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Dear Friends,
Since 2002, Sampada
Trust is promoting and organizing women Self Help Groups (SHGs). The
focus is to empower individuals and groups by providing financial,
entrepreneurial, insurance polices and customized services to meet their
specific needs, thus providing a suite of services to women at their
doorstep.
Sampada Trust has been
mobilizing and organizing women into Sanyukta Mahila Samittee (SMS)
joint women groups and SHGs and has, so far, provided financial support
to 3471 SHGs
through the (SMS- apex body of the SHGs in the village) the preferred
credit delivery system to 40,467 women. A total of Rs. 107,934,436/- has
been disbursed as repayable financial assistance. For the first time,
Sampada Trust has clubbed micro enterprise and micro insurance with
micro finance, as it believes that they play a vital role in women's
development. These two components are not easily accessible to the rural
poor, especially, women. Hence, Sampada Trust has intervened in this
area in order to provide women with security benefits.
Sampada's main thrust
is poverty reduction and women's empowerment which is achieved by
organizing women into SHGs, enabling them to develop managerial
capacities to handle their SHGs and by creating opportunities for them
to voice their opinion on various occasions such as melawas (women's
gathering), exposure visits, village meetings, etc.
In this issue, our
focus is on micro finance and micro enterprise promotion, which go hand
in hand in developing the creative potentials of rural women. Sampada
provides financial, technical, managerial and risk management support
for the start up of their activity, thus laying the foundations that
their economic activities enhance their quality of life.
We share with you the
experiences of the women of Marathwakdi and Sakra village and the
remarkable changes that have come about in their lives as a result of
the
initiation of income generation activities they have undertaken.
We invite you to share
your views and experiences in similar works thus facilitating an
enriching discussion forum which would help us take the microfinance
movement forward. . .
Editor
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Micro
Enterprises Through Entrepreneurship Development
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The Self Help
Group movement is changing the lives of women all around the world. Income
generation activities through SHGs have helped many women to become
financially independent as these activities often become the major source
of income to the family. This naturally increases the status of women in
their families, particularly increasing their participation in the
decision making process. All this creates the environment for women to
come into the mainstream of development. Income generating activities thus
are important in this process of leading women towards financial security
and eventually, mainstreaming them.
Entrepreneurship
Development is very essential if these income generating activities are to
be made sustainable. With this in mind, SAMPADA TRUST has taken the
initiative of establishing a separate unit for Entrepreneurship
Development.
The process of
Entrepreneurship Development starts with developing of the entrepreneurial
culture among the SHGs. Dr. David McClelland has rightly stated that
"Entrepreneurs are not born - they can be developed". Motivation
plays a crucial role in the creation of any business activity. It has been
observed that "Entrepreneurs are achievement-motivated" and
developing this drive in a person is possible through imparting training
inputs.
We begin by
undertaking an area assessment survey that helps to give a picture of all
the resources that are available in the area- skills available with the
entrepreneur, raw material and the outlets in term of markets. Selecting
the business idea, product or needed service is a tough job. The
perceptual and cognitive framework of the entrepreneur has to be changed
if she is to identify market need. Any such need fulfilling activity will
prove economically viable in the long run. Knowing basic marketing
principles is also a thrust area, which has to be focused upon. Costing
plays an important role in the delivery of any product/service. A person
who has got core competency in the field will naturally be able to compete
better in the market. The ultimate success depends upon economic
transactions in terms of profit and profitability, which ultimately
decides the sustainability of the enterprise.
Often, once the
enterprise is commenced, the entrepreneurs are left to manage on their
own. In reality, the survival and growth of the activity depends upon the
inputs received during the actual implementation of the activity. It is
thus very necessary to provide non-credit inputs/escort services to
entrepreneurs so as to ensure sustainability of the activities.
These
are the major areas where SAMPADA plans to intervene. The focus will be on
helping rural women and the members of SHGs to develop micro enterprises
through an Entrepreneurship Development Strategy that includes:
- Development
of entrepreneurial culture in the project area
- Start
up of micro-enterprises
- Non-credit
inputs and the escort services to the entrepreneurs for a period of 3
years.
- Linkage
building with resource agencies as well as input-output markets.
Finance
is the major constraint for starting any enterprise, as the rural
entrepreneurs are often not considered bankable by the formal sector,
since many of them are already defaulters.
Though government
and bank schemes do exist to provide capital to rural entrepreneurs, it
has been found that due to various reasons these schemes do not reach the
poor and the needy. There is a basic lack of confidence in poor people's
ability to repay loans. With this in mind, SAMPADA makes available credit
support in the form of micro finance to rural entrepreneurs through their
SHGs and we are also planning several new financial products for them as
well as for individual entrepreneurs.
