C H A P T E R - 4

W om en’s Em powerm ent through

Participation In

Self-Help G roup M y own vision is that the com ing age w ill be the age of women. M an has tried for five thousand years and has failed. Now a chance has to be given to the wom an. Now she should be given all the reins of pow er. She should be given an opportunity to allow her fem inine energy to function. M an has utterly failed. In three thousands years, five thousand w ars

— this is m an's record. M an has sim ply butchered, killed, m urdered; he has lived as if only for w ar".

- from Dham m apada :

the ways of the Buddhas CHAPTER - 4

W OMEN’S EMPOWERMENT THROUGH PARTICIPATION

IN SELF- HELP GROUPS

4:1) INTRODUCTION:

In this chapter, we will explore the processes of empowerment through self-help groups. W e w ill examine how participation in self-help groups empowers m arginalized groups and communities. We w ill move from the previous case study of technological development approach to organic leadership perspective, which encourages participatory strategies for sustainability and empowerment.

The earlier case study was the example of technology transfer, where external or outsiders implement the intervention to achieve the desired goal. In the soil and water conservation project, participation w'as used to harness the existing physical, economic and social resources of rural people in order to achieve the objectives of development programmes and projects, the case features reflects pseudo-participation, which is discussed at length, in the first case study.

The present case study is directed to wom en's empowerment through self- help group. Self-help group activities demand real participation, where the stress is on the importance of the act of participation rather than on the achievement of predetermined goals. Without full participation of SHG participants, the goal cannot be achieved. Self-help group formation is an 'organic' process, wherein people come together to influence their capacity to initiate action to enhance their quality of life. In this process, the participation be voluntary and must include the ability to change the existing environment.

The notion of participation as an exercise of empowering rural people has gained wider support. The basic assumption of empowerment is that the process of people's development is not likely to strike deep roots unless the target groups themselves are part of it. Therefore, peoples’ participation in development programmes from decision making to implementation and if necessary, in monitoring and evaluation of the programmes could lead to successful and sustainable developmental. In general, it can be stated that community participation implies development by the people, and not just for the people.

Participation involves bringing people to the core from the periphery, to activeness from passiveness, and to help them to be decision-m akers and participants, rather

106 than mere acceptors. In this sense, a self-help group (now onwards SHG) can act

as a better strategy for participation and a tool for empowerment. The mechanics

of self-help groups are micro credit, loan facility and training and m obilizing the

people to empower themselves. It is a bottom up approach. SHGs also focu.s on

gender issues.

O rganization of Case study

This case study is divided into four subdivisions. The first section focuses

on the concepts, historical background, methods and techniques of data collection.

T h e second section deals w'ith N G O 's background and the structure, nature and

modalities of SHG programme. The third section focuscs on courses of events.

T h e last section is analysis and conclusion.

SECTIO N - 1

4:1:1) CONCEPT OF EMPOW ERMENT

The basic assumption of participatory development is that it stresses

importance of primacy of people, people’s knowledge and wom en's involvement.

In this section, the crux of participation is related to explore empowerment

processes. The broad aim of participatory development is to increase the

involvem ent of socially and econom ically marginalized people in decision-making

about their own lives. The assumption is that participatory approaches empower

local people with the skills and confidence to analyze their situation, reach

consensus, make decisions and take action, to improve their circumstances. The

ultimate goal of participatory development is more equitable and sustainable

development. Equitable participatory development means including women along

with men, which in many cases requires examining gender relations and changing entrenched forms of social organizations.

In most of the developmental activities, some .sections of the population — notably women, poor and the indigenous people are often left out. Many organizations claim to seek gender-balanced participatory development; but they often lack long-term commitments. There are very few projects which are directed to gender issues. The reasoning goes, "'there is iu> need to look at i^ender issues sepLirately, they are autonuiticaliy taken care of throui’h participation” ( O a k la y .

1991. p. 18).

107 Besides this, there are obstacles such as cuUurally defined roles of women.

Building rapport with women is time consuming, seemingly due to lack of support

from men folk, workload and household responsibilities. The moral superiority, w'hich accompanies the word participation, has allowed a way out of discussing and addressing the more controversial and radical notions of gender relations and wom en's oppression (M ayoux. 1995). W ellborn (1991) suggests that participatory development means the equal inclusion of all sections of a typical stratified com m unity; women, men, older, younger, better off and worse-off.

This means being clear about what assumptions participants are making about the local, social, economical and political processes through which they think empowerment can take place; and understanding the practical condition that can make or break women's involvement. An cmpon'enueiit process can mean cm i/iiticil focus on women’s practiccil needs and then moving towards niore structured discussion and clicmges.

Empowerment is a complex term and carries an inherent contradiction, namely, the notion that 'some can act on others to give them pow'er or enable them to realize their own potential’ (Nelson and Wright, 1995). If the power is es.sentially about the 'transformative capacity’ of people or group, then empow'erment involves increasing people's capacity to transform their lives. It is more than inviting people to partake in the assessment of needs or a decision­ making process (Giddens. 1984).

With this clarity and following David Deshlcr’s framework of participation, the case study will study hou women play an important role in development activities. It is proposed that empowerment could be analyzed by classifying the nature of participation that occurs during development activities.

4:1:2) Historical Background of Self Help (Jroup

The seeds of one of the grassroots programmes, which became universalized and centered on SHG. originated in Bangladesh. Prof. Mohommad

Yunus began the mici'o-finance programme folloued by Grameen Bank that really swept the world like storm for organizing the poor under local institution of micro finance. Forty countries in the world arc today replicating the Grameen

Bank Model. In Bangladesh, 37000 of their 68000 \ illages have Grameen m icro­ finance activities and their total financing in rural areas of Bangladesh exceeds that of the entire formal banking sector (Indira M isra. 1997).

108 This innovation is also being tried out and spread in the field of rural credit

in many developing countries, including India, to help the rural poor, especially women, to gain better access to credit facility. In India, formal rural financial

institutions like commercial banks and regional rural banks are engaged in the promotion of SHGs as a part of NABARD's(National Bank of Agricultural and

Rural development) new policy of improving the institutional credit delivery

system for rural poor through adopting innovative practices (N ABARD report,

199,‘i). There is also now a big push from the government for formation of SHGs.

The union budget for 1998-99 proposed creation of about two lakhs SHGs covering 40 lakhs families within five years.

NGOs are playing a leading role in forming SHGs as a part of their

strategy towards creating alternate ‘people’s institutions’ that can help supplement their developmental activities as well as help them attain bigger goals like poverty alleviation and empowerment of women (Fernandez, 1994). Goetz and Gupta

(1996) found that NGOs perceive SHGs as instruments that can help them to achieve objectives like women empowerment and gender equality. Most SHGs have been able to successfully promote a regular saving habit even among poor households (Fernandez 1994; Rajashekar 1994).

Initially, in the 1970s. the concept of micro finance gained recognition in several pockets in India. SEWA of Ahmedabad facilitated rural credit in several districts of Gujarat while Working Women's Forum (WWF) followed similar activity in urban areas of Madras (now Chennai) and Annapurna Maliila Mandal in Mumbai. These organizations started making their impact and their example was being followed by several other budding NGOs. These initiative now increasingly receives support from development banks, com m ercial banks, private sector and institutional donors.

However, much of the initial progress seems confined only to a few states like Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Andra Pradesh, and Orrisa.

Maharashtra, the formal financial sector, after years of experience with a top down model of credit to the poor, is now reorienting it.self to reach out to poor people.

The SHG linkage programme of N ABARD initiated in 1992, and the Rashtriaya

M ahila Kosh are example of this of this bottom-up approach. Another programme initiated by Maharashtra state was Maharashtra Rural Credit Programme (M RCP).

It w'as implemented on a pilot basis in the district of Pune, Yavatm al. Nanded and

Chandrapur. Its overall objective was to develop and test, through extended field

109 implementation, an efficient and cost effective system for delivering financial

services to the poorest of the rural population. Some of the key features of the

M RCP strategy were as follows:

• People’s participation in credit planning

• Capacity building and coordination among various implementing agencies

• Banker’s outreach at the village

• A credit support to rural poor individuals as well as groups.

Loans were extended to SHGs as well as individuals. By 1998, the project

had spread to 1029 villages through 635 commercial bank/RRB (Regional Reserve

Bank) branches. 1076 SHGs were linked to banks till then (Anita Bhide, 2003).

Today, SHGs are multiplying rapidly. In union budget of 2002, then Finance

M inister Mr.Yashwant Sinha appreciated the micro credit scheme of self-help

groups and announced, “The scheme of micro credit through self help group is progressing well. The target of one lakh additional self-help groups during the current year is expected to be achieved taking the total so far to more than 3.5 lakh covering more than 70 lakh fam ilies, m aking it the largest m icro credit programme

in the world, and this target is raised is 1.25 lakh for 2002-03”(Saving grace, m icro

finance news, March, 2002).

Today, the 73“' and 74”’ Amendments (1993) to the Indian Constitution have served as a major breakthrough towards ensuring women’s equal access and increased participation in decision-making. These amendments provide for reservation of 33 % of elected seats for women at different levels of Panchayats and local bodies. There is also a one-third reservation for women for posts of

Chairpersons of these local bodies. The Ninth Plan Document (1997-2002) lays emphasis on the participation of people in the planning process, and the promotion of self-help groups. Empowerment of women was one of the nine primary objectives of the Ninth Plan.

4:1:3) W hy Self-help groups?

In the last ten years or so, SHGs have emerged as a major force in the development sector. Both Government and non-governmental organizations have been encouraging SHG formation, particularly for women empowerment in rural areas. In this context, micro credit or SHG means an opportunity for betterment, an access to new resources. SHG can thus play a key role in generating new

n o livelihood options, strengthening existing livelihood and enhancing confidence and status for m arginalized groups.

The crux of the problem of rural (as well as urban) poverty is low capital formation, lack of access to and control over resources, and these problems are addressed through inculcating the saving habit and taking other necessary measures. In SHG program, the funds are rai.sed, which arc used to meet people's credit needs, thus making people self-sustainable. SHGs have acquired policy significance in many developing countries following the success of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh in adopting a group-based approach to its credit and saving programmes (Braveman and Guasch, 1993). Further, the SHGs help the rural poor people to gain better access to institutional credit by overcoming the problem of collateral (Huppi and Fedar, 1990). The concept of SHGs is considered to be a solution to three of the main problems of rural credit markets, viz, screening, incentive and enforcement (H off and Stiglitz, 1993).

Today, there is a m ultiplicity of civil society organizations working with the rural (also urban) poor to initiate .self-help groups. The Government recognizes the credibility of several NGOs for their significant role in developmental and welfare programmes. Most SHGs being promoted by NGOs are prominently for w o m e n .

A major feature of the SHGs is their almost exclusive targeting and coverage of the poorer section of society, such as small farmers, agricultural laborers, artisans, scheduled castes and tribes (Rajashekar, 1994; Actionaid, 1995).

Even within these categories, the SHGs have largely targeted women.

The increasing trend of NGO and Government functionaries is to initiate

SH G in rural (urban) areas with specific programme objective of sustainability and empowerment in mind. The success of the SHG model depends on making it a core programme with proper perspective and steps from the beginning. At this

Juncture, it is of value to exam ine certain self-help initiatives (hat truly began w'ith the idea of self-help group addressing specific concerns of a group in a particular community. Therefore, in the present research, it would be interesting to see how some NGOs implement the programs and help the members to address their increasing demands and new needs, and to overcome economic, social, cultural and political problems.

A survey literature on SHGs shows the erroneous practice and implementation of SHG program by NGOs is reducing SHGi activity to merely an economic activity, neglecting socio-cuitural and political dimension of the

empowerment (Oaklay, 1991;L)poff, 1986;Marsden, 1984). “One common

criticism now heard is that the new generation NGOs which focus on economic

model do not give much attention to social mobilization and political

empowerment. They follow the economic model approach (M. K. Bhatt, 2001). A

few NGOs tried to implement the programme based on the models of participatory

development (Chamber. 1983; Midgeley. 1986; Fugclsang and Chadler, 1986) but

could not m aintain the participatory environment throughout the project life span.

The main ‘flaw’ in NGO's strategies is that they do not make a deeper

analysis of the causes of underdevelopment, poverty and marginalization, leaving

the development of that area and people unsustainable. Temporary solutions,

approaches, and technique are used to solve economic and social issues of the

community. Such an understanding results in focusing only on one sector at a time

such as education, water conservation or health it is not an integrated approach.

Therefore, the thrust of the programme or project becomes more about treating the

symptoms rather than attacking the causes. The holistic approach is totally m issing

in many development projects. This is perhaps one of the reasons why, in spite of

working tor many years, one does not see perceptible changes in the poverty

situation of the beneficiaries. As the socio-cultural dimension is missing, in the

ultimate sense, the whole purpose and process of people’s participation does not yield sustainable development and empowerment.

Based on the above discussion and theme, we shall now turn our attention to the aim of the case study that will help us to understand the main thrust of investigation.

4:1:4) Aim of the Case Study

The present study is aimed at evaluating the nature of participation and consequent empowerment of women through SHG activities. In doing so. this case study would assess the changes among women in these villages because of their

SHG experience and determine factors that contribute to their empowerment, if any. The follow ing questions directed the case study:

1) How did the NtiOs initiate the SHCis? Did they use participatory

methodology to do so?

2) W hat is the extent of participation of the people in the SHCJs? 3) How have the SHGs affected the lives of their members?

4) W hat is the overall impact of SH G on the village?

The above questions form the platform to build the case structure. They are

framed to probe deeper about the SHG structure and operations. The questions fall

under the heading of ‘objective of the case study’ in section 3 of this chapter.

In order to answer the above questions the data was collected at two levels:

the NGO and the beneficiaries' level. At the N G O level, it was important to

understand their perspective on participation and empowerment. What did empowerment mean to the NGO? How' did they initiate the SHG process? What were the condition and rules of SHG? What was the perception of NGO regarding

their accountability in the process? How w'ere decisions made and implemented?

Sim ilarly, at the beneficiaries level, the study incorporated data about women’s position in their family, in their village, and in the SHG. Improving w'omen’s status is central to empowering them in any setting. Data dealt with the nature of participation of beneficiaries, the role, leadership, SHG activities, benefits, and the resultant social changes. The researcher enquired into whether or not the SHGs had control over economic resources, as this forms a part of their ability to exercise autonomy. Last but not the least, the researched enquired how participation in these programmes benefited the group and improved the quality of their life.

