Centre for Rural Systems and Development (CRUSADE) has been spearheading Women Self-Help Group movement to bring about qualitative changes in the lives of poor communities spread over Minjur and Sholavaramblocks in backward Tiruvallur district since early 90’s.

Background:

Tiruvallur is a backward district with almost quarter of the population from dalit community which is the poorest segment in caste hierarchy of Indian social system. Landlessness, lack of income generating assets, low health and educational status, malnutrition, living in cramped thatch houses were marked characteristics of dalit colonies when CRUSADE started working in the area in early 90s.

Organizing women from these and from other poor communities in these blocks into Self Help Groups with focus on savings and credit and linking the groups with banks and Government schemes remained priority ofCRUSADE’s work in the initial stages. As the groups stabilized, other services like literacy, health education and care, skill training and entrepreneurship development, housing and sanitation, and promotion of herbal medicine were extended to the SHGs.

Status of WSHGs (Women Self Help Groups)

There are now more than 6000 women members in 456groups inmore than 100 village hamlets in two development blocks. CRUSADE has been providing Capacity Building, Skill training, Health & insurance services, Housing, Environment Promotion andestablishing linkages with Government, banks and other Institutions with women groups for their financial needs. CRUSADE has also been encouraging group members to involve in community activities through Panchayat System (local Governance).

Objectives of the project

• Promote Women independence through employment and increased income and improve their decision making role in the family.
• Strengthen financial management and accountability of SHGs.
• Enable SHGs mobilize funds for the members for their various credit needs.
• Strengthen the leadership of the groups and the Panchayat Level Federations.
• Link Women groups with the Panchayat raj systems of local governance and encourage increased Women participation in panchayat affairs.
• Addressing gender discrimination at community and family levels
• Enabling the groups and their federation to deal with Women issues such as domestic violence, dowry problems, and early marriage & property disputes.
• Providing grant assistance to the poorest families to improve their livelihood, health and housing.

SHGs Development

Monitoring of all SHGs has been streamlined with central collection of data relating to financial transactions of the groups every month and consolidation of the data every quarter. The financial data of WSHGs are collected once in three months by CRUSADE Staff and consolidated at project level. The combined savings and common fund of SHGs at the end of December 2024 was Rs.12.55 Crores (125 million rupees) which work out to Rs3.13 lakh/group. Accounts of the groups are subjected to external audit annually.

The Following are the types of activities carried out by CRUSADE to support WSHG.

Bank Linkages

Women Self Help Group started with minimum 12 members are eligible for opening bank account and the members should also maintain their own account in that bank. CRUSADE will support groups to open account and link with bank. Loan will be sanctioned after six months starting from ten thousand up to twenty lakhs based on their prompt repayment.

Skill Training and Sewing Machine Distribution

CRUSADE has been providing skill training to WSHG members in Tailoring, Computer & Aari work. Thousands women have been trained in tailoring and they utilize the skill training stitching of clothes for people from the neighborhood earning supplementary income for their families. CRUSADE distributed certificates who completed the training.

Regarding tailoring it is observed that several of them are utilizing the skill to complement the family income through self-employment. CRUSADE helped them to buy new machines with 50% contribution by individual members and the remaining amount will bear by CRUSADE under ‘Village Sponsorship Program.

Aari Work

Aari, a form of embroidery work, has been one of the good income generation activity among women members in the recent years which help them generate a good amount of income by making the art work in dress materials particularly in blouse materials which women much interested during weddings and festival seasons. This skill training is expensive when learnt from private instructor or institutions. The same training is provided by CRUSADE at a nominal fee which is well received by women members.

Self-Employment

With the availability of loans and capacity building training, more women members in SHGs are now engaged in self-employment activity which is catching up momentum with several of them venturing into non-conventional economic activities - starting readymade garments shop, stationery and fancy goods shops, rearing love birds, sugar cane juice centers, tiffin center and eateries.

Women who are not able to be entrepreneurs are at least engaged in the ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program’ which fetches 100 days of work in a year and earn Rs. 300/day.

Parimala – Readymade Garments Store

Parimala, a resident of Kaniyambakkam village, Minjur block, has been an active member of Women Self Help Group (WSHG) named IDHAYAM (means Heart) since 2021. Parimala lives with her husband and two children, with her husband's extensive experience in the wholesale cloth industry spanning over 20 years, Parimala harbored dreams of starting her own cloth business. However, limited financial resources posed a significant obstacle to realizing this aspiration. Leveraging the network and resources of the WSHG, she accessed multiple sources of funding – loans from the group, Panchayat level federation and bank, totaling 3 lakh.

Parimala and her husband established their Ready-made garments shop in nearby Salipettai village. Drawing upon her husband's expertise, they curated a diverse collection of men's, women's, and children's wear, offering quality clothing at moderate prices. The shop’s strategic location and affordable pricing attracted customers from surrounding villages, particularly during festivals and social functions.

The shop recorded daily sales ranging from Rs. 2000 to 4000. This steady income stream has not only provided financial stability to the family but has also motivated for further expansion. They have plans to diversify their product range to include shoes, belts, handbags, school bags, etc...

Participation of WSHGs in Government/Panchayat Activities

WSHGs and PLFs (Panchayat Level Federations) worked closely with CRUSADE and village panchayats in various health promotion, environment protection and village development activities. The following are some of the other activities WSHGs were engaged in 2023/24.

• Identification of families below poverty line and sharing the name list to Government authorities to enable them access loans at concessional interest rate.
• Identification of people who are self-employed and helping them to get loans from PLF.
• Advocating for interest-free loans to identified differently-abled persons who are either self-employed or aspiring to start a business.
• Helping the differently-abled persons to get enrolled in the ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program’.
• Supporting women SHGs in a couple of Panchayats to form farmers groups for organic cultivation and helping them get agriculture equipment and inputs from the Government.
• Recommending suitable grass-root workers for absorption as outreach workers in government schemes that promote home based medical care, education, sanitation etc.