Besides women,
SAMPADA also plans to focus on the rural youth who are energetic,
enthusiastic and hard working and who form a major part of the rural
society. A small impetus in the form of entrepreneurship development and
small credit to help start income generating activities, will go a long
way to fruitfully utilize these qualities of the youth and create self-employment
which will greatly improve the quality of their lives.
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Micro-Finance
Hand in Hand with Women's Empowerment
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Micro
Finance (MF) and micro enterprises (ME) playa vital role in helping the
poor realize their dreams. Self-employment is a basic need of every person
in society in order to live a life of dignity. Individuals and
institutions in society can share this collective responsibility.
Institutional support in the areas of micro finance and micro enterprise
development makes a significant contribution to increasing employment
leading to socio-economic enhancement of people in rural areas.
In
India, women playa very important role in the family and society. If her
role and status is further enhanced, speed of rural development will be
increased tremendously. Hence, the influx of NGOs, CBOs, and other
agencies in the promotion of women SHGs.
For
micro finance to be a success, we need to have the strong back up of
self-help groups/ neighborhood groups. Formation of self-help groups (SHGs)
is a must in order to facilitate the process of providing credit to the
poor. But the SHGs main purpose is not only to route credit but also
allied services. Group activities undertaken and issues addressed at a
micro level help strengthen the ties between group members and generate a
sense of belongingness. SHGs serve as support groups for the poor enabling
them to avail of various services and benefits. The main thrust of Sampada
Trust is centered on this principle 'Help people Help Themselves'.
Since
an NGO's emphasis is on poverty alleviation interventions should not only
be to promote SHGs, but also sustain them as autonomous bodies while
federating them at an apex level. This would enable women to utilize their
collective and solidarity power to fight issues of inequality, injustice
and exploitation, at the home, village and wider levels.
Sampada's
role is in promotion and formation of SHGs into a vigilant action force
Le. a pressure group to voice the opinions of the voiceless, to integrate
and link these SHGs to resources available (insurance companies, banks,
training institutions) and to identify various income generating
opportunities to sustain the activities and enhance growth of the SHGs. As
a resource organisation we provide and disseminate necessary information
regarding trainings for entrepreneurs (Entrepreneurship Awareness and
Skill based Programmes), feasibility and sustainability of the activity,
escort services, etc.
We
constantly motivate and encourage women in SHGs to move beyond credit and
to view credit as only one of the means of empowerment and not an end in
itself. The credit activity is seen as one element in an integrated
approach of empowerment. While empowerment is viewed as a holistic
approach Le. affecting all spheres of a woman's life, such as, her
personal life (her fight against physical, mental torture and violence);
or the domestic sphere (her decision making ability and control over
resources);
the political arena (her involvement in the political processes) and the
economic sphere (her access to resources .
and control over her own income). Thus empowerment is achieved when all
these aspects of a woman's life is addressed.
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Summary of Operations of
the Micro-Finance as on 30th June 2005
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SAMPADA's
Micro Credit was initiated in the year 1997-98, initially as a pilot
initiative of Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) in response to the
demands for capitalization of the rural women's SHG.
As
on June 30, 2005 Sampada has disbursed more than 10 Crore (cumulative)
through 670 SMS, reaching out to more than 40 thousand women. During the
current financial year, till June 2005, we have disbursed a total of Rs. 9,396,5001-
through 72 SMS, where 3064 women members of 291 SHGs received
financial assistance.
SAMPADA caters to women's consumptive and productive
needs through three types of loan product: Seasonal loan, Short Term Loan
and Medium Term Loan. Seasonal Loan mostly caters to agriculture inputs
and small consumptive needs of individuals in the villages, while Short
Term and Medium Term loans address the income generating activities in the
villages. Loan utilized for agriculture inputs includes purchase of seeds,
pesticides, fertilizers, etc. Loan utilized for the start up of the income
generation activities includes Grocery Shop, Flour Mill, Dry fish
business, Tailoring, Pottery, Bangle business, Dairy (Goat and Cow), etc.