4:1:5) Selection of NGO, Study Area & SHGs.

In order to study the nature of participation and working of SHGs, a few

SHGs promoted by an NGO. Chaitanya in Pune District were selected for the case study. The NGO is working in more than 171 villages of Khed, Ambegaon and Junnar Taluka of Pune district (Maharashtra state), in India. A discussion with the directors of various NGOs revealed that ‘Chaitanya’ is among the pioneer

NGOs in promoting the SHGs in the field of rural finance. The internal report of

‘Chaitanya’ provided a good overview, understanding of the objectives, and functioning of the NGO and their SHGs.

The present study was designed to evaluate the nature of women’s participation and empowerment. Therefore, it would not have been proper to consider very new self-help groups. The following criteria were used for selection o f S H G s :

I 13 i) SHGs that are functioning for more liian five years. ii) SHGs where meetings of the members are held regularly. iii) W here there are sufficient funds to meet the group's loan demands.

Based on this understanding, it was decided to confine the selection of

SHGs to a very limited number i.e. Six SHGs of Khed Taluka of Pune district.

The study required intensive fieldwork and constant touch with the beneficiai'ies, and therefore, villages in the same Taluka were chosen. Moreover, Khed taluka was easily assessible to the researcher. These were also the pioneer villages where

Chaitanya started the SHG movement.

These six SHGs were selected from three villages; Akharwadi, Kaman and Kadadhe located in the Khed Taluka. SHGs named as Vanlaxmi a n d Sugar were chosen from Akahrwadi, Prenna 1 a n d 2 from Kaman village, and

Jeevansarthak a n d Banai from Kadadhe village.

4:1:6) M ethod of Data Collection.

The case study began with contacting and interviewing NGO officials. The discussion with NGO personnel helped researcher to identify field area, beneficiaries and SHGs. Interview with the director, the programme officer and the project coordinator provided data on organizational setup. SHGs and N G O ’s ideology regarding participation and empowerment. Indicators of participation and empowerment (mentioned in chapter-2) were used to frame interview guide and schedule. The direction of use and demonstration is the same as explained in

Methodology chapter (page no. 30).

To investigate the main research problem of people’s participation in the p ro je c t , interview, ohservatio/i and ^roup discussion methods were used. The analysis of data was descriptive, relying mostly on judicious mixture of qualitative and quantitative data and insight.

14 Figure : 4:1 Case Chart of SHGs

Figure. 4:2 The flow chart of the selected villages

4:1:7) Ethnography of M arathas

A short ethnography is provided to understand the local institutions, which are relevant to the study.

4:1:7:1) Economic Activity

The basic ccononiic activity of the Marathas in ancient times appears to be fanning. The land records revealed that Marathas inherit land as ancestral property. Interview with Talathi (revenue officer) revealed that in few instances at some remote places, a few farmers even do not ha\e land documents, but were farming land for centuries. People are trying to get land records now from

Panchayat Office (Talathi). A piece of land holds deep sentiments for the Marathas and it is considered as Mother. Selling of land is like selling one's mother; hence those who sell their land are looked down upon and sometimes excommunicated from the community as a whole, or by their kinsmen. From the interview, it

1 15 appeared that event though some Maratiias have land these are working as agricuhure hibourers because of poverty, as they can not afford farming expenses

and there is scarcity of water at some places. Overall, financially, those fam ilies that have 2-3 acres of land have good self-subsistence and those who have 10-15

acres of land arc considered rich and elite.

4:1:7:2) Political Affiliation

Marathas show high political consciousness and try to elect the members

from their caste, hiterviews with the panchayat official revealed that the Marathas

were earlier the followers of the Congress Party, but with the growing clout of

NCP (National Congress Party) they are now followers of NCP. The politics of this region is highly inlluenced by caste politics and solidarity. This in turn

influences the tribals (Mahadev Koli, Thakars, Dhangers) which form a large number voters in that region. Many Mahadev Kolis are active members of the

NCP. At certain remote tribal places, the polling manipulation is done before the actual day of polling. The whole tribal community follows the tribal headman for giving the votes. The situation is rapidly changing with younger generation shifting its alliances to the BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) by joining its wing in Khed

Taluka. Com m unity and fam ily quarrels or disputes are settled in the presence of politically inlluential persons or elite and honored people of high repute. These people are mainly responsible for creating favorable conditions for the winning party, and also for village functioning in their community at village level.

Interviews with respondents rellected that in some villages the SHG activity was controlled by these highly influential groups and sometimes these group banned

SH G formation or created problems in operating the SHG.

4:1:7:3) Social Structures:

The social structure of Marathas is clan based. Going by a rough estimate, there are about 53 clans and there are several sub clans within each major clan.

The Marathas are strongly attached to the clan. The names of clans are derived from the flora and fauna. The typical plant or animal symbolizes a particular clan.

A ll the clans are exoganious and there is no marriage within the same clan. There is prohibition to pluck or eat the plant or animal, which symbolizes clan. There is no clan superiority as such. All clans are accorded equal status. The clan symbol has a special importance during marriages. The members of sim ilar clan observe

1 16 communal grief at the death of any member in the community. Interview and

observation revealed that apart from SH G activity, clan is also m ainly instrumental

in bringing solidarity and unity. It appears that clan homogeneity is helpful for

smooth functioning of SHG. As in the case of Akharwadi. all SHG members (all

have ‘M uluk’ surname) belong to the same clan, therefore there is unity in

com m unity. Following table show's some of the clan names.

Table: 4:1 M aratha’s clan names.

Surnames Clan Name English meaning

Muluk Suryaful Sunllower

Naigare Vasanvel Local cripper

N a ik a d e Mard cha kada Sea Cripper

S h e la r Pancha Pallav C h in a ro se

Ja g ta p P im p a l F ic u s tree

S E C T I O N - 2

4:2:1) Background of Chaitanya Organization

ChaitanvaJ is a non-governmental organization c located in Khed Taluka, ’

(presently called Rajgurunagar) located 57 kilom eters away from Pune city in

Maharashtra. Khed is a small town endowed with hills and the Bhima River. The

main occupation of the people is agriculture; one can see a continuous belt of

agricultural land, which gives the impression of a green carpet. Chaitanya is a

Sanskrit word that means “life force, in which life is bubbling with enthusiasm and

liveliness, developing inner strength to deal better with oneself and the outside

world". Moreover, this vital force of Chaitanya is expected to spread through self-

help group movement in and around Maharashtra. The main aim of Chaitanya is to

empow'er women in order to bring about change in the power relation within the

family, household and the community at large, by organizing women into strong

self-help groups, clusters and a federation. Today Chaitanya is working in 3

talukas: Khed, Ambegaon and Junnar promoting 539 SHGs and covering 171

v illa g e s .

Chaitanya's SHG structure has evolved gradually through an organic process of growth. The emphasis has been on the participation and initiative of group members. Over the years, Chaitanya's activities have graduated from

17 awareness on the various issues of saving to formation of a Federation of SHGs and now to tie-ups with government departments. The group serves as a platform for addressing social issues of women, apart from promoting financial independence. Here, saving, and later credit were considered effective to form and sustain women's groups. Since regular savings were promoted through regular meetings of SHG members, such meetings were critical for the success of the activities. Chaitanya facilitated the formation of the first SHG federation in Maharashtra- the Gramin Mahila Swayamsiddha Sangha (now onwards GMSS) with the objective of creating a habit of sa\ ings and credit among group members, generating external resources and providing a forum for exchange of information and experience to large groups of women.

The main activities which Chaitanya undertakes are: • Promotion of SHGs and its clusters to provide financial services. • Provide support services to SHG members in veterinary services, health services, and legal aid awareness. • Building capacity of the SHG women, the group leaders, field staff and office staff through a range of training programmes. • Building capacities of functionaries of NGOs and government, departments through training and training niaterial production. • Facilitating formation of NGO network with SHGs at district and state level through convergence process.

Chaitanya has not restricted itself only to the above activities but is also involved in research and collaborating with other NGOs like AFARM, MAVIM and SADAN in developmental process. Today Chaitanya is working with BAIF in health sector covering 18 villages and collaborating with district monitoring units of zilla parishad on w'ater and sanitation. Under w'ater and sanitation programme the eight villages are covered through a project sponsored by KFW (German NGO).

18 Figure.4:3 Organization Chart of Chaitanya Organizational Set up of Chaitanya

4:2:2) The Structure, Nature and Modalities of SHG programme The structure through which chaitanya operates are Federation, the intermediate Cluster and village level SHGs.

4:2:2; 1) Federation Federation or sangha (local name) consists of President, Vice President, Secretary, Vice Secretary, Treasurer, Members (14). and an Adviser. Main role and function of the federation is to identify affinity groups, building their (SHG) institutional capacity through training, camps and exposure visits and management of saving and credit. The role of bank is restricted to saving and credit category only. Once the group is formed and continues savings on its own for six months, it is eligible for joining the federation of SHGs which is promoted by Chaitanya. The federation is called locally as the Grameen Mahila Swayamsiddha Sangh (GMSS). Three months after becoming a member of the federation, the SHG is eligible to get a loan. Almost all the SHGs (539) are members of the federation.

119 The federation take Rs. 140/- as the registration fees. Besides registration fees, there is a non-refundable admission fee of Rs.2/- per member, and share capital of Rs. 50/- for every ten members of the SHG. Other charges are a monthly subscription fee, which varies from Rs. 26/- to Rs. 50/- per group depending on its age, and there is compulsory monthly savings of Rs. 1/- per member of each group. Federation also takes a fixed deposit from each member. The fixed deposit of at least Rs.lOO per member yields interest of 117r per annum, hiterest of fixed deposits and extra savings with the Sangh are distributed to the members every five years. The federation has its own rules for lending. After three months of membership in the federation, SHG groups can take a loan of up to seven times of their total savings in the federation. The availability of loan depends on the best performance of the SHG. The interest rate for loan is 1.5 % per month. Loans have a twelve-month repayment period and installments of repayment are made c]uarterly. In the case of default, the federation charges Rs.lO/- per Rs.lOOO/- as a fine. For emergency assistance, Rs. 500/- is available to the members. Monthly federation meetings are compulsory and must be attended by representative members of each SHG group. Non-attendance is penalized @ Rs. 5/-. These rules have been developed to ensure that the members receive benefits and GMSS is able to cover its operational cost. Chaitanya supports many activities through Federation, which include insurance for livestock and accidents, legal awareness and aid. veterinary services and health awareness. Besides the networking of SHGs, the federation plays a critical role of maintaining the financial system. It updates and maintains account books and conducts annual audits. Chaitanya has engaged several chartered accountants to audit their accounts. This builds up the confidence that banks need to establish a long-term relationship with the group. Banks favour the groups that function well. After the audit system evolved in 1993, there has been a significant increase in the number of linkages promoted by banks with groups. The federation has facilitated easy loan processing through banks. Banks no longer need to assess each individual loan according to traditional norms. The only requirement by the banks is regular repayments.

120 Some of the common responsibilities the federation performs are as follows; • Collecting monthly data regarding savings, loans and repayments, and over all reports of credits and SHG activities. • Recommending groups to banks for a line of credit. • Organizing functions and get togethcrs to encourage and reward outstanding groups. • Helping to resolve conflict within the groups. • Identifying the needs of the groups and its members. • Lobbying with government for various schemes, particularly to support old people & poor families. • Forming new affinity groups in the aica for SHG formation. • Training new affinity group.

4:2:2:2) Cluster: As the members of SHGs goes on increasing in the area, a need is felt to create a platform where all groups can come together and share their experience and learning, where the groups that arc in the process of disintegration can be consolidated and some guidelines for future course of action can be framed. Thus, clusters of SHG are formed in w'hich all SHGs of different villages of a block would come together, share, and manage the SHG activities. These clusters become intermediary ties between SHG and the Federation. This formation of clusters was initiated because the load on the federation increa.sed as the numbers of SHGs is increased. The concept of cluster of 15-20 groups, which are geographically contiguous, is very useful. The groups can meet monthly and after the group meetings, all the transaction of the group could be taken to the federation through the cluster. The transaction of SHG is taken care of by a cluster level worker, who reports to the federation. Thus the cluster level has evolved as part of the organic process of local institution building, to serve as a link between the SHGs and the federation. The main responsibilities of a ‘cluster' are as follows:

Collection of monthly savings of the group and depositing the same in the Federation. • Repayments of loans and interests. Screening of loan applications of the group and forwarding them to the Federation. Ensuring timely repayments of loans to the federation. Establishment of linkages of SHGs to the bank, government, and other NGOs. Provide services such as audit, and insurance to the members. Formation of new SHGs. Consolidation of disintegrated groups and by giving them proper direction. Training the group leaders. Providing legal aid and consultation to the members. Maintaining of rccords: The SHGs have their own records and accounts of the regular savine by the women members, the loan distributors etc.

The records of all the SHGs are collected at the cluster level. The monlhly cluster level financial statements, the minutes, register and visitor's books are the records at the cluster level.

Plate No. : 1

Women attending cluster meeting 4:2:2:3) Self-Help Groups: The main local institution that Chaitanya promotes is SHG groups. Usually each group has up to 15-20 members who meet on the same date every month, where they contribute a fixed amount of savings that the respective SHG has

122 prescribed. This amount is in the range of Rs. 10/- to Rs. 50 /- per member. The saving amount varies from group to group, depending on the age and financial status of the group. The loan payments are also made during these meetings. There is a fine for late payment as well as for being absent for the meeting. Loan requests are discussed in the each meeting and then sanctioned according to the urgency and how much money is available at that time in the groups. The loan carries an interest rate of 2% per month. The duration of repayment starts from three months alter the loan is sanctioned and continues for 12 months. The loan is given for consumption as well as production. The leadership is rotated during the annual body meeting of the NGO. However, usually groups choose their own leaders from within. The women who are literate and instrumental in bringing the group together are usually elected as leaders.

1) Entry Rule: 1. The group is exclusively for women. Any woman, irrespective of caste, class or religion is eligible to become a member. However, she should be a resident of that locality. 2. The membership is purely voluntary. 3. Each group, on an average has 20 members. There should be three persons as office bearers. 4. The membership fee is paid only once.

