A Study on Women Entrepreneurship in Mary Matha Social Centre, Thevakkal, Ernakulam

A STUDY ON WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN MARY MATHA SOCIAL CENTRE, THEVAKKAL, ERNAKULAM.

Jency Baby Assistant Professor Dept. of Commerce Mercy College Palakkad Abstract

Women’s entrepreneurship can make a particularly strong contribution to the economic well- being of the family and communities, poverty reduction and women’s empowerment, thus contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Thus, governments across the world as well as various developmental organizations are actively undertaking promotion of women entrepreneurs through various schemes, incentives and promotional measures.

The study is related to Mary Matha Social Centre a small organization established by Congregation of Theresian Carmelits with an aim to enhance the capabilities of women.

A STUDY ON WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN MARY MATHA SOCIAL CENTRE, THEVAKKAL, ERNAKULAM

Jency Baby

Introduction

The Indian society is a male dominant one. Women are considered as weaker sex and are left with closed commitments only. Such sociological and cultural habits, have been keeping in the women sector of the Indian population, a dormant one for quite a long time.

The truth is different one. When proper exposure and knowledge are imparted to them, Indian women, proved themselves to be highly potential productive force. When proper education and environment are given, the social taboo can be broken up and women force can be used as a good human resource potential for the development of the Nation. Today, we can see educated women liberate themselves from the unwanted customs and habits and prove themselves to be good professionals in various fields.

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is a person in an organization, with a vision, originality and daring, who acts as the boss and divides as to how, the activities shall be carried down. The entrepreneur must be able to coordinate different factors in right proportion to achieve the optimum target consistently forever. With strong determination and self confidence, the entrepreneur must invert new ideas and implement them in all the spheres of the enterprise.

Entrepreneurship refers to the function of seeking investment and production opportunity, organizing an enterprise to undertake ventures on production or service, by coordinating men, money, machinery and material, and introducing new techniques in the overall administration of an enterprise.

Women Entrepreneurship

According to J.A. Schumpeter, "Woman who innovates, imitates, or adopts a business activity is called woman entrepreneur." Thus women entrepreneur are those women who initiate, organize and operate business enterprise and want to prove their mettle in innovative and competitive jobs. She also wants to oversee and control every aspects of her business for its overall success.

According to Government of India, a woman entrepreneur is defined as "an enterprise owned and controlled by a woman and having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of employment generated in the enterprise to women.

Women entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important source of economic growth. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and also provide society with different solutions to management, organization and business problems. However, they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs often face gender-based barriers to starting and growing their businesses, like discriminatory property, matrimonial and inheritance laws and/or cultural practices; lack of access to formal finance mechanisms; limited mobility and access to information and networks, etc.

Training needs for Women Entrepreneur

With increasing realization that entrepreneurs are important, many State level and National level organizations and institutions are developing and administering training programmes aimed at specific requirements.

The National Level Institutions are:

 Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad  National Institute of Small Industry Extension Training, Hyderabad  National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development, New Delhi  National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, New Delhi. Most of the training programmes organized by such institutions are of very general and conceptual in nature. Of course they are useful to the entrepreneurs in a real way.

Statement of the Problem

Women constitute about 50% of the world population. In traditional societies, they are confirmed to performing household activities. Hence women are called home makers. But today the entrepreneurial world is open to the women folk. A couple of decade ago number of working women was very less. But now, as the cost of living has increased, they have keenly felt the need to work outside. This study focuses on the initiative taken by a group of nuns at Thevakkal, Ernakulam District, a nonprofit organization, activated to enhance entrepreneurial talents in the minds of women who are within the four walls of their house.

Profile of the organization

Mary Matha Social Centre is a small organization established Congregation of Theresian Carmelits with an aim to enhance the capabilities of women. It was established on 24th June, 2009. It is purely a nonprofit organization. It is controlled by Sr. Liza, Mother General, who is the head of the institution. The activities of the organization are performed by the Local Authority, Casa Maria Convent, which is attached to this unit. The Board consists of a a Community Animator (i.e, the Mother Superior), a Local Animator, and first and second counselor who meets once in a month to discuss any issues or matters concerning the functioning the organization.

The main function of the organization is the manufacture of garments (inner) which is being sold in the markets of Tamilnadu (Pollachi, Coimbatore) and Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram). At present Mary Matha Social Centre has 32 power machines (sewing machines) of different categories for its production process. It has given employment to 34 ladies which have helped them to improve their standard of living. Out of these 26 are from nearby locality and the rest of them (8) are from North India (i.e, Bihar).

