Submitted in partial fulfillment for Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM)

Sustainable Development Society

Making The Difference

A Corporate Social Initiative Of Dabur

Project Title: To understand the impact of Self Help Groups on Sustainable development.

A Project Report By:

Saurabh Sharma (Roll No. 34)
Shreya Tyagi (Roll No. 40)

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 Acknowledgement

I express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Sushil Kumar (Project Manager), Sundesh, for giving us the
opportunity to undergo Bottom of The Pyramid Training in this esteemed organization.

I would also like to thank all the Management staff of Sundesh who helped us understand the
Developmental Activities of Sundesh in a better way.

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 Executive Summary
A study was conducted to analyze the role of Self Help Groups in sustainable development. For analyzing
the role the SHG bank linkage program was studied in context of NABARD and SGSY Swarnajayanti
gram swarojgar yojana Scheme and thereby recommendations were given for improving the effectiveness
of SHGs.

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 List of Contents
Title Page No.

Cover Page………………………………………………………………………………….1

Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………….2

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………....3

List of Contents……………………………………………………………………………..4

Objective……………………………………………………………………………………5

Methodology………………………………………………………………………………..6

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………7

Dabur………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………….7

Sundesh……………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………..9

Self Help
Groups……………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………...10

Notable Features of
SHG…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……..12

Swarn Jayanti Swam Rojgar Yojana

Scheme…………………………………………………………………………………..14

Socio Economic Profile

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…..14

Developmental
Paradigm…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….18

Success
Stories………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………….21

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Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………….26

Objective
To understand the role of Self Help Groups on Sustainable development.

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 Methodology
The study employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative data Collected both from
primary and secondary sources.

FAMILIARIZATION VISITS
The Sundesh team took us to preliminary field visits to many villages one block in the Ghaziabad
district with an objective to assess the SHG situation and get the exposure of their activities.
Based on the inputs from various stakeholders, data collection formats were revised.

SECONDARY RESEARCH
The secondary data were collected from the Annual Reports of sustainable development society
Sundesh, Voluntary Operation in Community & Environment (VOICE) to Planning Commission,
administrative guidelines of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and
reports of Nabard on SHG’S.

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Introduction
Dabur - Dabur India Limited has marked its presence with significant achievements and
today commands a market leadership status. Our story of success is based on dedication
to nature, corporate and process hygiene, dynamic leadership and commitment to our
partners and stakeholders. The results of our policies and initiatives speak for
themselves.
 Leading consumer goods company in India with a turnover of Rs. 2834.11 Crore (FY09)

 3 major strategic business units (SBU) - Consumer Care Division (CCD), Consumer Health
Division (CHD) and International Business Division (IBD)

 3 Subsidiary Group companies - Dabur International, Fem Care Pharma and newu and 8 step
down subsidiaries: Dabur Nepal Pvt Ltd (Nepal), Dabur Egypt Ltd (Egypt), Asian Consumer
Care (Bangladesh), Asian Consumer Care (Pakistan), African Consumer Care (Nigeria),
Naturelle LLC (Ras Al Khaimah-UAE), Weikfield International (UAE) and Jaquline
Inc. (USA).

 17 ultra-modern manufacturing units spread around the globe

 Products marketed in over 60 countries

 Wide and deep market penetration with 50 C&F agents, more than 5000 distributors and
over2.8 million retail outlets all over India.

Consumer Care Division (CCD) adresses consumer needs across the entire FMCG spectrum through
four distinct business portfolios of Personal Care, Health Care, Home Care & Foods.

 Master brands:

o Dabur - Ayurvedic healthcare products

o Vatika - Premium hair care
o Hajmola - Tasty digestives
o Réal - Fruit juices & beverages
o Fem - Fairness bleaches & skin care products

 9 Billion-Rupee brands:
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 o Dabur Amla,
o Dabur Chyawanprash,
o Dabur Red Toothpaste,
o Dabur Lal Dant Manjan,
o Babool,Hajmola
o Dabur Honey

 Strategic positioning of Honey as food product, leading to market leadership (over 75%) in
branded honey market .

 Dabur Chyawanprash the largest selling Ayurvedic medicine with over 65% market share.

 Vatika Shampoo has been the fastest selling shampoo brand in India for three years in a row.

 Hajmola tablets in command with 60% market share of digestive tablets category. About 2.5
crore Hajmola tablets are consumed in India every day.

 Leader in herbal digestives with 90% market share.

Consumer Health Division (CHD) offers a range of classical Ayurvedic medicines and Ayurvedic OTC
products that deliver the age-old benefits of Ayurveda in modern ready-to-use formats.

 Has more than 300 products sold through prescriptions as well as over the counter
 Major categories in traditional formulations include:
- Asav Arishtas
- Ras Rasayanas
- Churnas
- Medicated Oils
 Proprietary Ayurvedic medicines developed by Dabur include:
- Nature Care Isabgol
- Madhuvaani
- Trifgol
 Division also works for promotion of Ayurveda through organised community of traditional
practitioners and developing fresh batches of students

International Business Division (IBD) caters to the health and personal care needs of customers across
different international markets, spanning the Middle East, North & West Africa, EU and the US with its
brands Dabur & Vatika.
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  Growing at a CAGR of 33% in the last 6 years and contributes to about 20% of total sales
 Leveraging the 'Natural' preference among local consumers to increase share in perosnal care
categories
 Focus markets:
- GCC
- Egypt
- Nigeria
- Bangladesh
- Nepal
- US
 High level of localization of manufacturing and sales & marketing

Sustainable Development Society (SUNDESH)

Dabur India Limited believes in having a long-term relationship with communities in and around its
operational area, and in providing substance to regions that remain isolated and neglected. Therefore
Sundesh was established with the support of Dabur to fulfill its corporate social responsibility. Sundesh is
the creation of the vision of Dabur group’s founding father, Dr. S.K. Burman and was setup on Nov 19,
1993 with the objective of holistic development of the rural and urban areas of Ghaziabad district through
intergraded community development programme. The strong operational as well as organizational
strategy helped Sundesh to give new direction to community development programmes.