2) Saving Rules: 1. The saving amount should be uniform for all the members. 2. The members should contribute their amount at a predetermined time and place every month. (The date varies according to the group). 3. It is mandatory for the members to attend the monthly meeting. 4. Each member is given a passbook. It is the responsibility of the member to ensure that her passbook is updated e\ cry month. 5. The ‘gat pramukhs' should provide the details of savings to all the members every month. 6. After becoming members, only saving activities arc encouraged for the initial six months.

123 7. The accumulated savings should be deposited in the nearest nationlised bank. The account should be opened in the name of the group itself. If any member is absent in the group meeting Rs.5/- be charged as fine.

3) Procedure of Credit: The group conducts meetings on a fixed date and time, hi these meetings loan disbursement is discussed. First preference is given to the needy ones, with priorities being allotted to health, education, production and consumption. Priorities vary according to the demand of the groups. The person getting a loan has to fill an application form. Three other members and group leaders sign this application form. A promissory note of Rs.20-50, depending on the amount requested by a member, is prepared, in which individual details such as age, sex, address and collateral mortgage is mentioned. Two w'itnesses from the group sign this note. A proposal for total amount needed by the group is placed in the cluster meeting, which meets on 11"’ of every month. Once the proposal is sanctioned, the field worker signs and forwards the same to the Federation. The Federation, after scrutiny of the application, sanctions the amount. The group leader, cluster level leader and cluster level worker withdraw this amount from the bank. The cluster level worker hands over the money to the group leader and group leader disburses the money to the members of the group. The audit of each SHG is coordinated after every six months by the NGO’s administrator. Repayment of the loan is collected first by the SHG. Those who delay the repayment are charged Rs.5/- as a fine, and this amount is forwarded to cluster office during cluster meeting. If any group member fails to attend the cluster meeting, the cluster office charges Rs. 1 1/- as fine.

4) Credit Rules: 1. Credit activity starts only after six months of membership or establishment of an SHG. 2. Only those women who have saved consistently during the previous six months are considered eligible. However, they have to give collateral security for the loan. 3. Loan is sanctioned to the most deserving members

124 4. The member desirous of obtaining a loan has to make an appHcation in writing. 5. The appHcant should provide two guarantors from the group at the time of the application 6. The decision to sanction the loan should be made unanimously by the group. 7. The loan sanctioned can be seven times that of the accumulated amount of the group 8. Loan is sanctioned only after the capacity of repayment, participation in federation and attendance are assessed by the group. 9. Loan is given at the rate of 2 % interest per month. 10. For emergency, Rs. 500/- toRs. 2000/- could be given as a special case. 11. Every member should have a fixed deposit (from Rs. 100/- onwards) for 5 to 7 years.

5) Repayment 1. The amount of loan may be given in installment or in full in the first instance. 2. The interest on loan is recovered every month during monthly meetings. 3. The recovery of loan starts after a period of 3 months. 4. If the installment of repayment is delayed, a fine of Rs.lO/- per 1000/- is charged. 5. A penalty may also be levied on the defaulter if the group so decides. 6. The profit or interest on savings is equitably distributed among the group after a suitable interval or period (usually 5 years).

6) Exit Rules: 1. A person wanting to opt out of the group has to make a written application. 2. All the dues need to be cleared before the membership is cancelled.

125 3. The individual passboolc is to be returned to the group upon the cancellation of the membership. 4. The person's membership is cancelled if she is not punctual in her contribution for more than four months.

7) Documentation of Saving and Credit: The standardized documents maintained by the group are: 1) Group register (ledger book to record monthly contribution / credit by the members. 2) Passbook 3) Bill book Chaitanya provides these books. The cost of these books is recovered from the common saving account. (The photocopy of these books is appended).

8) Meeting Procedure: In case of Chaitanya SHGs, it is compulsory to meet once in a month. All SHGs have fixed dales and time for their monthly meeting. The meeting usually starts with a song. After the song, group leader starts collecting monthly subscription and makes entry in ledger book. After saving activity is over, the repayment is collected which is followed by discussion on problems and sharing experience. The meeting generally winds up by reading ‘Batwa’ (Fortnightly information leatlct) providing information of other SHGs.

SECTION - 3

4:3) Village Description and Courses of Events of SHGs (Village Wise)

The Locale: The locale of the study is in the Northern part of Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The villages selected for the study are Akharwadi, Kaman and Kadadhe. These villages fall under the Jurisdiction of Khed Taluka in Pune. They are located at Bhimasluinker-Shinir National hi^liway-No.54. The Pune- Nasik national highway runs parallel to highway No.54. The natural setting of this part provides a beautiful blend of hills and valleys. Rivers, rivulets and ponds enrich the scenario. Recently constructed Chaskaman dam has enriched the

126 vegetation and fields on the riverside. The fields on the banks of rivers and lagoons are very fertile and the entire area looks lush and green.

4:3:1) Village Description: Akharwadi, Kaman, and Kadadhe Village

Akharwadi Khed taliika is located at the distance of 57 km from Pune city. All the three villages are located close to the Khed town. Akharwadi is located at the distance of 10 km, Kaman at 15 Km and Kadadhe at 21 km from Khed. Due to the remoteness of the area the frequency of State Transport buses is less, and the service is available only twice in a day. Few jeeps are available from Khed for local travel in that area. They charge a small amount, which is affordable to the poor villagers. The highway road divides the village into two parts, upper hillock and lower goanthan. The villages comprise wadis or hamlets. Each village has 4-5 wadis approximately. Akharwadi village has five wadis, these are Akharwadi, Punarni vasti, Patil vasti, Naharshiv vasti and Vithal Nagar. The major inhabitants are Marathas. There are only 5-10 households of other castes such as potters, cobblers and barbers. The majority of the people here are agriculturists. The village reflects the socio-economic hierarchy, where the Patil vasti is the elite colony, where rich farmers reside. Patil Vasti is located in the main 'Gaonthan' area, while others have settled on the periphery of the village. After Patils, the Muluk community comes in hierarchical order. Bhinui irrigates more than 90 percent of the agriculture land in Khed taluka. During 1995-96, the Government of Maharashtra built the Chaskaman dam on the Bhima River and constructed canals. Due to canals the farmers now cultivates their land and are much better off than in the past. The major cash crops arc potatoes, groundnut, and onions. Beside this, jowar and bajra are also cultivable for subsistence. The village has one anganwadi, one balwadi and one Vasti School. For middle and high school, the children go to Chas village, which is located at 2 km and is the terminus for Khed and Wada block. For post office. PHC, bank and market Chas is the major center. Akharwadi has two N4andal. Akta gnuii vikcts Maiulcil mid Mahatoba krida Mcuidal, which the farmers established three years aizo.

127 The Mandals undertake socio-cultural activities like ^hhajan', 'kirtaii' during the festivals and arrange Ganesh and Navratra festivals in the village. Recently, village temple was constructed. The Mhatoba Krida Mandal. arranges sports competition during the festivals and on national days in the village. The major games played by villagers are cricket, kabbadi and running competition. From this village two SHGs, \vdm\y,Vanlaxmi and Sagar were taken for the study. Kaman village has the Four wadis or hamlets which are located on the hilly area. They are: Gaonthan, Barapati, Sapat and Thakar wadi. At the bottom of the hill, the houses are in parallel rows, but after some distance the houses are scattered, some are in clusters and some are in the jungle. At the top of the mountain on the big table land, which is uneven and zigzag, small huts can be seen. Mountains and jungle surround the huts. According to the Talathi{re\enue officer) the Kaman jungle has wild life like panther, foxes, snakes and also peacocks. Majority of the people in this village are marginal or small farmers and landless agricultural laborers. The major castes residing here is Marathaws, Thakar tribe; Mahadev Kolis; and Muslims also form part of the population. For post- office, bank and school the villagers go to Chas village, which is 2 km away from Kaman. The village has a mosque and a 'Bhairaonath' temple. In the Bhairaonath temple an yearly ‘Jatara’ (religious fair) takes place. People from nearby villages participate in this Jatara very enthusiastically. A big procession of dindi, chabina and vari takes place. Bullock cart competition. Tamasha, and Orchestra are major attractions of the Yatra. Village committees arrange this Yatara. The two SHG prenna-1 and 2, which are chosen are for study located in the hamlets of Barapati and Thakar wadi respectively. Kadadhe village is surrounded by the agricultural fields. The village centre has temples of Dnri>d and Hanunidii around which houses are built closely and densely, but in the periphery the houses are scattered. The central place is an important meeting point for the villagers. Near Durga temple a major display board is erected for displaying the latest information regarding development activities. It was built by the initiative of SHG. Kadadhe has four wadis. These are Chvanpobel wadi. Inamdar wadi. Tanpure wadi and Krishna wadi. There are also two newly inhabited w'adis like Thakur wadi and Punarvasahat wadi. The village has two Anganwadis, 1 primary school and 1 128 middle school. For post office, PHC, and bank, people either go to Wada town, which is 5 km from Kadadhe or Chas, which is 10 km from the village. The two SHG — Jeevansarthak and Banai, were chosen for study. The following table shows the population composition of all the three villages.

Table 4:3.1:A) Population Composition of SHGs Sr. Village Total Total Population Major caste no Name Families Male / Female 2018 1, Akharwadi Marathas 320 M-1086. F- 932

Marathas, 2500 Mahadevkoli 450 Kaman M-1450.F-1050 Thakars, Muslim

2208 Kadadhe Marathas 425 M-1 108, F-1000

4:3:2) Objectives of the Study The present study was conducted with a view to explore and get answers and insights into some of the questions listed below. The major focus was to understand the concept of SHGs being implemented by NGOs as innovative instruments of rural women participation and empowerment.

I'he specific objectives of the study were: 1. To understand and analyze the issues related to the promotion of SHGs, such as the objectives and approach (method) of SHG formation. 2. To study the functioning and performance of SHGs as intermediaries of micro-finance for the rural poor mainly in terms of saving, lending operation and loan recovery, motivation, and mobilization. 3. To understand the design and structure of the selected SHGs as collective organizations from the point of view of their effective participation and sustainability. (The issues to be examined here are size and composition of membership, leadership and decision making process).

129 It is difficult for innovations like SHGs to emerge on their own. Deliberate interventions become necessary for their promotion. It would therefore be interesting to know how the NGO went about organizing SHGs. The pioneer SHG happened to be in Akarwadi. Today there are three SHGs operating in Akarwadi, namely Amar, Vanlaxmi and Sagar. To know the genesis of these SHG, in-depth interviews were conducted with 5-6 women, who are members of the SHGs and ‘Chaitanya’ for a long time. They are from different backgrounds and have been involved in their groups in different capacities.

4:3:3) Genesis of the SHGs The genesis of all SHGs appears to be the same. Lets us take an example of Vanlaxmi, started in the 1980s, in Khed Taluka, only Mahila Mandals were operating under the Government’s ICDS scheme. As told by ex-leaders of different mahila mandals, during that time the members did not attend meetings and training because they could not afford to lose wages in the farms and very less importance was given to the ICDS meetings. The village women had less freedom and very rarely did they go out of the village. From the village, only one woman used to go outside and that was an Anganwadi teacher. In one of the ICDS camps. Dr. Sudha Kothari. the director of Chaitanya proposed the idea of savings and credit to the women. As Dr. Sudha Kothari had conducted research for her doctoral thesis in the area, she knew the oppressive conditions of w'omen and therefore she was willing to work with rural poor women. She thought that ‘SHG’ is a good tool to improve the socio -economic conditions of women. The decision was made by ICDS officials to start micro finance and 7 days’ training programme was organized in which the project officer, other office bearer and the local rural anganwadi teachers were involved. Thus the micro finance group was initiated with saving amount of Re. 1/-. Dr. Kothari visited each Mahila Mandal, discussed the idea of micro-credits, and motivated them to become members of micro-credit groups. Likewise, in 1986, 14 villages were involved in saving group activity, with a weekly saving of Re. 1/-.Various questions were raised how Rs.-l/ would make rural women economically sustainable, how that litlle money can be helpful? Dr.

130 Kothari made them understand that group saving could make a difference. As the amount was small, people did not find's it difficult to save. In this way, saving was done for one year. During the projects life span, meetings were held every week. The evening time was preferred for meetings, as the women are free from their work only in late evenings. During the process, women did not come regularly to the meetings, the group organizer used to visit each member and bring her to the meeting. The attendance was very low at that time. After completing a year of saving in this manner, the group distributed the money accumulated. At that time the size of the group was not fixed, it varied from 40-60 members per group. The membership was not permanent. Later, in 1998- 99 SHG was started. The SHG in Akharwadi is known as Amar group, and its membership does not exceed 20. Other SHG groups were also started and motivated by Amar group. Then onwards SHGs spread and multiplied in Khed Taluka. The main aim, as mentioned earlier, was to improve the socio-economic conditions of the rural poor women, and bring awareness and increase local level participation. Further, the aim was also to promote voluntary savings of members and make them economically stable, thus brining them into the main stream. Quickly the idea of SHGs spread to nearby villages. Similar SHGs were initiated, and other SHG groups were promoted, in case of Vanlaxmi, another SHG. the ex-leader said that she was motivated by seeing the women of Amar group who were operating SHG funds for their welfare. She took initiative to mobilize women to form an SHG in the same village located geographically on the lower region of the village. Chaitanya functionaries claim that many SHGs have been similarly initiated and promoted. Thus, the number of SHGs increased, and the need for a federation was felt, whereby members of SHGs could pool their excess savings and receive larger loans, at a very low rate of interest.

4:3:4) Background Information of SHGs All the SHGs were formed during the initial activity of ICDS as mentioned in 4.11 (previous section). The leader of SHG is called as Sanghatica and co­ leader as Saha-Sanghatica. On an average, the members of six SHGs vary frt)m 15 to 20. hiterviews and observations reveled that in many SHGs the senior leaders manage the SHG activities. But in some SHGs, their leaders are almost non-l'unctional. The following table elucidates the information of SHG. The Jeevansarthak and Banai are the SHGs, where double membership exists i.e few members are common in two or more SHGs .

