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Sustainable Livelihood Creation Initiatives |
Case-II
Partners in Change |
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Background |
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Like
all the villages of Bhiwani district, which is adjacent to
the Rajasthan border, Garve Village was also facing the problem
of scanty rainfall. Rain plays an important part in the lives
of farmers. Their standard of living, debt repayment, future
plans all depend on the rainfall. This was true for the residents
of this village also. They were looking out for an option,
but the whole village cannot migrate to the cities. Dalbir,
Om Prakash and Naurani Lal were among the men who wanted to
stay in the village and earn more for their living. They were
the only earning members of their families but didn't have
sufficient income to support their families. Also, they didn't
have enough skills, apart from agriculture related activity,
which would enable them to find work outside their village. |
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Emergence
of Idea |
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The
desire drove them to the SHG, which was formed by a new men
in the village to extent help to each other at the time of
crisis. This group came under the umbrella of Aseed when the
organization started working in the area. The three men also
came along and told about their economic problem. They were
looking for options to generate money in the village. Aseed
workers understood their problem and encouraged them to venture
into self-entrepreneurship. |
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Initiation
of Action |
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Forced
by the circumstances, Dalbir, Om Prakash and Naurangi Lal
were ready to take the risk. The men were sent for training
for manufacturing soap and detergent. After undergoing training,
they arranged for money from the SHG and started the manufacturing
process under the guidence of field workers. Initially, they
faced the problem of marketing of their product. They were
guided to sell their product in their own village first. As
the commodity was of daily use, the men were able to get their
cost of production back, which encouraged them to continue
the production. After considering the feedback of the product
Dalbir, Om Prakash and Naurangi Lal focussed on improving
the quality of their product. Gradually, they increased their
production and started supplying soap and detergent in the
neighbouring villages. |
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Generation
of Support |
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Their
product gained popularity in a short span of time. Dalbir,
Om Prakash and Naurangi Lal still banked upon their SHG for
financial support for expanding their work. They utilized
the SHG meetings for popularizing their way of development.
They displayed their products to the visitors of the SHG meetings
and were able to sell their product due to its good quality
and low cost. This has helped Dalbir, Om Prakash and Naurangi
Lal to create a market for their product. Now, they have also
started giving traing to other unemployed men in the village
so that they can also start their own enterprise. |
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Recognition |
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The
SHG was formed not only for the development of the members
but also for the whole village. Dalbir, Om Prakash and Naurangi
Lal initiated a cleanliness drive in the village and invested
from their own pocket to make people realize their duty towards
the society. They have started playing an important role in
the decisions taken for the village. They organized awareness
camps in the village on various themes and are constantly
motivating other people to take up innovative income generating
activities in the village itself. Dalbir, Om Prakash and Naurangi
Lal today are the leaders of the village as they were the
ones who showed their fellow men how to be self-sufficient
and also that the life in the village could be as decent as
in the cities. |
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