Sr. No. |
Particulars |
From 1998 to Mar'02 |
Apr'02 - Mar'03 |
Apr'03 - Mar'04 |
Apr'04 - Mar'05 |
Apr'05 - June 05 |
Cumulative Total |
1 |
No. of Villages |
145 |
132 |
172 |
192 |
71 |
712 |
2 |
No. of Loans |
178 |
131 |
172 |
211 |
72 |
764 |
3 |
No. of SHGs involved
in credit |
880 |
648 |
773 |
879 |
291 |
3,471 |
4. |
No. of Clients in
credit |
9,505 |
8,145 |
9,486 |
10,267 |
3,064 |
40,467 |
5. |
Disbursement during
period |
25,516,826 |
20,910,970 |
21,461,720 |
30,648,420 |
9,396,500 |
107,934,436 |
6. |
Principal Outstanding
(Year end) |
1,485,635 |
4,684,547 |
9,172,915 |
9,594,806 |
18,991,306 |
18,991,306 |
7. |
Average Loan size per
SHG |
28,996 |
32,270 |
27,764 |
34,867 |
32,290 |
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8. |
Average Loan size per
individual |
2,685 |
2,567 |
2,262 |
2,985 |
3,067 |
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9. |
No of SMS involved |
106 |
128 |
172 |
192 |
72 |
670 |
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Setting up of Sampada Trust
WOTR's Micro Finance unit has now become an
independent sister organisation called SAMPADA TRUST and has shifted the
office to a new premise. The address is as follows :
'SAMPADA', Behind Market Yard,
Ahmednagar - 414 001, Maharashtra, India
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Insurance as a
Social Security Tool
Insurance is related to personal / family safety and welfare (life and
health insurance) as well as to the protection of the economic
value of assets. Assets that are likely to be destroyed or be
non-functional through an accidental occurrence are insured to
protect their economic value.
The
importance of insurance is often only understood after misfortune
has struck. Even though there are numerous insurance agencies in
the country, the rural poor have not yet got access to these
facilities. SAMPADA TRUST has recently ventured into this area to
provide social security to the poor in the rural areas of
Maharashtra. Sampada offers both Life and General Insurance
(inclusive of health).
Sampada functions as a
corporate agent to link rural individuals to reputed insurance providers
and is making all-out efforts to ensure that the benefits of insurance
reach all the women's groups associated with it.
Micro-Enterprise
Development A new focus area for SAMPADA
SAMPADA TRUST has set up a separate cell
to focus on Micro Enterprise Development. In
this context, it will be conducting livelihood-based training programmes
to enable women to develop and master different skills that will enhance
their entrepreneurial capacity and help them gain financial security. It
will also provide financial support and escort services to such trained
entrepreneurs or self-employed persons.
Melawa (Women's Gathering)
Melawa is organized wherein a
large gathering of women from a distance of approx. 5 -10 kms.
come together to discuss on various issues such as health, micro
finance, micro enterprise (livelihood activities), legal aid,
insurance and share experiences of their life before and after
joining the SHG movement. Local contribution towards the expenses
is in the form of travel and arrangement made for the stage and
acoustics. The melawa is organised by the women themselves right
from planning to implementation and collaboration with
participating villages in the logistic arrangements.
Sampada Trust has organized
along with women a total of 9 melawas in 3 regions (Wardha, Nandurbar and
Ahmednagar) of Maharashtra involving around 27,000 women.
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Trainings
Management Development Programme For Development
Organisations from 6th-9th December 2005.
Sampada Trust aims at designing training modules for
training professionals, rural managers and those in charge of
specific managerial functions in order to assist rural
organizations and institutions in professionalizing their
management and empower rural people through adoption of self
sustaining processes.
The
objective of the programme is to impart knowledge and skills
required for identification, selection, preparation and appraisal
of projects, their implementation, monitoring, control and
evaluation.
The programme consists of a
blend of lectures, cases, classroom discussions and group exercise
to reinforce concepts, tools and techniques. In particular, the
MDP will bring out the need for adoption of a multi-pronged
approach based on Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) for meaningful
management of development programmes and projects.
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Ammai's Story A
Flourmill for the Village
I am
Ammai, I am 53 years old. I have two children. Both
my daughter and son are married. After the death of my husband, my
son was not in position to maintain a big family. So I decided to
migrate back from Andhra Pradesh to my village Sakra of
Pandharkawda Taluka in Yavatmal, where I had a piece of land
purchased by my father-in-law. Sakra is a remote village with
around 48 families. I thought of cultivating the land to earn my
livelihood. When I came to the village, I met the NGO Jansewa who
told me that an SHG had recently been formed in the village with
the help ofWOTRlSAMPADATRUSl1 enquired with the women and they
asked me to join the group. The name of my group is Shivbaba SHG.
Through this SHG I had the chance to participate in various
capacity building trainings. Because of the three consecutive
years of drought my earnings were very meager and I constantly
faced financial problems. I was always thinking of ways to
supplement my source of income.