Table. 4:12:1 Information of SHGs Sr. Name of Date of Total Monthly Caste No. SHGs Inception Member Saving Van I ax mi Dec 1999 16 Maratha 50/- Sagar Nov 1999 20 Maratha 50/- Prenna-1 Jun 1991 16 Maratha 50/- Prenna-2 Jun 1992 11 Maratha, Thakar 20/- Mahadev Koli Jeevansarthak Jul 1997 20 Maratha 50/- Banai Jul 1997 20 Maratha 50/-

4:3:5) Leaders of SHG 1) Vanlaxmi SHG - The leader of this group is 32 years old Kama! Dattatrai Muluk. She is married, sixth standard pass, and stays in a joint family (Father-in- law, mother-in-law, Brother-in-law and his children). She has three acres of land, which is on her grand father-in-law's name. The main occupation of her family is farming. Her brother-in-law is working as an accountant in a company near the village. The annual income of her family from all sources is 15,000/-. She has taken loan thrice, mostly for agriculture purposes. As a leader, she started her SHG, in December of 1999. The motivation for formation of Vanlaxmi group came from the Aniar group, which is in operation for several years. According to her and her group members, a good SHG is one that has regular attendance, follows all the rules, and repays their loans on time. However, when asked about her own responsibility as a leader and her group strength, after a pause, she mentioned that there is no specific responsibility on a single person, but as a group, there is responsibility on all. Mostly, all the accounts of SHG is maintained by Alkabai, as she is experienced and older than other members. Vanlaxmi group leader hesitated to take up the accounting work because of lack of experience in operating SHGs work and her low educational level. The understanding of the group is that it would not look nice to take away the SHG work from Alkabai, so it is better to continue with the existing 132 arrangement. It was hard for her to state specific strengths of her own group, but she insisted that all the members were vocal and took part in decision -making process. According to her, the group likes innovative ideas but is not always quick enough to take up the responsibilities for the activities. She occasionally visits the NGO and the federation. It is observed that mostly all village SHG work is looked after by Alkabai. She informs other members about new ideas/proposal related to the SHG. She is the resource person for the members as well as the community. Even if the role as the leader of Vanlaxnii is not significant, she is happy to be the leader, because leadership position has given her prestige and identity.

2) Sugar SHG: Sagar SHG was formed by inspiration of Amar and Vanlaxnii groups. The people residing at the lower region of the village are very poor and are mostly agriculture labourers. The SHG acts as a main source for saving and credit. The leader of this group is 35 years old Manda Vithobaji Muluk. She is married, 3"' standard pass, and staying in joint family with her husband, and sister, who is also married with her husband. Manda has 4 sons, 2 daughter- in-laws, a grand daughter and a grand son. She has 6 acres of land, on her husband's name. The main occupation of her family is farming. The annual family income from all sources is around Rs. 25000/-. The economic condition of her family is better than others. She has taken loan only once, for buying an engine motor. The meetings of Sagar SHG are held at Alkabai's house, the leader of Amar group. Alkabai and co-leader Hirabai Pacharane do all-important work such as entry in account books, filling loan forms, reading SHG news magazine and keeping account operations and taking care of SHG transactions.

3) Prenna-1 The majority of the people in Kaman village belong to marginal or small farmers and landless agricultural labourers. Prenna is located in one of the hamlets called Barabati of Kaman village. About 150 families are residing in this hamlet. All of them arc Marathas. This is one of the oldest SHG groups formed 12 years back i.e. in June 1991. There are 12 SHGs in this village. The leader of Prenna-1 is 35-years-old Mrs Ranjana Ganesh Naigare. She is married, I l'*’ passed, staying with in-laws and brother- in law. She has two sons. The main occupation is farming. She has 3 acres of land, and 4 acres of malran (forestland). This is on her father-in -law's name. The annual income of her family from all sources Rs. 20,000/-.

133 The ect:>nomic condition of her family appears good. She has taken loan four times. As a leader, she started her SHG meetings in June 2000. She was ex- surpanch. When asked about the objective of forming the group, the members said that they wanted to get loan at a lesser interest to meet the consumption and agriculture needs, so as to avoid the high interest rate of the moneylender.

4) Prenna-2 is located in another hamlet called Thakur wadi of Kaman. Thakur and Mahadev Koli tribes who migrated from hilly region of Bhimashanker live in this hamlet. Marathas also live in this hamlet along with the tribals. These hamlets consist of 50-60 families; all of them are small farmers and daily wage labours. The group started with 20 members, but in due course of time, many members left the group because they were very poor and could not save money regularly. In addition, due to the poverty they migrate to other areas during lean periods. Recently four members left the group. Sitabai Pandurang Bhagit and Parvatibai Shanker Madhe who left the group recently were unable to continue to save the amount and interest, because of unemployment and poverty. Besides this, they have to go to nearby village to work as guards on the fields. Similar is the case of Mrs.Ragniabai Govind Rokade. She had taken Rs. 1000 as loan. The fourth member who left the group was Dhondabai Gyanshwar Jadhav who also defaulted the repayment and quarreled with VLW on this issue. Today there are only 11 members in this SHG. The leader of this group is Sarubai Damu Nirmal. She is a married, 45 years-old woman, educated up to sixth standard, and staying with her husband and daughter. Her one son is in Mumbai working in the electric board. The second son looks after agricultural land. The main occupation of her family is farming. The annual income of her family is Rs. 20,000/-. The economic condition of her family is comparatively better than others. She has taken loan four times during the past 10-12 years. As a leader, she started her SHG meeting in June 1992. She continues as a leader of the SHG.

5) Jeevansarthk SH(i The group started with 20 members, but in due course, five members left the group. The main reason behind leaving the group was migration, marriage, poverty and staying far away from the village. Therefore, five new members were inducted. The leader of this group is Mrs. Indumati Shantaram Naikkade, an Anganwadi teacher. She is 55 years old, married and educated up to

134 seventh standard. She is staying with her husband and two sons. The major occupation of the family is farming. The annual income of her family from all sources is about 25,000 /-p.a. She has taken loan only once, for constructing the house. She repaid this amount from her salary and milk business. She is also a member of another SHG named Banai.

6) Banai group was formed in July 1999. The group started with 20 members but almost 10 members left the group due to migration and inability to attend the meetings regularly. In place of them another 10 new members joined the group just six month ago. All the members belong to farming community and are daily wage labourers. The majority of members are Marathas. The leader of this group is Sarika Anil Naikade, she is 22 years old, married, lO''’ pas.sed homemaker. She is staying with her husband, mother-in-law, and two sons. The main occupation of her family is farming. The annual income of her family from all sources is Rs.20. 000. The economic condition of her family is good. She has taken loan only once, and has repaid the amount from selling agriculture land. Almost five members are from the Jeevansarthak.

4:3:6) Meeting Time and Date of SHGs It is mandatory and compulsory for all SHG to meet once in a month. The rule is strictly followed by all SHGs. The SHG meetings arc supposed to coincide with the payment of monthly savings and repayment installment. The meetings date of Vanlaxmi is 5”’, similarly, Sagar's meetings are held on 7'*’, Prenna-1 and 2 meet on 7'*’, jeevansarthak on I"' and Banai's on 5''’ day of every month. The meetings usually start around 9 p.m. As the women are agricultural labourers, evening time is suitable for them. But the meeting of Prennal, 2 and Banai are held in noon, this is because of remoteness and scattered settlement paltern. Observation revealed that the meetings of all six SHGs are held by senior leaders of the other groups. As these senior leaders are working with the NGO for last 10- 15 years, members consider them most suitable for handling SHG's activities. Even in the village, these leaders are considered as a re.source person for getting information or advice. Usually in all SHGs, the meeting starts if 159c of the members are present. However, if only 50% members are present, the group waits for an hour and then the meeting starts. As the SHG is 10 years old, the group leader which not have to

135 go and call each member. The members come on their own. if there is any change in the meeting schedule, then the message is conveyed from door to door. In preparation of the meeting, the floor is swept. An earthen water pot is kept, and a plastic carpet is spread. (This was observed in all SHGs).

4:3:7) Protlle of SHG Members Before analyzing the programme, it would be useful to understand the profile of the participating women. The present survey has elucidated some interesting information, which can give clear idea about the membership pattern.

4:3:7:1) Age Following Table reveals the age- wise distribution of six SHG group members. It is observed that out of 103 members, 73 members under study fall in 30-50 years category. The reason for this is that this age group is active, ready to travel and take up the responsibility of the SHG activities.

Table 4:3:7:1:A) Table showing Age of SHG members Sr. Name of Age of members: no the Village Name of SHG <30 yr 30-50 yrs >50 yrs Total 1. Akharwadi Vanlaxmi - 13 3 16 Sagar 7 12 1 20 Prenna-1 - 13 3 16 2, Kaman Prenna-2 - 9 2 11 Jeevansarthak 2 14 4 20 3. Kadadhe Banai - 14 6 20 Total 1 1 73 19 103

Women around 18 were almost nil. This is because those who fall in this category are daughters and daughters-in-law, and are not considered responsible for SHG decisions. However, there w'ere a few cases where younger women represented (percentage is negligible) the older women when they were unable to attend the meetings regularly. In some cases the old women inspired by their nieces, daughters or daughters-in-law has became a members of SHGs. Usually in such cases, younger people attend the meetings. Except in Sagar SHG, the majority of the participants belonged to 20-30 years category. This is because the 136 women falling in this category are mostly wage labourers, who frequently need small amounts of loans to meet day-to-day needs.

4:3:7:2) Education-Wise Distribution of Respondent

The Table 4.2 reflects the education wise distribution of the SHG members. The table reveals that the literacy among members of all the six SHGs is very low.

Table 4.3:7:2:B) Table showing Education of the SHG members

Sr. Name of Name of F]ducation Level no village SHG ill-literate 1-4"' 4-10*'’ College Total

1 Akharwadi Van lax mi 13 - 3 - 16 Sagar 16 3 1 - 20 2. Kanian Prenna-1 13 3 -- 16

Prenna-2 9 2 - - 11 3. Kadadhe Jeevansarthak 6 - 14 - 20

Banai 8 - 12 - 20

Total 65 8 30 - 103

Only 30 women were educated between the 4-10” standard, and 6.5 are ill- literate. The level of literacy is almost nil among the older age group i.e. fifty and above. However, the educational standards of the women are low, they seemed to be very keen in educating their own childien. During interviews with the members, all of them said that they give high priority to education of their children's. They have been exposed to better-educated people through SHGs and are inspired to educate their children.

4:3:7:3) Occupational Distribution: The Table 4.3 presents occupation w'ise distribution of the SHGs members. The table reveals that out of 103 SHG members. 67 members' main occupation is farming.

137 Table 4:3:7:3:C ) Table Showing Occupation of SH G Members.

Sr. Name of Name of Occupation no Village SHG Farming Daily wages Job Total Vanlaxmi 12 16 1 Akharwadi Sagar 20 Prenna-1 16 Kaman Prcnna-2 Jeevansarthak 16 20 Kadadhe Banai 14 20 Total 67 103

The main occupation of all the three villages is farming. The women enumerated themselves as housewives, but engaged themselves in farming. Out of the 103 respondents, 67 families have land holdings, between 3-10 acres. The families who have 20 or more acres are considered rich and elite. 35 SHG members are daily wage laborers. They are either landless or they have negligible amount of land. Out of 103, only one family is dependent on service.

4:3:7:4) Saving and Credit The Table 4.4 shows the savings and credit pattern of SHGs. It appears from the data that every group started its activity with an initial minimal saving of Rs.5/-10/- per head, later on the amount was enhanced to Rs.25/- and subsequently to Rs.50/-. Table 4:3:7:4:D) Table Showing Saving and Credit of SHG Members Sr. Name of Name of SHG T otal Monthly Loan Frofit Repayment no Villaj^e mem. Saving Vanlaxmi 16 50/- 70,000/- 8976/- 62,000/- 1. Aktiarwadi Sagar 20 50/- 40.000/- 9060/- 35,655/- Prenna-1 16 50/- 50.000/- 203X9/- 35,000/- Kaman Prenna-2 1 1 20/- 50.000/- L\S56/- 32,950/- Jceansarthak 20 50/- 40.600/- 2436/- 23,000/- 3, Kadadhe Banai 20 50/- 51.000/- 3524/- 28.()()(V- Total 103

During interviews some women mentioned that they find it difficult to save Rs.30/- per month but, they manage somehow to tlcposit their monthly 138 subscription. All the members are quite punctual in attending the meetings and depositing the monthly subscriptions. If, the interest amount is not available in current month, the loanee arranges to pay the same next month without fail. The total amount saved for 2002-2003 for all six SHGs shows that there is regularity in saving and repayment. The loan amount distributed also reflects the good functioning of the SHGs. Except in the case of Prenna-2. where according to the VLW, 11 members had not repaid the loan amount. Today this group is completely collapsed because of mal-functioning of credit and loan activities. The loans were sanctioned for agriculture (39.87r), household expenditure (24.27%), health (18.44 %). Education (4.85 %), festival (8.73 %), other (5.82%).

4:3:8) Indicators for Mea.suring Women Empowerment In the present case study, indicators were used to measure participation level, which ultimately eventually leads to empowerment, the ultimate goal of such projects. In an obvious sense, empowerment is about people gaining the ability to undertake activities, to set their own agenda and to bring change (Heaven Crawley, 1998). F.Stephen (2001) defines empowerment as “a state of being that rellects a certain level of critical consciousness about their internal thought construction and belief systems that affect their wellbeing in terms of gender justice and social justice as well as the determination to use their physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual resources to protect, nurture and sustain values that guarantee gender equity at personal, familial, social, political and institutional levels". This definition gives broad view of empowerment and is quite consistent with the main indicators, for measuring empowerment. The indicators describe the process of participation as w'ell as the empowerment as the ‘outcome’. Five main indicators were identified economic, social, psychological, political and administrative. For this particular study 103 respondents were interviewed. These 103 respondents were from 6 SHGs of 3 villages of Khed block. To trace down the participatory process, the interview schedule was prepared based on parameters or factors related to each of the above mentioned five indicators. The interviews covered the questions related to the.se parameters. The positive or negative responses indicated the clci>ree of participalioti and thus nature and level of participation could be checked. The responses were

139 represented as raw score. The total raw scores of 103 sample was computed to see the percentage of a particular indicator. The factors, which were identified, may be abstract or highly conceptual therefore accurate meaning varies in assumption, objective, context and aim of investigation. Therefore the nearest relevant meaning was taken to define that particular factor and thus reflect the practical guidelines of the research. For example, if we wanted to see role of rural organization, which could be a vehicle to spread the awareness among ruial people to participate. The key features to identify for the functioning of existing pattern of the local organization are ; structure of organization, its activities, notion of leadership and management were selected? To highlight the practice of participatory or non-participatory styles. Similarly, if w'e were to observe over time the ‘increased confidence' (abstract term) of the group, which could be an indicator of participation, then we could identify those phenomena of project activities. For example increasing ability to take initiative or active part in other activities, these activities could be traced through monthly meeting records, observation, interviews, which helped us to build up a visual or composite picture of the phenomena associated with a particular indicator. Following are the tables and description of data.