Organization Structure of Mary Matha Social Centre

Mother General

Community Animator

Local Animator

1st Counsellor 2nd Counsellor

Objectives of the study

 To analyze the impact of entrepreneurship in Mary Matha Social Centre.  To study about the functioning of the organization.  To know the problems and challenges faced by the nuns who runs this organization.  To analyze the role of Government authorities in this organization.

Scope of the study

The present study is about empowering women and inculcating entrepreneurial skills among them through Mary Matha Social Centre, a nonprofit organization run by a group of nuns at Thevakkal, Ernakulam. The study measures the performance of the organization and tries to identify their problems and constraints. The scope of the study is limited to this organization due to constraints of time. There are similar other organizations run by different agencies which are not taken into consideration by the researcher.

Methodology

 The study is mainly based on primary data.  Direct personal interview was made to the officials of this organization.

Functions of the Organization

The organization collects the raw materials from Tamilnadu, were the products are comparatively less costly. These raw materials are converted into finished goods by these women with the help of different kinds of sewing machine with different fashions. At present there are 32 power machines imported from Singapore each costing Rs.2,00,000/- approximately. The investment for the purchase of this machine was done by the Congregation itself. There are some third parties which help the organization during the collection of raw materials. Once the raw materials are converted into finished goods and sold in the market, this due would be settled by the organization to these third parties. The firm doesn’t gain much from this activity, but it is a source of living to many who are working in this organization. The organization works from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Problems Faced by Mary Matha Social Centre

 The nuns of this organization is putting a strain to bring women from North India (Bihar) were the standard of living is very low. As the nuns carry out this work as apart of their mission, they are sent to different parts of the country with the objective of enhancing the capabilities of individuals and thereby improving their standard of living. So the nuns get a close contact with the people living in these states. It is found that most of the Biharis are below poverty line and are having 9 to 10 children in their family. So they find it very hard push forward their daily life as their parents are working mainly in rock mines from which they get a little remuneration which is not at all enough/ satisfactory to cover even their day to day expenses. So the women above 18 years are being brought out from these areas by the nuns to this organization with their parents consent for a period of 2 years. After being equipped with these technical skills From Mary Matha Social Centre, these women are sent back to their respective places of residence. Some may even wish to continue here itself as it a main source of income to their family. So a lot strain is put by this organization for equipping the women in these areas.  Even though the organization is a non profit organization, it doesn’t receive any subsidy or grant from the Government for its functioning.  Mary Matha Social Centre is functioning in a building which was given as a donation by an individual, who is at present a citizen of USA. So the organization has to pay full tax on the property and the building every 6 months along with the sales tax.  The congregation doesn’t receive any foreign fund or investment. So it finds it hard to pay off all the taxes and related expenses.

Findings

 It has helped the women folk to be self independent.  It helped to improve their standard of living.  It is the main source of income to the Biharis who comes for the job.  It helped these women to start a small unit under their control in their respective villages, thereby generating employment to few individuals.  It helped to improve the literacy among these people.  Salary is distributed to the employees on piece rate basis.  The women working here are able to make around Rs 1, 00,000 /- in a year which is sent to their respective states.  No frequent turnover or absenteeism is noticed in the organization.  The firm is able to sell all its goods into the market through intermediaries.  The products are produced in the organization according to the customer’s tastes and preferences and according to the changing fashions.  The products are having huge demand in the market. So the organization can forward with their activities smoothly.

Suggestions

 As the firm sells all its products through intermediaries, it doesn’t gain much. So necessary steps must be adopted to sell the products into the market directly as it may increase the profit of the organization.  Government must take necessary steps to enhance the functioning of this organization as the main objective of this organization is to develop the capabilities of women and thereby irradiation of poverty to a certain extent.  Subsidies and grants received by other firms must also be made availed to this organization.  Government must take necessary steps to wipe out or reduce the tax burden to a certain extent as it is a nonprofit organization.  Necessary helps must be put forward by the municipality to this organization without much cumbersome formalities.

Conclusion

From the study, it is found that Mary Matha Social Centre has played a vital role for the development of women in our economy. It plays a crucial role in the alleviation of poverty, in the all round progress of our nation and of the family in particular. It helps to develop their standard of living too.

Entrepreneurial spirit among women should be moulded properly according to their entrepreneurial traits. Thus we can conclude by saying that the importance of women entrepreneurship has brought out a significant change in the lifestyle of women and society as a whole.

References

 Women Entrepreneurship-Issues and Strategies- M.Soundarapandian  Entrepreneurial Development- M.D.U. Rohtak  http://smallb.in  Women- iosrjournals.org  pezzottaitejournals.net  http://www.ukessays.com  www.indianresearchjournals.com  Entrepreneurship in India- http://www.indianmba.com