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Our
Selected Women Empowerment Initiatives |
Case-VI
Together We Can |
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Unnati
Mahila Swayam Sahayata Samuh is formed in the Khera block
of Baghpat district, which is situated nearly 13 Kms away
from the main block on the Delhi road. The women of the above
SHG are mainly working in factories as the income of the male
members of the family is not enough to support the family
sufficiently. Belonging to the similar kind of situation,
these women are always ready to take up work outside the house.
They were all facing the financial crisis and had to often
take loans from the local moneylender at a very high rate
of interest, which was making their difficult. |
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Motivated
by our field workers, these women came together as a group
because they took the SHG as an effective means to avoid taking
loans from the local moneylender. They saved small amounts
on a regular basis and availed the opportunity of low interest
charges by the group, to repay their debts. Soon, the members
of the Unnati Mahila SHG were free from the clutches of moneylender. |
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They
were associated with the DASP in 1999 and merged with the
SAWERA project in 2002. The members who were told about the
income generation activities collectively decided to go for
pig farming. The main reason for that was the female pig gives
birth to 8-10 piglets twice a year, which are able to derive
a good market price in the area. Moreover, the women did not
have to do anything there. So, they bought a male pig and
two female pigs for Rs. 7,500 /- and Rs. 12,500 /- respectively.
All the women agreed to invest in such a venture and had no
objection when the money from the group account was utilized
for the above. For rearing the pigs, they entered into a contract
with a man on the condition that he will be given the pigs
by the SHG members and in return he will incur all the expenditure
while rearing them up. The profit from this collective venture
will be divided equally among the SHG members and that man. |
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The
women faced a lot of resistance from the society. They were
told that it is not their work to rear the pigs, but the
women braved that collectively and showed the society that
they are able to undertake such kinds of allied agricultural
activities. Recently, one of the female pigs gave birth
to ten piglets out of which two did not survive. The rest
of them were sold at the rate of Rs. 4,000 /-. After giving
the share to the rearer, the SHG members were able to earn
a profit of Rs. 2,000 /-.
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Anguri
Devi's struggle is not a hidden story for anyone in the block.
Everyone knows her journey from the days where she was a non-existing
entity to the days when she is a prominent figure. Many women
have now started taking interest in the decisions made by
the Panchayats as they have come to know that it is also affecting
them and they can also put forward their opinion if they are
not satisfied. Women are joining SHGs as the importance of
SHG as a community-based pressure group is attracting them,
apart from the monetary support. Anguri Devi is happy with
her achievements and is motivating other women to make themselves
aware and their group empowered enough to handle all the hurdles
in life. She is a winner on the financial front also. Surender
is happy with her achievements and stood by her side in all
the decisions. They are sending their children to school,
which was their dream. The income from the stationary shop
is helping Surender and Anguri Devi to save for the future. |
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The
SHG members are now planning to increase the number of pigs
to progress in the direction of making a pig farm. |
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