4:3:8:1) Economic Indicator (Sample-103) Good economic resource base is the major dimension and critical element in the process of participation and development. It is believe that rural people will be more willing to become involved if they feel that some tangible benefits w ill eventually be forthcoming. Rahman has (1985) noted that economic activities have indeed begun to emerge as a key and tangible dimension of the promotion of participation. In the present study SHG as a economic base becomes a mechanism for helping to develop the broader participation process. 6 factors arc identified to indicate the situation of economic base. These are: saving, loan repayment, increased income, investment, income generation activities and equal sharing of benefits.

140 Table.4:3:8:A) Economic Indicator of SHG

Sr.no Parameter Raw Score Percentage

1 Saving 95 92.23 % Loan Repayment 93 90.29 % Increased Income 92 89.32 % 4 Investment 77 74.75 Income Generation Activity 60 58.25 Equal sharing of Benefits 97 94.17 %

Mean =95+93+92+77+60+97 = 514 + 6 = 85.66 85x100 P = = 83.16% 103 Above table indicates the high scoring for saving and repayment. Saving and repayment cycle is the major basis of SHG activities. The high scoring of saving and repayments denotes the commitment to active and fair participation in SHG activities and meetings. Out of 103 respondents, 97 respondent reported that their present economic situation is better off than the pre-SHG situation and 77 respondents reported that they invest money in other institutions like cooperatives banks, and Post Office in additional to SHG. Thus SHG helped their members to grow in terms of better economic standard and living status and thus empowered them economically. The high scoring of equal sharing of benefits denotes that SHG is instrumental to bring about empowerment. David Deshler, describing the level of participation quotes Kindervatter's (1979) definition of empowerment as ‘people gaining an understanding of and control over social, economic and political forces in order to improve their standing in society. Arnstein (1969) identified some major characteristic of empowerment namely local people governing a program or an institution and being in full charge of pohcy and managerial aspects. The present case study seems consistent with the.se statements.

4:3:8:2) Social Indicator A social force is the basic theme of participatory development. The various social aspects that affect development and participation, and at the same time denote social processes occurring in the group or community were identified. Shirley White {2()()3) pointed out that through social process, people acquire the 141 knowledge and skill that enable them to take control of their life space in a way that is more realistic, and thus empower themselves. Through this social process, a person experiences self-awareness and becomes conscious of social issues that affect their lives. People-centred approach of participatory development is not solely focused on economic goals but also stresses the importance of social forces to bring real change in the communitv.

Ta >le-4:3:8:B) Social Indicator of SHG Sr.no Parameters Raw Score Percentage ( 9c) 1 Awareness 94 91.26 % 2 Involvement 85 82.52 7r 3 Learning 88 85.43 % 4 Organizing 79 76.69 % 5 Group organization 74 71.84% 6 Group Behavior 65 63.10 % 7 Decision Making 77 74.75 % 8 Group Dynamics 59 57.28 % 9 Self-Reliance 52 50.48 % 10 Mobilization 77 74.75 %

Mean =94+85-1-88+79+74+65+77+59+52+77 = 750- 10 = 75

P=Zi21^ = 72.8,<7,. 103 hi the present study, 10 parameters were identified to traced down the social aspect of participation. Awareness is considered as a state and as a process. As a state, it denotes awareness about their own situation or condition, while as a process it denotes local peoples awareness about the SHG activity and their participation in it. Referring to this, high scoring in awareness denotes that SHG members were active and participating in SHG activities, thus it resulted in the smooth functioning of SHG. Similarly, involvement and learning were also rated high i.e 85 and 88. Out of 103 respondents 85 respondents reported that they were actively involved in the planning process, giving opinion, ideas, raising doubts and contributing their share in social activities. In response to "learning factor' 88 respondents reported that participation in SHG helped them to improve

142 knowledge, skill and developed a sense of self-appraisal. They have developed the ability to analyze, explain and discuss the issues. Similarly, organizing, decision-making, mobilization and group organization rated high. In organizing parameter, respondents reported that there was regularity in attendance and meeting. The SHG activity developed the attitude to work in unity and it brought solidarity in the community. SHG members established group norms and brought group cohesiveness. Due to these characteristic SHG was considered as ‘institution’. SHG brought mobilization in women, they were free to go and travel on their own. The group organization factor rated high, in which 74 respondents out of 103 reported that there was equal sharing of roles and responsibility among all members. The leadership also evolved through organic process. Group behavior rated 63.10, in which respondents reported that SHG activity brought change in their attitude towards poor section and gender. The poorest of poor was also a member of SHG and got equal sharing of benefits. Similarly, today due to SHG, women have major say in monetary transaction and they take major decisions regarding loan, investment and household assets. SHG activity helped in the development of dialogue through discussion and decision­ making process. Today local voices are increasingly heard in decision-making circles whether at official or grampanchayat level. Local people have become an active force in formulating short/long term goals. However, self-reliance and group dynamics were rated low as compared to other factors. Self-reliance is crucial to breaking the mentality of dependency and self-learning process where people learn to plan and implement the activities at broader front. In this sense, it appears from the interviews that SHG members are still dependent on the leader to carry out major task of SHG. Similarly, in group dynamics, the internal structure of group is not changed, even though everyone gets chance to participate in one or the other activity, hierarchy of group structure is not changed. Leader and co-leader are major persons to lead the group.

4:3:8:3) Psychological Indicator Participation (as well as empowerment) is closely linked with the psychological dimension of individuals and community at large. Various traits of personality like self-confidence, satisfaction, interest and attitude play important role in individuals' life when they participate in different events. Participation

143 motivates individuals to work collectively, and to lake action. Participation helps to gain access to a new type of power by internalizing the new thought process, redefining the issues, facing the reality, and uniting to challenge old stereotypes and traditional power concepts. These issues help to rearticulate the locus of power within individual, communities and ultimately politics. Quoting Scherl (1996), Shirley White (2003) describe empowerment as multidimensional process, which incorporates four key psychological concepts of the self, namely self-awareness, self-esteem, self-confidence and a cognitive understanding of the power structures. And one's placement within the existing system; economic independence that gives a person or community the freedom to think, explore, and take individual risks, and political analysis and the will to change the systems themselves. Dr. S. White has (2003) stated that being empowered is a process of discovery that is unique to each person this process is linear and not circular, because while moving on the path of empowerment people on that path do not stay the same or ever return to the same spot. One’s consciousnes.ses and interaction with the social, cultural, and political structures is forever changed. Hence, the will and strength to participate and to be empowered must come from the inner side of unconscious mind. Then only it will surface at conscious level to put thoughts into the action. In the present case this seems to be happened with SHG members. Participatory development can provide local people w'ith new opportunities to gain self-confidence, to think for them and to speak out, which in turn, nurtures the nature of empowerment. In the present study, 8 psychological dimensions of human personality have been considered. Table -3 indicates that SHG members rated high in self- confidence, interest, and satisfaction. Table 4:3:8:C) Psychological indicator Sr.no. Parameters Raw Score Percentage 1 Interest 81 78.64 2 Motivation 62 60.19 3 SeU'-contidence 87 84.46 4 Satisfaction 76 73.78 5 Accepting Role & Responsibility 73 70.87 6 Change in attitude 62 60.19

144 Sr.no. Parameters Raw Score Percentage Participation in Group discussion 66 64.07 Reflection 65 63.10

Mean =81+62+87+76+73+62+66+65 = 637- 8 = 79.62

= 77 JO-7, 103 Out of 103 respondents, those who gave positive responses to the questions exploring these dimensions of person's psychology. According to the respondents, they felt that SHG increased their self-confidence which could be seen in their from their interaction in the formal setting. Today SHG women have gained the confidence in conducting bank transactions on their own, interacting with government officials, attending gram panchayat meetings, demanding their rights and being active in social-commercial work. The interviews of SHG members revealed that their own interest and will to change their own condition as well as the respective village brought desired changes in the community. SHG members feel satisfied that they got SHG instrument to act and get their work done, and reach the goals. The members are active in taking part in group discussion and rellection on the SHG activities as well as social-cultural activities. But in spite of substantial empowerment the data on ‘change in attitude' and ‘accepting and role and responsibility’ scored low. It appeared from the interview' that there is change in attitude regarding self-sustainability, raising voices against injustice, and getting ready to compete with new economic situation. However, in terms of formal education, reading-writing skills and taking up individual initiative, people still follow the same beaten path. Some group members are non-literate and depend on the leader for bank transactions and other activities where reading and writing are required. Hence, many members are still reluctant to take new responsibility, and thus lag behind in linking up and relating themselves to new persons, situations and activities.

4:3:8:4) Political Indicator Table-4, shows high scoring for increased attendance of SHG members in grampanchayat meetings and participation in gram sabhas. This denotes people's awareness and interest in village development activities. These characteristics

14S resembles those which David Deshler identified and quoted for the empowerment, such as reduction of monopoly power (Morss et.al, 1976), Unity against the outside world, self-reliance, interface between local, regional and national political system (Galjart, 1976.1981). Solidarity (Huizer, 1976), and power through involvement in planning (Nyerere, 1979). Although ‘contesting election' scored low, it indicates that men still have hold and patriarchal role in accessing political power. Women should also empower themselves for accessing political power or there is danger that a political party may take o\cr the SHG activities, or hamper the functioning the SHG groups.

Table-4:3:8:D) Political Indicator Sr.No Parameters Raw Score Percentage Increa.sed attendance In GP 98 95.14 % Participation in Gram Shabha Meeting 92 89.32 Accessing political Power 29 28.15% Contesting Election 19 18.447r

Mean = 98+92+29+19 = 238 + 4 = 59.50 59.50x100 P=- 103

4:3:8:5) Administrative Indicator The parameters ‘administration', ‘management' and ‘follow'-up of action plan' show high scoring; this scoring denotes that SHG activities regarding all three issues/factors are well administered and managed by SHG members. This also results in smooth functioning and success of SHGs. The effective management also denotes that there is good cohesivencss among the members, which is necessary to maintain the quality of work in SHG activities. These qualities could be related to David Deshler's empowerment framework in which he quoted collective power through mass action and grass roots leadership, similarly as explained by Rao & Bhaiya, (1977) as creating structures from within, and by Bryant. (1982) by meaning and integrity of managing participation.

146 Table -4:3:8:E) Administrative Indicator Sr.No Parameters Raw Score Percentage 1 Administration 84 2 Management 85 3 Action Plan 82

Mean= 84+85+82 = 251 ^3 = 83.66

103 Total Percentage of all Indicators; 1) Economic; 83.16 2) Social; 72.81 3) Psychological; 79.00 4) Political; 57.76 5) Community Level; 81.22 EorP= 83.16+72.81+79.00+57.76+81.22 =374.57 5 = 74.79%

The above data shows that the empowerment achieved by women of 6 SHGs in Khed Block seems to be 74.79%. The higher score denotes higher participation and can be labeled as genuine participation.

4:3:9) Socio-Cultural Dimension of the SHGs When enquired about the Social activities of SHGs the responses were quite positive. According to the informants, village roads were uneven and narrow with thick bushes on either side. They created serious problems. During the rainy season villagers had complained to grampanchayat many times but no action w'as taken, hi one of the meetings, SHG members of Vanlaxmi and Amar took a decision to start road repairs through shanundan (voluntary work). The next day women went quite early in the morning for their agricultural work, finished fast and started to repair the roads. The men folk in the village were surprised to see that the women were repairing the road. At first they mocked at them, but later they also joined them .The whole night they worked using the light from "mashals' (Slicks with grass). The work went on for two days and the entire village and participated in road repaiis. The Grampanchayat members were surprised to see roads next morning.

147 Another importanl work SHG members undertook was construction of Latrins. Under the Government scheme, the grampanchayat has to build latrines with one forth contribution from villagers and 3/4 by the local government. The amount was sanctioned by the Panchayat samity. but the grampanchayat did not pay any attention to this scheme. SHG members decided to take up the construction of latrines in the Akarw'adi village. They sent village application to grampancahyat. Grampanchayat sanctioned the amount. Villagers contributed some amount, found out contractor, and brought the required material and got the work done. The villagers informed that red tapism and bureaucracy of grampanchayat brought many hurdles in constructing 10 latrins in the village, but SHG were quite determined to build up the latrines and succeeded. SHGs not only played important role in village development, but also played active role in giving justice to the deserted woman. According to informants of Akharwadi, Mr.Aknath potavade, a 37 years old resident of Akharw'adi, w'as married twenty years back to Gajrabai Muluk, After the first child, Mr Aknath fell in love with another woman and brought her home. Initially Gajrabai opposed her husbands, but without any effect. The Villagers did not interfere in their family affairs. The second wife began torching and beating Gajrabai so that she would leave the house. At that time, in one of the SHG (Vanlaxmi & Amar) meetings. Gjarbai’s problem was discussed and women decided to act. One day all women of the village gathered, hired a jeep and went to Gajrabai's house. The women called Mr.Aknath out of his house, encircled him. beat him up. put him into the Jeep, and took him to the Khed police station. SHG leader narrated Gajrabai’s story to the police. After hearing the case, the inspector lodged complaint and FIR against Mr.Aknath and kept him behind the bars for four days. After returning from the police station, Mr.Aknath's behavior improved, he called a caste meeting and decided to separate from Gajrabai. He agreed to give maintenance to Gajrabai and left the village with his second wife. Today Gajrabai is staying in the village with her daughter and spends peaceful life.

