. With her new contacts,
she has enabled the SHG and her village to gain access to many government
health and education schemes.
In 2007 twelve women
were trained in tailoring, and out of those women, four are now self
employed. These four women obtained loans from the group and purchased
sewing machines to start their tailoring businesses.
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