In our village there was no flourmill and the women
had to walk 5 km to get the grain ground. I thought of putting up
a flourmill in the village and discussed this in the SHG meeting.
All the members were very happy to support me, as it would benefit
all. SAMPADA sanctioned an amount or Rs. 85,000 to our SMS out of
which our SHG got Rs. 30,0001-. I asked for a loan of Rs. 1O,OOO/-
from the SHG to set up the flourmill, which the SHG
immediately sanctioned. I purchased the mill and learnt how to
operate it from a lady from the neighbouring village who explained
the working of the mill in detail as well as gave me a brief idea
of trouble shooting in case I have any problems while running the
mill.
Presently the mill is running well and I am earning
around Rs. 200 per day out of which Rs.401- is repaid per
day (Rs. 1,200/- per month) to my SHG. Now I am satisfied
with my earnings and also glad that I am able to render a valuable
service to my fellow villagers.
The success of my activity has motivated other women
from our SHG to start income generating activities themselves.
They realize that it is not really difficult, but feel the need for
some sort of guidance.
Initially, after starting this business I did not
write down the accounts or keep any records. Once, during a visit
to my flourmill, SAMPADA staff explained to me the importance of
maintaining records. I was convinced of what they said and got the
formats prepared from them. The procedures are very easy to
maintain if done regularly and also help me get an exact picture
of my income and expenditure. In future I will be able to show
these accounts to anybody any time. SAMPADA, Jansewa, my SMS and
SHG have all motivated and supported me set up my activity and I
will always remain thankful to them.
Anusay (Ammai) Revanwar
Shivbaba
SHG,
Sakra Village, Taluka
Pandharkawda, District Yeotmal.
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Contract Farming By
Self Help Groups |
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The Self Help Groups from Marathwakdi, Jai Durga and
Zhasi Chi Rani constitute 13 members each. The members are mostly
agricultural labourers. Some of the members own marginal land
holdings while others are landless labourers. Both the SHGs
function under Marathwakdi Sanyukta Mahila Samittee. (Women's
Joint Committee of all SHGs in a village also referred to as SMS).
During the SHGs meetings, the members decided to
cultivate a piece of land (18 acres) in their village. It was a
unanimous agreement by all the members to get involved in this
activity. However, the major problem was that of finance, as the
landlord demanded Rs. 14,OOO/- as an advance for use of the
land. Another difficulty faced by them was the need of working
capital for cultivation. Considering both these aspects, the
members approached the SMS with their request.
They required an investment of Rs. 31,0001- as
an initial cost to meet the expenses towards the advance to be
given to the landlord and for purchase of seeds, fertilizers and
pesticides. They submitted their proposal to the SMS requesting a
loan for the above activity. The SMS thoroughly scrutinized the
proposal and forwarded it, along with their recommendation, to
Sampada Trust. After appraisal of the same, the SHGs were given a
credit of Rs. 31,OOOI-aspertheirrequirement.
With enthusiasm, the SHGs members completed the
formalities of acquiring the land from the landlord through a
legal contract and completion of tillage operations. They
purchased cotton and red gram seeds along with fertilizers and
pesticides. All these women worked as a team and their efforts
yielded a bountiful harvest of forty eight quintals of cotton and
twenty eight quintals of red gram. The women gained employment for
the entire year in their own activity and did not need to approach
other farmers for contract work.
The total revenue generated amounted to Rs. 137,200/-.
Out of this, Rs. 14,OOOI-was paid to the landlord, Rs. 17,OOOI-forthe
purchase of seeds, pesticides and fertilizers and Rs. 50,0001-
was shared by the women as labour charge for work done in the
field. The net profit earned by the SHGs was Rs. 56,2001-. The
profit earned by SHGs helped in building up of self-confidence among
the women to undertake any entrepreneurial activity.
The SMS extended their
congratulations to Jai Durga and Zashichi Rani SHGs for their
entrepreneurial skills and team work. The SHGs thanked Sampada
Trust, Jansewa Prathistan (NGO) and Marathwakdi SMS for their
timely cooperation and support due to which they could achieve the
goal and set an example for other rural women.
SMS...
Marathwakdi Village
Taluka Kelapur, District Yeotmal
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For free private
circulation only
Published By:
Sampada Trust
'Sampada', Behind Market Yard,
Ahmednagar - 414 001
Phone : (0241) 2451311. Fax : 2451134
e-mail : sampada@wotr.org /
info@sampada.org
website : www.sampada.org |
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