4:3:9:1) Default case Though Vanlaxmi is running smoothly, there is one case of a defaulter. The defaulter's name is Sunder Gyaneshwar Mukuk. She is 30 years old woman, with very small agriculture land. She had taken a loan of rupees 5000/- for

148 agricultural purpose in 2002. She paid the interest and subscription regularly for 4 to 5 months and then stopped paying both monthly saving and interest amount. In addition, she demanded another loan, without repaying the earlier one. A quarrel took place between her and other members of the SHG. All members were angry with her and accused her of disloyalty to the group. In the next meeting of the SHG, members took a decision and cancelled her membership. Whatever balances was available in her account was adjusted against her loan account. At present Sunderbai Muluk wants to join the group again and is ready to pay the earlier loan, but now other members are not ready to accept her as a member. For socio-cultural activities, Sagar group always joins Vanlaxmi group. Similarly, SHG played an important role in the village development of Barapati. Prenna-I has played an important role in bringing about the changes. The interviewes with women who are working in different capacities in SHG activities as well as in village functionaries revealed that they are highly active and aware of their rights and privileges. Giving an example of water-light problems, the informants told that in Barapati there was severe scarcity of water as the village is located on hillock. The water pipe line was not laid by grampanchayat even though some amount was sanctioned under central government scheme. The panchayat samity had not taken interest and action to solve the water-light problem. At that time the SHG leader was the surpanch, She and VLW motivated women members to take morcha (procession with sloganing for rights) to panchayat samity at Khed and compelled them to lay the water pipe line in Barapati. Similarly, SHG members took morcha for light connection in the village. Today Barapati has light and water connections. Members have done road repairing. The road was badly damaged and uneven, SHG members did collective work and repaired the road. The collective work is highly appreciated by villagers. The interviews and discussions revealed that due to SHG. the cultural function like Haldi-kunku and Ganesh festival are celebrated with unity. Haldi- kunku has became the main cultural function for social gatherings where women come together, discuss and shares the experience. Apart from the SHG meeting haldi-knuku is socio-cultural forum, where great deal of information regarding development is shared, discussed and disseminated, and accordingly steps are taken up.

149 When enquired about the benefit that they got after joining the group, the members of Prenna-2 the most of said that due to SHG they developed saving habit, otherwise earlier poor villagers did not have concept of saving. Today they get loans at low interest to meet their urgent needs like health and household expenses. They do not have to go to moneylender. The group leader is convinced that due to the SHG, the economic situation of the people has improved. Through the SHG loan people buy cattle, cows and a piece of land. Thus the SHG programme of Prenna-2 was good. The grpoup was functioning smoothly for last 10 years. But people could not keep regularities in meeting and repayment. There was lack of co-operation and understanding among the members of the group. Today Prenna-2 is dissolved group. Since October 2003 no meetings were held till date. But unfortunately it was collapsed completely. When enquired, the members blamed VLW for not distributing benefits. The distrust developed against VLW and the transactions of SHG stopped. In turn, VLW blamed the members for not repaying the amount of loans. According to the VLW, out of 16 members 9 members have not repaid the loan amount. She told the case of Rakmabai Govind Rokade, who had not repaid the amount of Rs.2300, When VLW went to her house for recovery, her son started quarreling and threatening VLW. He took the SHG issue personally and stopped the VLW to take drinking water from his well. Adding to it. VLW told that most of the members had used loan for self- consumption and not for creative work, so that amount could not be reco\ered or generated from the investment. Therefore, members do not have cash and are ready to call themselves insolvent. Prenna-1 has played an important role in bringing about some changes. When interviewed women who are working in different capacities in SHG as well as in village activities, the discussion revealed that they are highly active and aware of their rights and privileges. Today if villagers decide to gather and celebrate any festival or function no one opposes. Villagers recognize the importance of unity and get- togethers. SHG has socialized them. Earlier, villagers hardly bothered to go and attend any meeting or function, and there was always prestige and ego issues among them. Now people like to attend socio-cultural functions and meetings. Similarly. Jeevansarthak and Banai SHGs motivate the villagers to organize socio-cultural functions.

150 Plate No.: 2

Women Plaving in Melawa during Sankranti

They have created the environment to keep themsehes up dated about the latest knowledge, agricultural products, how to cultivate new plant species and other schemes. They do this by arranging folk plays, meetings and forums. They ha\e succeeded in mobili/ing women. Now women attend meeting, travel alone, and \()cali/.e their opinions and \iews. In addition, the most important achievement of SHG i.s that it has changed the mindset of the people. Earlier men did not allow their women to go outside the house, she was thought to be of bad conduct, but now the situation is completely changed. Women who are in SHG are thought to be active, intelligent and resourceful, hi many instances, during data collection, men folk had approached this researcher and informed that their wives were in SHG and should be interviewed, SHG has became pride for them.

4:3:10) BeneHts ofSHGs When enquired about the benefits the members got after joining the group, all of them agreed and believed that SHG had mobilized village women. Today women can go alone without male escorts. Major change has occurred in attitude and confidence. In pre-SHG condition women could not open their mouth to tell their husband’s name, but now today SHG members feel confident that they can speak with any Government official and can articulate their problems and opinions on development.

15] The main change SHG has brought about is that now villagers do not go to moneylender for borrowing money, who used to charge 10%. Now they are free from indebtedness. Now the loan is available at much cheaper interest rate. Today in Akarwadi, the women are willing and take initiative for calling separate grampanchayat meetings only for women, where only problems related to women arc discussed. They are active in attending gramsabha meetings also. The discussion with the Prenna-1 members revealed that, due lo SHG today women are economically independent. They can raise money on their own. For money they do not have to beg their husbands. On the contrary, by taking up loans from SHG, a woman is the main person to invest in home and farm to fulfill day-to-day demands. Thus women play equal role in decision-making in household purchases or agriculture activities. Similarly, interviews and discussions w'ith w'omen of Jeevansarthak and Banai SHG reveal that due to SHG the economic condition of women was improved at both levels — at household level and market level. Women start keeping money and look after the monetary transaction. She now' has an assess to loans also. The SHG has brought cohesiveness in members, and the realization that together they can solve any problem, and that the saving would help them in emergencies. Due to this, all members are aware of the importance of SHG in their lives and regularly contributed towards monthly saving and repayment of the loan within the specified period. Today they get loans at low interest to meet their urgent needs like health, household expenses, for these they do not have go to moneylenders.

SECTION - IV

4:4:1) Analysis and Conclusion In this study, we have examined the role and participation of SHG members, SHG formation and functioning, SHGs as financial intermediaries, and SHG as socio-cultLiral institution where various community development activities take place. Our major concern with participation is:who is participating? In what W'ays? And with what effect? (Norman Uphoff. 1991). Following these basic questions, we have specifically attempted to investigate. I) What is the nature of participation of women in SHG? 2) What is the effect of SHG on the lives of

152 women and village as a whole? 3) What is the overall impact of SHG? We attempt to answer these questions in accordance with the framework set out in the chapter-]. Our analysis has been confined to the women of three villages. These are Akharwadi, Kaman and Kadadhe village of Khed taluka of Pune district, in the slate of Maharashtra. For answer the above questions, vve have focused our attention on SHG and NGO's strategy to begin SHG as a tot)l for empowerment. Therefore, in this study SHG is a major unit of analysis. Broadly, the issues for analysis have been grouped under three heads, namely 1. Formation and Functioning of SHG. 2.SHG as financial intermediaries, 3. SHG as a tool of empowerment and a unit for brining social cultural change. Under each head, a simultaneous issue-wise analysis of the SHGs is attempted. The analysis of study under the three heads is followed, at the end, by conclusion and discussion of major issues arising out of the study.

1) Formation of SHG In India, where a woman is considered subordinate and patriarchy is prevalent, it is difficult for innovations like SHGs to emerge on their own. Deliberate intervention became necessary for their promotion. Chaitanya, as mentioned earlier, organized women under the SHG institution for improving economic condition of rural women. In all three villages, Chaitanya was conducting micro-finance programme with ICDS prior to SHG formation. This helped Chaitanya to mobilize and motivate women to come together and form SHG. The old SHGs induced women to start new SHG and replicate the programmme in differnt villages. In Akharwadi, the Vanlaxmi and Sagar SHG were initiated by sheer motivation and inducement of Amar group. Similarly, in Kaman and Kadadhe villages, women were willing to replicate the old SHG because of successes story of SHG functioning in their own villages. Chaitanya functionaries’ claim that many SHGs have been self-initiated and promoted. Chaitanya also encourages and trains leaders of existing SHGs to go and promote SHGs in other villages.

2) Motivation Promoting organizations like SHGs for the purpose of being financial intermediaries not only requires motivating people to come together voluntarily,

153 but also building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. In case of Chaitanya, the key factor for awareness was to make women aware about self-identity, security and recognition. Chaitanya motivated women to form small groups (Gat) by explaining to them the benefits of small savings. The NGO made them realize their condition: what property do they have? Are they secure today? If they are separated from their husband, what they will do? Do they have asset, name and recognition? From the interview with SHG members, it was clear that the members’ main motivation in coming together was the opportunity to save and the resultant gain of easy acccss to crcdit in case of need. Chaitanya also runs an insurance scheme for women, it also provides legal advice to women in distress condition, and arranges functic)ns (nicUiwuis) which serve as an added incentive for women to join the SUGs.

Plate No. : 3

Women celebrating SHG Melawa and Women's Day Programme (15*** March) Though Chaitanya is a reputed NGO, the task of mobilizing women to come together to form SHGs had not been so smooth and an easy process, at least initially. In the beginning, the village was not interested to deposit their money in SHGs; they felt insecure about their money. They doubted that the group leader would collect money and run away. They also felt that it was selfish motive of the NGO or group organizer.

154 Some SHG ex-leaders narrated the difficulties which arose in forming their groups, particularly as members were not confident about saving their money with an outside agency or an NGO. They said it was very difficult to break the traditional role of women in men’s thought. Men folk were not ready to send their wives in SHG, out of sheer fear that something sinister was going on and they did not want to be a part of it. In interviews, women told us that in the beginning they were verbally abused for joining the SHG and attending meetings. Due to that, women were scared and gave up coming to the meetings. Group organizers had to go and call each member. In some instances, few men folk created a lot of fuss so that meetings of SHG would not take place, but it was through constant persuasion and due to the determination of the women that the SHG work could continue. In some instances, men folk would also come and sit in the SHG meetings to see what women did in the meetings. In this way, the SHGs in Akharwadi were established. To overcome these difficulties in other villages, the members of the existing SHGs were taken to the new villages to explain the potential of the benefits they had realized from their own SHGs. However, now the situation is changed. According to the coordinator, villagers and village leaders now come on their own and request Chaitanya to organize SHGs in their villages. The discussion with the members of SHG revealed that rural people are convinced of the benefits of forming an SHG.

3) Group Size of SHG An important aspect that has a crucial role in determining the effective functioning of SHGs is their size. Right from the beginning, Chaitanya has been conscious of this fact, and has tried to promote smaller SHGs by insisting to keep their membership in the range of 20-25. The average size of the SHGs of Chaitanya in Khed taluka varied from 15-20. In addition to its emphasis on small size, what helped Chaitanya in promoting relatively small SHGs was the demography of the villages. The village size being relatively small, the total membership of the SHGs has also been small. The discussion with leaders and members revealed that most of them felt that the group size should be as small as possible, because this helps them to manage the funds and transaction more easily. According to them (informants), a small group size makes the task of convening meetings, collecting savings and monitoring loan repayments that much easier. Usually it has been observed that

155 the membership of SHGs is based. The members who are staying close to each other form the group, so that they can follow up, contact and monitor SHG activities more easily.

4) Leadership Leaders play an important role in smooth functioning of any SHG as well as propagating and spreading idea of the SHGs. In the present study, it appears that the leadership position in SHG seems to be more prestigious. This is probably because the leader enjoyed more power, and respect. Analysis of the leadership of six SHGs revealed that each SHG has leader and co-leader. The SHG leader is called as 'sanghatika', and co-leader as 'sah-sanghatika'. The leader is elected either because she has taken the initiative in SHG formation or because she is literate and an anganwadi teacher, and therefore more competent to discharge leadership responsibilities. Thus the pattern of leadership that emerges is ‘organic’ in nature. SHG members clearly vole to the women who is more competent. Chaitanya trains the leaders for functional and policy related issues. The leaders are responsible for enrolling new members, convening meetings, collecting savings, deciding and sanctioning loans, and monitoring loan utilization and repayments. The leader’s major active role is maintaining savings and repayment accounts of each member. Though these responsibilities and duties call for considerable devotion of time and effort on the part of the leader, most of them consider it as social obligation, h gives prestige and identity to the leader. When interviewed, it was found that people give respect to leader ft)r carrying out responsibilities and consider her more knowledgeable and an important person. At least once in a month they have to visit cluster office to deposits savings and repayment installments. The exposure of attending meetings, camps and training upgrade their skills, and therefore people perceive the leader as nwre skillful for handling talks, conflict resolution, and holding discussion on any subject. They are important persons for providing information. Due to this village level functionaries like gram panchayat also respect the SHG leaders. Such leaders is a major agent for village mobilization. Moreover, the leader is the actual deciding and sanctioning authcMity for loans and consequently responsible for loan recovery. In some SHGs, which are old, (Jeevansarthak. Prenna-1. 2.) there is no rotation system of leadership. Hence, the first or main leaders ha\c been holding their

156 position since the inception the of SHG and all of them appear to now consolidate their standing in SHGs,. Moreover the leaders of Jeevansarthak or Amar group hold the activities of other SHGs also. Thus their own leaders play secondary role in the group. It was also found that the members claimed that they did not want to change their existing leaders who they thought were quite capable and trustful. Further, in none of the six SHGs studied, did we come across any major contention or tussle for leadership. This could be because there are not many who are competent, particularly in terms of literacy and courage. Alternatively, it also appears that members do not want to take the responsibility of SHG activities. This is not healthy trend, but they are aware of it.

