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No. of GPLFs audited 712
Stepping Ahead
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Making the most of an opportunity has led this woman in Madhabhanvi village in Belagavi district to a comfortable life, with social acknowledgements and economic prosperity.
“We had very dark days when it was difficult to provide food for the family. We have overcome those problems with the help of Sanjeevini. Participating in SARAS fairs has turned out to be a boon for us”, says Maya Arun Honakhande.
Maya’s husband was a daily wager; as his earnings did not suffice for the family, after the day’s work, Arun used to weave Kolhapuri leather footwear to earn more money. As he worked late into the night, Maya was concerned about his health and began to work with him to reduce the burden.
Maya heard about the Sanjeevini NRLM from relatives in the neighbouring taluk, and attended a GPLF meeting chaired by the Sanjeevini Taluk Mission Management Unit staff to get a better understanding of the programme. After the meeting, Maya was convinced that Sanjeevini could help her and other women in her village who were in distress. A few of them got together to form the Sri Siddeshwara self help group in 2011, and Maya became its representative. Like any other SHG under the NRLM ambit, the savings of the group was Rs.100 per week and the cumulative savings stood at Rs.12,120. Meanwhile, Maya realised that there was not much local demand for the Kolhapuri footwear in their surroundings and that they needed a larger market area in order to make the business sustainable.
The Sanjeevini marketing team gave her an opportunity to showcase her footwear at the SARAS fair. Encouraged by the demand, she decided to invest her personal savings of Rs.40,000 and raised a loan of Rs.1.10 lakh with help of Sanjeevini’s financial inclusion team to set up better infrastructure to manufacture the footwear.
With NRLM’s support, Maya has been using the marketing platform of the SARAS fairs and has participated in fairs in cities across the country such as New Delhi, Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad.
While SARAS fairs earn a good profit of Rs.30,000, there has also been a gradual increase in the demand for her footwear in Karnataka, and Maya earns Rs.45,000 - Rs.65,000 annually. The future looks bright as the footwear will get a wider customer base after being marketed on the Government e-commerce platform.
Access to Funds
On the periphery of the state capital, self help groups in Bengaluru Rural district are gainfully self employed in activities such as dairying, floriculture, sericulture, poultry, and growing vegetables and grapes.
Says NM Nagaraja, CEo, Bengaluru Rural Zilla Panchayat, “Easy availability of CIF loans from the Gram Panchayat Level Federation has led to a reduction in the villagers’ dependence on loans from private financiers”.
GPLFs have been formed and SHGs are working successfully. Funds have been released to SHGs in 73 GPLFs from the Community Investment Fund.
SHG members have started micro enterprises after being provided technical know-how, EDP training, marketing support, apart from financial assistance. They have taken up ventures such as dairying, sheep rearing, poultry, pottery, silk weaving and manufacturing of sanitary napkins and cloth bags, through MBKs and LCRPs.
Close to 1 lakh families have been positively impacted by Sanjeevini activities in Bengaluru Rural district.
Beautiful Enterprise
Sanjeevini Champion: Veena, Devanahalli taluk
Combining a head for business and her skills, this Sanjeevini champion has earned high social standing while increasing the family income manifold.
The beauty salon started as a small business venture to help Veena become financially reliant, but the earnings have now become a major support for her family. Along with this, she has become a prominent person in the locality.
Veena lives in Ardeshanahalli village in Devanahalli taluk, Bengaluru Rural district. Though her family has 14 guntas of agricultural land, it is dry and unviable for agriculture. Her husband works as a primary school teacher in a private school and earns a salary of Rs.7,000 per month. As their living conditions became tougher, Veena thought of opening a beauty parlour in the village. She had learnt the basics in school and felt that it could now be a career. She joined the Kateramma SHG and sought financial assistance for the venture. She got trained in the craft and began to work in nearby parlours to understand the techniques of business: the requirements of time, investment, raw materials and customer flow.
The Jalige Gram Panchayat Master Book Keeper completed the Micro Investment Plan and the Jagruthi Sanjeevini GPLF’s executive committee approved a CIF loan. The Kateramma SHG was sanctioned a loan of Rs.1.25 lakh to be given to Veena.
She set up shop near her house and used Rs.1 lakh to procure all the necessities. Business began to look good within three months, thanks to her zeal, capability and professionalism. With 500 houses in the village, there were plenty of young women who became her customers.
over a period of time, her daily income has grown from Rs.200 to Rs.1,000. She also gets several orders to attend to make up requirements at weddings and other events. In addition, she also hires out artificial jewellery, and her monthly income is now Rs.30,000.
Platform for Women Entrepreneurs
Sanjeevini SHGs in and around the capital city have tapped into contemporary trends to make products for a growing market in the Bengaluru Urban district.
Catering to urban requirements, the focus area in the district is cloth and paper bag making, nursery plantations, homemade sweets and masala products, cut vegetables & fruits selling at various points. Says Shivarame Gowda, CEo, Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat, “Women entrepreneurs look for marketing support from Sanjeevini and we offer quite a lot of support. In addition, we plan to organize periodic ‘SHG Santhes’ (fair) at the Zilla Panchayat office to provide a marketing platform for startup SHG entrepreneurs.”
He notes that apart from financial and economic justice, and improved social status in the society for rural women, Sanjeevini has enabled equal rights for rural women to participate in social, religious and public activities. The programme has a great impact on reduction of domestic violence, improved women health, political representation and gender equality. Successful women entrepreneurs have become inspirations and role models to other members of their communities. Sanjeevini is a programme for the overall development of the society.
In Bengaluru Urban district, 41,145 households have been brought under the NRLM folder. Women members are encouraged to start entrepreneurial activities and SHGs are engaged in various micro entrepreneurial activities. The ZP encourages them to participate in local, national and international level exhibitions within the state and outside as well.