5) Socio-Economic Coverage and Membership Compo.sition. An analysis of the composition of membership helps in understanding the extent and nature of participation achieved by these SHGs. The membership composition of six SHGs under study, going by occupation, reveals that they are small farmers, agricultural labourers and with temporary jobs like shepherds, w'atchman and daily wage labourers. It was found that almost all the land-owning households were found to be active borrowers. For example, women belonging to Vanlaxmi. Prenna-1, Jeevnsarthak and Banai are the members of land owning households, who need credit for agricultural operation, and getting loan is the biggest advantage to them. Sagar and Prenna-2 SHGs had members hailing from agricultural, labour class and other mixed occupations. The members of these SHGs are hesitant to take loan because of poor economic condition. Those SHGs that are homogenous in occupation (Vanlaxmi, Prenna-1, Js, Banai)seem to run SHGs smoothly. This is because the members take the loans and repay them at fixed intervals of time, i.e during seasonal agricultural activity. In addition, members have farming as productive occupation, which gi\es regular income. Due to both, similar occupation and productive asset, there is regularity in saving and repayment. But in the case of heterogeneous groups, SHGs groups, where members ha\e temporary occupations (Sagar and Prenna-2). there is irregularity in sav ing, repayment and meetings, because they do not ha\e fixed sources of incotne. In additional to it, even if they take small amounis of loans, they use it for consumption and non-productive work like house repairing.

157 household expenses, health and festivals. Therefore, they can not repay the loan. All the money is wasted in non-productive activity. The discussion with agricultural labourers and temporary job holders of Sagar and Prenna-2 SHGs revealed that they feel that participation in SHG would not be of much benefit, as being land less and with poor economic condition, they can not take loan because of the risk of long-term repayment installment, investment in non-productive activity, and fear of collateral mortgaging. Similarly, in terms of caste composition, the members of Vanlaxmi, Sagar and Prenna-1, have homogenous grouping. All the members belong to the Maratha Caste, and are tied with kinship bonds. Therefore, there is a perfect homogeneity achieved by these SHGs. which helps in smooth their functioning. Jeevansarthak and Banai SHGs are mixed groups of Marathas. Marvaris. and Muslims. But these are of almost similar socio-economic status. Therefore SHGs run smoothly, but in case of Prenna-2, it is a heterogeous caste group with equal proportions (Marathas, Mahadev Kolis,Thakurs). Therefore, due to related difference in caste and cultural practices, they could not hold similar opinion. During the discussion w'ith members, it was noticed that one particular group i.e Thakurs, had withdrawn from the group because of domination of VLW, who is a Maratha. This caste related difference hampers the meetings to be held and paralyzes (he SHG activities. However, one important feature that could be noticed in all six SHGs under study was that the members weie mostly from the sa;iie hamlet or locality in the village. Some variation could be observed in one or the other SHG, but majority belonged to the same locality. This did give additional advantage for smooth functioning of SHG.

6) Educational Level The survey of six SHGs under study and Table 4;2 revealed that, out of six SHGs, four SHGs shows very low percentage of literacy among their members (Annexure 1, table 5). Due to illiteracy, thumb impression is prevalent, and most of the women keep themselves away from writing and reading activities of SHG and neglect them. Moreover, due to illiteracy within the group, to some extent the leader seems to have a more active and dominating role. This has reduced fuller participation of members in terms of writing and reading procedure of SHG. However, it also appeals that SHGs have created the at/Tiosphere of learning among the women. Collective participation and decision-making process

158 started changing their mood from “impossible to achieve” to “get things done". It was due to the participation in SHG that people began to realize that they were not so far apart in their thinking after all and nearly everyone wanted the same thing for socio-economic development of the village. SHG brought village solidarity. People were motivated by the sense of common mission. Interview and group discussions revealed that there is shift from community non-participation to community participation. Women succeed in acquiring new and common learning of sharing information freely and broadly, drawing on their own inherent potentialities. Collaboration among each other and with other SHGs brings faith and consensus. Lastly, participation in SHG helps women in setting the stage for action planning of any social activities and collaboration that may resolve former conflicts, which previously paralyzed common action.

7) Meetings: Regular meetings are a major indication of participation and functioning of any SHG. Regular meetings enable participants to connect themselves with SHG activities as well as village affairs. The meetings serve as a source of information for members. The importance attached by an SHG and NGO to its meetings is an indication of the desire on its part to involve members in decision making process and upgrading their information level from time to time, hi all the six SHGs, it is compulsory to meet once in a month. In practice, it is strictly followed. The meetings are supposed to coincide with the payment of monthly saving and repayment installments. However, it appeared that though the member recognize the importance of meetings, attendance is not compulsory. During the study, it was found that almost in all the SHG, the attendance register was filled as and when time was available. Even the members, who skipped the meetings, filled up their presence in attendance. Members who are unable to attend the meeting send their payments through their acquaintances. The group leader also accepts the monthly subscriptions with the knowledge of "mutual understanding". However, continued absence by the members is generally not taken well and message is sent to the absentees to be present in the next meeting. hi case of Prenna -2, the monthly meetings were not held for about a year. When the question was asked to members, why meeting were not being held regularly, a member replied that regular meeting, without any purpose or agenda

159 were of nt) use. The earlier transactions should be settled first, only then should regular meetings be held. However, the interviews and group discussions revealed that the major reason attached by many to the monthly meetings in addition to credit and input, is that it becomes a major forum for discussing other activities like soil and conservation, organic farming and health related issues. It ensures’ members participation in decision making with regard to these programs. Regularly meetings help participants in working out the modalities of implementation of the above programmes as well as to resolve problems connected with the programme, and help in constant perseverance for reaching the desired goals. It was found that in meetings women provided information and marketed their compost fertilizers. In this way. they fulfilled their need and got a benefit.

4:4:2) SHG as Financial Intermediaries So far, we have analyzed the organizational issues of SHGs. Now, in this section, we will analyze the issues like savings by SHGs, their borrowing, loan disbursement and recovery performance.

1) Savings The savings program of the SHGs of the Chaitanya aims at both- developing the habit of saving among members, as well as helping the SHGs to build up their own funds that can be utilized for meeting the members' demands for loans. In fact, Chaitanya places a lot of emphasis on savings as an instrument for fighting women's poverty and for protiioting entrepreneurship for sclf-reliance, self-sustainability and empowerment (Sudha Kothari, 2003). Table 4:4 shows that all 6 SHGs, except Prenna-2. have regular monthly savings. All 5 SHGs have fixed Rs. 50/- as monthly savings to be paid by members. This is an amount that has been decided by the members themselves. These 3 SHGs, due to continuous saving mobilization, have been able to build up a considerable amount of their own capital. So for they all have sht)wn regular increase in saving amount. This reflects their gradual regular progress and process of sustainability. Almost all SHGs under study show that earlier the members had been saving only Rs. I/- or 5/- per month , inception but now they sa\e to RS.50/- . Normally, a member has to save for a minimum period of one year before becoming eligible for loan (internal and external). Today, 5 of six SHGs, are

160 eligible for rotating their loan process and taking loan from federation. In addition to this, all SHGs have fixed deposits, for which federation gives interest rate (11%) fixed by the RBI. The individual members, however, do not get regular interest on their savings due to small size, but when a fixed deposit matures, the amount of interest is returned to the members. The SHG members and leaders revealed that in most cases, the members w'ere not aware of the details regarding the interest rate and total interest earning on the savings. It is saving that determines the extent of borrowing by the members of SHGs. Therefore, regular voluntary savings enabled SHG members to scale up their lending. Through increased bonx)wing from the bank, SHGs built up their ow'n funds out of the members' savings and ultimately became self- reliant in their lending. All the 6 SHGs find SHG transaction simpler and easier than formal banking system. It is the SHG that has given identity to them in the commercial banking system.

2) Borrowing by SHG SHG has made it possible for the poorest of the poor to borrow money in the time of need and crises. The SHGs of Chaitanya can borrow up to 7 times their savings from the federation. The 5 SHGs were found to be borrowing regularly as per the requirement of their members. They borrow through their block level cluster office. This kind of net- working has enabled SHGs to borrow easily. The Director reveled that due to banking rules, they are facing disputes with nationalized banks. However, we were not told about the details of the banking dispute. As the member were either small farmers or agricultural labourers, the borrowing from the SHGs takes place at the beginning of the crop season and repaid after the harvest. The documents and interviews revealed that this rotation has been maintained smoothly by all five SHGs. There is no distortion in case of financial transaction by SHGs. But in the case of the Prenna-2, the lending operation is in litigation, some type of suspicion was developed for VLW, and until that is settled and doubts are cleared up, the financial transaction would not take place.

3) Lending Operation The major cause of SHG’s sustainability is their easy financial transaction procedure. The success and effectiveness of intermediaries like SHGs is

161 determined largely by the extent to which they have been able to create tor their members a reliable and easy source of borrowing. We Ibund that a major feature observed with regard to the lending operations of the SHGs of Chaitanya is that it is mainly the leaders who take sanctioning decisions. The other members play a very limited role. After approval by the group, the leaders approach the federation for the loan, which reaches the borrower in about a month's time. The leader delivers the loan to the borrower in the village itself. In none of the SHGs did members have any complaint about the loan disbursement process. In most cases, the members were able to distinctly identify the simplicity of the entire SHG procedure as compared to the relatively cumbersome procedure of a conventional, formal financial institution like a cooperative credit society or a commercial bank. As regard to the interest rate, all the SHGs, irrespective of the purpose and amount, are charging two percent (2 %) per month or 24% per annum. This uniformity was due to the stipulation by banks and the SHGs’ federation. The SHGs get loans from the federation at an interest rate of 21% per annum and charge their members 24%, thus keeping a margin of 39r for themselves. Though the SHGs did not have any say in the determination of the interest rate, the members seem to find 24% per annum relatively cheaper than the rate charged by formal institutions and moneylenders, hi almost all the SHGs studied, the members approved of the interest rate being charged by the SHG, particularly in comparison with the interest rate of almost 109( per month being charged by the local private moneylenders. In addition, the SHGs have the freedom to give loans for a wide variety of purposes. Some SHGs give priority to certain purposes like meeting medical expenses, school fees, meeting marriage expenses, house repair and renovations. However, a major purpose for which all the SHGs have been giving loans is for farming and agricultural purpose (buying seeds and fertilizers). This is because the people belong to the farming community, and such loans can enhance the productivity of their agro-based economic activities. Other purpt)ses for which SHGs give loans include children's education, agricultural inputs and instruments, repayments of old loan, land repossession/ reclamation, meeting the working capital needs of business and trade, etc. In one of the SHGs, the leader justified the loans to repay old loans by saying that such loans are also reproductive. Given the big difference in the interest rates charged 162 by the SHG and the private moneylenders this would lead to an incremental gain in the net income for the members by way of saving on interest payment. In addition to meeting such diverse credit needs, the SHGs appeared to have become a regular source of credit. Many members in these SHGs claimed to have borrowed more than once. As regards the size of the loan, the members could borrow up to Rs. 10,000/-. In another SHG, members had borrowed even upto Rs. 15,000/-. A major factor that came up prominently during the discussion was that members are not dependent on private lending sources. This was due to their access to the reliable loan facility provided by the SHG. All members of SHG expressed that they are now belter off as compared to the pre-SHG situation.

4) Loan Recovery Performance of SHG.s Loan recovery performance is the major indicator of the success of participation in a rural credit program. It denotes how seriously members of SHG are involved, and participate in SHG activities, and to what extent their own performance makes the SHG sustainable. The overall experience of the SHGs studied in this research, has been found to be good with regard to their loan recovery. Federation authorities informed that recovery rate of the loans is 90- 95%. So far, five out of six SHGs have not so far had any major problems w'ith loan recovery. There is regularity in repayments by all SHGs. Fear of any legal action against defaulters encourages the members repay promptly. SHGs have been able to recover the bulk of the loan amount (Annexure 1. table 5), though it has not been possible to calculate here the exact recovery rate for each SHG due to non- availability of the required data. But, in spite of good recovery, there are instances of default as in the case of Vanlaxmi SHG and Jeevansarthak, but they have been of limited consequences. Various factors like group pressure, self prestige, village name and sense of awareness appears to be responsible for the high level of recovery. Normally, the loans are given for a one-year period to be repaid in monthly installments. In case of small loans, a shorter repayment period is fixed. It was noticed that it is the SHG leaders who are the major decision makers with regard to loan disbursement. They are also responsible for loan monitoring and recovery. During the interview with members, it was noticed that most of members do not want to become a leader because of fear and burden for recovery of the loans

163 sanctioned. But interviews and discussions clearly indicate cohesiveness and collective responsibility towards loan recovery among the members. It is peer pressure on the borrower member to repay the loan. It must be mentioned here that Chaitanya and federation functionaries who are in charge of SHGs also monitor the repayment of loans by the members. The Federation maintains data on loans, and easily track down all loan repayments along with savings. In case of any debt, the federation expects the SHGs to meet the default risk out of the profit margin generated by the loans. Additional to it, federation to tries ensure recovery of debts through the group insurance scheme run by Chaitanya. All the members subscribe to the insurance scheme. In case of default, federation adjusts the claim towards the loan amount, from the defaulter. The amount is deducted from the fixed deposits and sometimes the complete amount is adjusted against the dues. These strategies facilitate smooth loan recycling. However, in the case of one SHG (Prenna-2), large-scale default has taken place. This, as reported by a group of members, was due to the mistrust for VLW. During the discussion, these members revealed that the VLW had failed to distribute the profit. We could not determine whether the members were demanding interest fixed deposit amount or loan interest. Mistrust of VLW had led to the cascading effect of other members refusing to repay the loan. Thus, the SHG that had once a good recovery performance, was now facing chaos. The general body of the federation decided not to disburse any loans in the following year 2003-04 until all the loans were repaid. No transaction took place from Oct.2003. Leader attributed the dissolution of group to the irregular repayment of loan, lack of cooperation and understanding.

4:4:3) Conclusion Based on the findings of this study, a conclusion can be drawn that the NGOs have implemented the concept of SHG successfully, though one could observe certain limitations in their functioning. In the present study, six SHGs of Chaitanya were studied with the objective of understanding the process and product of participation. The study clearly revealed that NGOs successfully implemented saving and credit program as a tool to improve socio-economic condition, bring awareness and increase local level participation. The structure through which Chaitanya

164 operates is fully compatible to meet and match the needs of the local people. The essential characteristic of Self-Help Group is that it is a people based programme, and it is carried out through local or village level beneficiaries, second tier or at block level through cluster office and at district through federation. Thus, the approach is bottom up networking to help and solve the problems of people. At the same time, the programme is independent and people centere. In case any problem is encountered, then it is solved first at village level by village level functionaries and if it is not solved, then only it is taken up at a higher level. This methodology of NGO makes people feel that it is their project or programme, and that they arc the owners of the programme, and it is their action, which will fulfill their need to bccome self-reliant and self-sustainable. The strategy of NGO for infornialii'ii communication is a two way process. At one end, the NGO provides informalion through work shops and "/nclauds' and training programme to upgrade the participation skill for capacity building of local people; and at the other end. it cares for people's need, priorities and local knowledge they possesses. Likewise guidance, contact and linkages are made. This flexible system developed by Chaitaiiva. gives U>cal people the kind of structure through which they can get new intbrniation, know ledge and linkages for the betterment.

Plate No. : 4

Women Awarness Programme

165 Exposure visits, theme camps and issue based programmes and melawas are also organized for the groups. These programmes, which are part of NGO’s major activity, go a long way in helping the promotion of awareness and sustainability. The NGO’s procedure and modalities are simple to facilitate financial operations. The key features of the programme are appointment of VLW at cluster office to solve the problems without delay and a series of camps for group leaders and members. The above methodology and strategy of work lead to a structure in which the NGO work with people and not for people. In turn, the villagers also feel that it is their programme, so they must take part in it. Thus automatically local participation goes on increasing. The success could be seen in Chaitanya’s ability to reach more and more villages through SHGs. Approximately 539 SHGs are working with them, and the number of SHGs is continuously increasing every year. The increase of voluntary demand for initiating SHG by the villagers is an indication of their success. In the present case, people are seen as subject or actors, who have active role in development activities. Regarding the socio-economic composition of the SHG members, it seems that the groups homogenous in terms of caste and occupation are functioning smoothly (like Vanlaxmi, Sagar, Prenna-1, Js and Banai). Due to homogeneity, they bring group solidarity and cohesiveness. This resultes in regular contribution of their monthly subscription and repayments. But the hetrogenous groups like Prenna-2, is dissolved. Three major reasons could be specified for its dissolution. First reason is, difference in caste. The group is formed by Marathas, Mahadev Kolis and Thakurs. One of the groups withdraws its membership by blaming the dominance of other caste leader i.e Marathas. Seond reason is, difference in occupation. The differnence in occupation causes one group, Mahadev Kolis, to go out of the village as daily wage lobourers in road construction, while other groups like Marathas go out during lean period as agricultural labourers and Thakurs go out as watchmen for fields and farms in other villages. Due to diverse occupation, the members could not come together for attending meetings, saving and repayment. The third reason is their poverty. Most of members have invested loan amount in non-productive activities like house repairing, health, and household consumption. Therefore, they do not get any returns or earnings and fail to repay the loan amount. All these reasons combined and attributed to the lack of

166 cooperation, irregular meeting and repayment, which caused the dissolution of the group. The educational levels of members of the 4 SHG (Vanlaxmi, sagar, Prenna-1,2) appeared to he very low. This limits their participation only for few activities like discussion or oral transaction. Due to illiteracy, they could not participate in writing, reading and handling official activities of SHG. For official works, they had to depend on either group leaders or VLW. This gave the group leader more freedom to exercise her power and impose her own decision on the group. While on the Jeevansarthak and Banai SHG, although the education level of some members was higher than that of their leaders, due to younger age depended on their leaders. Regarding the group size, all the six SHGs maintained small group size (16-20). The observations revealed that small group size is manageable and helpful in smooth functioning. Coming to the leadership, which is non-rotational, the leader of SHG appears to assume greater responsibility and power in the SHG process. Caste is no longer the decisive determinant of rural leadership, rather the access to information, work experience and active involvement in the process of development mark the criteria of leadership. But it was observed that women have awareness and are conscious about financial dealings. The members show keen interest, alertness and active participation in issues concerning SHG and development. Participation in SHG brought awareness in women and induced the sense of self-esteem and, self-identity. What a person thinks, feels and values is rellected in his or her behavior, this major self - recognition of role perception brought full participation in SHG activities. Now, the women are not only attributed a role like mother or wife, but are considered as members of ‘SHG movement'. People perceive 'SHG member' as a person who can raise money at any time and extend group help at the time of need or crises. “Women's empowerment began with conscious perception about herself and her rights, capabilities and potential, awareness of how gender, socio-cultural and political forces affect her". (Narayana, op.cit). The present study also largely confirmed that SHGs are capable of playing an effective role as financial intermediaries, especially for the poor women. In active involvement and participation of women in SHG, there is the ability to mobilize considerable funds through encouraging small saving by the members. Largely, saving being the basis of borrowing appears to be the main motivating 167 factor for members to save. The SHG formation has also helped in promoting a sense of saving, and has promoted voluntary saving by member who earlier could hardly save money from the daily wages. While members savings may act as a basis for lending, the study revealed that saving in fixed deposits help member to get easy access to credit and linking with bank made SHG enabled to tap bigger funds. As regards to the lending operations of the SHGs. a major feature observed is their simple procedure, terms and conditions, which enable the poor to have easy access to a regular and cheap source of credit. The flexibility in SHG procedure, in turn, successfully meets the diverse credit needs of the members. This diversified lending happens only because of easy availability of information about members' needs by the SHGs. Additional to it, being local, SHG, is a reliable source of saving and credit, available at the eleventh hour and at a lower rate of interest while earlier they had to pay 10% interest rate to money lender. For all these reasons, the members have found SHG to be much superior to other sources of credit, both formal and informal. The data of five of six SHGs show high recovery rates. Various factors seemed to be responsible for this. The factors like easy source of credit, burden of interest and commitment to active and fair participation, community and peer pressure and leaders' effective monitoring and inducement appeared to have positive influence on recovery rates. Focusing on the socio-cultural dimension of women's participation in SHG. the cases clearly indicate that the whole village has begun to respect the group as an institution, because SHG helped their members to grow' in both, in terms of increased livelihood, as well as concern for the w'elfare of each other and of the village. All the six SHG had taken initiative to mobilize the entire village, and undertake several village development activities like road repairing, sanitation, getting water and light connection, awareness camps and pathnatak(street-plays) for agricultural developments. There is increased participation of women in the 'formal' sphere, both Cmvernmental and formal institutions. The interviews and discussion with SHG members revealed that SHG members' interaction with the 'grampanchayat' had increased. Women had started attending the grampanchayat meetings while in pre- SHG situation; it was only men's affair. SHG members were also approaching 168 panchayat office and samiti office to start ‘Mahila gram sabha’, so that women voices can be strengthened further. This increase in the number of women attending the meeting may be attributed to the increase in confidence, derived from having reputed institutional backing and confidence to interact in the ‘formal’ setting. Today SHG is now quite a sensitive institution to take up any ‘grampanchayat’ scheme, which is fulfills to the villagers’ needs. Many members mentioned that only after joining the SHG they had gained the confidence of conducting bank transactions on their own. Similarly, due to exposure visits and camps, they had frequent interactions with public offices (and other visitors) and arc now able to seek out and approach Government officials on their own. Plate No. : 5

Woman Informing and Interacting with Visitors ((iTZ Representatives)

Many nonmembers mentioned that seeing poor women going to banks and attending meetings was unheard of before the SHGs were formed. It was also unusual to see women attending and participating in Gramsabha meetings. SHG brought changes in attitudes of men towards women taking up ‘non - domestic’ roles. Most of the SHG members said that their husbands and families no longer ‘complain’, if they are late in returning from the meeting or training programmes. Instead, they are encouraged to go out on SHG related work. Their families, who in the beginning hesitated in allowing them to travel from the village for training programmes, or to Government departments, now have become supportive.

169 However, group leaders mentioned that men allow women to go out, because they are getting loans and other benefits for the family. Due to access to the information and guidance, men treat women on equal footing and consider them as equal partner in social activities and sometimes they also try to seek opinions and advice from SHG group. Regarding the liking of the SHG programme, there was. however, a difference of opinion, between better off members and women living on the edge. The better off members take SHG as medium through which they can get involved in socio-cultural activities and also as an instrument to pool resources. But poor women with small children and daily wage earners sometime fell the burden of the extra work created by the .SHG to be cumbersome. Discussion on decision -making process and the responses revealed that joint decision in issues related to the household is most acceptable in post- SHG situation. To conclude, SHGs can certainly be effective instrument for economic self-sustenance for the poor. At the same time, women’s participation in self-help groups, made them realize that there is no development without their own contribution. Participation in SHG helped people build their own capacity and manage the financial problems from their own resources. Therefore, people envision SHGs as an alternative economic system. SHGs have empowered the women to decide their priorities and meet their practical needs. SHGs appear to be the learning ground for building capacity of the people at different levels of developments. At the same time, for the NGO. SHG is a good entry point, which has tremendous potential for social action and mobilization. The NGO has contributed some major elements, which are critical to the success and effectiveness of SHGs. These are: autonomy of the group, participatory decision-making, and necessary managerial skills among the SHG functionaries working in group. Additional to it, the NGO puls smooth functioning SHGs in touch with mainstream banking institutions. This helps the community to tap government funds and resource base. All five of the six grt)ups are strong and credit worthy. Their management capacity is progressively increased o\er the years. The major achievement is that the people are mobilized around econt)mic programmes, due to which the middlemen or moneylenders are totally removed. It appears that people are playing an active role in judging the credit potential of the loan application, in monitoring, and ensuing repayment also. Since the depc^sitors and borrowers are the same, there is minimal bureaucracy and maximum peer 170 control. The collateral benefit of the SHG programme is that it inculcates the saving habits in the people. Overall, in the present research, the impact of the SHG programme was felt on three levels. These are: economic, socio-cultural and personal. The impact of economic sphere was felt mainly in terms of enhancement of productive potential, regarding socio-cultural. it has increased social interaction, mobilization and community celebration of festivals. On personal sphere, it is in terms of acquisition of information and knowledge. There was increased in self-confidence and self-esteem. Although SHG is meant for economic activity, its social and personal product was impressive. In fact, it was the latter achievement that has greater importance and has holistic approach. Hence the case clearly indicates that the process of empowerment is systematically achieved through the process of partnership and cooperation. Where local people participate cohesively with planners, where they have access to decision- making, and w'here they share the costs and benefits of development equitably. Such participation is initiated by sharing power and control between planners and rural people. The ca.se characteristics fall in David Dashler's empowerment categories.

SUMMARY OF CASE STUDY

Ca.se Study-2 Women’s Empowerment through Participation in Self-Help Group

Table No.4.4:3:l) Sr. Genuine Ca.se Features no Participation Assumption: The present study reveals that the structure through People centred which Chaitanya operates is fully compatible to meet and match the needs of local people. The essential characteristics of SHG is that it is a people based progrmme, and it is pre.sented through local or village level beneficiaries, at block level through cluster office and at district level through federation. Hence people control the programme at all levels.

171 Sr. Genuine Case Features no Participation Principle; The function, formation and approach of SHG is Primacy of people bottom up networking to help and solve the problems of people. The programme is independent and people centered. In case if any problem is encountered then it is solved first at village level by villagers and if it is not solved, then only it is taken up at a higher level. Thus this methodology of NGO makes people feel that it is their project and they are the owners of the programme and it is their action, which will fulfill their needs to become self - reliant and self- sustainable. Importance of: NGO strategy for information and communication is a Traditional two way process. At one end NGO provides knowledge is information through work shops, melavas and training equally relevant. programmes to upgrade skill and increase participation of the local people and on the other end, it cares for people's need, priorities and the local knowledge they posses. Local people get ample opportunities to use their local knowledge by utilizing it in practical way. This tlexible system gives local people the kind of structure through which they can pull off new information, knowledge and linkages for betterment. 4 People seen as: The key features of NGO's activities are: exposure Subject, actors visits, theme camps, issue based progrmme and nicUivci.s where local people participate enthusiastically and upgrade their skill and capacity. This strategy of work gives characteristic structure in which NGO gives their expression of working with the people, while in turn, the villagers feel that the programme is theirs and that they are the active participant due to which programme gets momentum. Attitude towards As regard saving, lending and repayment operation of participation: SHG, the major feature observed is their simple

172 Sr. Genuine Case Features no Participation A never ending procedure, and reasonable terms and conditions that process enable the poor to have easy access to a regular and cheap source ol' credit. Due to this people participate continuously and the programme continues. Leadership In the present SHG case, the leadership is organic. The pattern: Organic, leader is clected either because she has taken the preferably selected initiative in SHG formation or because she is literate by people and therefore more competent to discharge leadership themselves responsibilities. Objective of Due to SHG programme, it was observed that women development: have awerness and are conscious about financial Striving towards a dealings. The member show keen interest, alertness common vision and actively participates in issues concerning SHG and understanding and development. Participation in SHG has brought of self­ awareness in women and induced the sense of self­ development esteem and self-identity. SHG has brought all the people on one platform, where they strive for common goal of socio-economic betterment. SHG has built up village solidarity. People have been motivated by the sense of a common mission. Approach of work: From the study, it appears that NGO's workshop, Learning, listening melavLis and camps gives ample opportunity to people and facilitating to learn new things and at the same time SHG has created the atmosphere of learning among the women. Collective participation and decision- making process started changing their mood from the Impossible" to ‘achievement' and to get ; things done'. It was due to the participation in SHG that people began to realize that they were not so far away in their thinking and nearly every villager wanted socio-economic development of the village. Planning strategy: The flexibility in procedures and SHG operation made Open ended, the programmes popular. The llexibility and openness

173 Sr. Genuine Case Features no Participation process-approach of SHG system helped villagers to meet diverse credit needs of the members. 10 Change is seen as: The SHG brought various positive effects, which not Transformative only transformed individuals but also the community at large. The data also revealed that mal practices have completely stopped, women are handling financial transaction, their participation in gnimsahlui has increased, and borrowing money has completely stopped. These are examples which indicate that SHG succeeded in transforming the community from passive and recipient to an active and productive community. 1 1 Type of solution: The crux of the problem of rural poverty is lack of Aimed at capital and in accessibility over resources, and poor elimination of root saving habit. SHG has directly addressed the.se issues cause or structural by inculcating the saving habit exercising control over changes financial resources etc. Thus SHG play a key role in generating new livelihood options, strengthening existing socio-economic and cultural practices, livelihood and enhancing confidence and status of the marginalized groups. 12 Motive: The data reveals that NGO used SHG as an instrument Empowerment to achieve the objectives like women's empowerment.

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