Sundesh has executed various need based projects to improve the living conditions of the rural people and
to enhance the quality of life of the poor and vulnerable sections of the community on a sustainable basis.
The various projects undertaken by Sundesh in partnership with other agencies has improved the life of
the villagers, encompassed empowerment, and increased the health care services, literacy and income
generation. Sundesh has adopted 42 villages of Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar districts. The
strength of Sundesh is its infrastructure, skill in community mobilization, networking, accountability and
transparency. It effects sustainable development in 3 prime areas – environment, economy and
community – in the belief that if the development is sustainable, it empowers the community.

Sundesh has involved in social development sector for about 17 years. Starting with Health care services
today it has diversified into various other activities related to rural development on sustainable basis.

Sundesh is grateful to the Dabur group, its financial, managerial and technical support, without which this
initiative could not have been possible. We would like to acknowledge the support provide by Chunni lal
Medical Trust, District Rural Development Agency, NABARD, Care- India and individual donors for
helping Sundesh attain its objectives. Sundesh is also grateful for the non financial support provides by
District literacy Mission, Primary Health Center, District Hospital and Horticulture Department. Without
their unflinching support, this project would not be where it is today.

Vision - To actively contribute to the socio economic development of the community in which we operate
and to ensure a participation of the community in sustainable development process.
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Mission - Ensuring socio-economic development of the community through different participatory and
need based initiatives in beast interest to the poor so as to help them to become SELF RELIANT and
build better lives for themselves.

Goal - Overall socio-economic development of the poor & vulnerable community on sustainable basis.

Objectives -

• To undertake and organize Integrated Rural and Slum Development programmes.

• To promote and organize educational programs for children, women
• To run Vocational Training Program.
• To activate the Rural as well as urban people to take-up rural and slum development work.
• To study, undertake, conduct, carry research and collect data for Social development.

Sundesh is implementing various types of projects in Dhaulana block of Ghaziabad district and Dadri
block of Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Programme of Sundesh

• Health
• Education
• Income generation training
• Veterinary services
• People empowerment through SHG's
• Village Development Plan
• HIV/AIDS awareness campaign
• Integrated Nutrition and Health Facilities

Self Help Group

Definition: Villages are faced with problems related to poverty illiteracy, lack of skills health
care etc. These are problems that cannot be tackled individually but can be better solved through
group. Today these groups known as Self help groups have become the vehicle of change for the
poor and marginalized.
Self-help group is a method of organising the poor people and the marginalized to come together
to solve their individual problem. The SHG method is used by the government, NGOs and others
worldwide. The poor collect their savings and save it in banks. In return they receive easy access
to loans with a small rate of interest to start their micro unit enterprise.

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  SHG is a development group for the poor and marginalized
 It is recognized by the government and does not require any formal registration
 The purpose of the SHG is to build the functional capacity of the poor and the
marginalized in the field of employment and income generating activities
 People are responsible for their own future by organizing themselves into SHGs

Guiding Principles for Formation of SHGs

 The strong belief by the individual to bring about change through collective efforts.
Effort is built on mutual trust and mutual support
 Every individual is equal and responsible.
 Every individual is committed to the cause of the group.
 Decision is based on the principles of consensus.
 The belief and commitment by an individual that through the group their standard of
living will improve Savings is the foundation on which to build the group for collective
action.

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Notable Features of SHGs

Strategy  Conceived as a holistic programme of self-

employment. It covers all the aspects of self
employment of the rural poor, viz.
organizing them in SHGs, their capacity
building selection of key activities,
planning of activity clusters, infrastructure
build-up, technology and marketing
support.

SHG Formation  Specifically SHG members from BPL

families with some exception for a few
marginal APL families if acceptable to
the BPL members of the group.
 Group size of 10-20 persons, with the
exception of deserts, hills and disabled
persons where the number of members
may vary from 5 to 20.
 Special focus on the formation of
exclusive women Self-Help Groups. 50%
of the groups formed in each block
should be exclusively for women.
 SHGs are normally formed by NGOs,
CBOs, Animators, Network of
Community-based Coordinators, or
team of dedicated functionaries of the
government.

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 Income Generating Activities  SGSY Committee identifies about 8-10
farm and non-farm key activities per
(Microenterprise selection) block for the individual/SHG members
of the block to choose some of them as
the sustainable income- generating
activity for themselves.
 Primarily, single income-generating
activity by the group is given preference
under group loan. Group, however, may
go for multiple activities also under
group loaning. Thus, IGAs are taken by
the SHG members as a group activity.
 The focus is on the development of
activity cluster to facilitate forward and
backward linkages to IGAs.

Promotional Support  Revolving Fund Assistance (RFA) is

provided to groups equal to their group
corpus within the prescribed limit.

i) Financial Support
 Back-ended subsidy to the extent of 30%
to 50% of the project cost is provided to
individual beneficiary, and 50% of the
project cost for group level activity is
provided within the prescribed limits.

 Financial Assistance is provided to

(ii) Group Formation and Nurturing Support
NGOs/CBOs/SHPI, etc., for formation
and development of SHGs, as mentioned
below.
 Rs10, 000 per SHG is paid for the
formation and development of SHGs in
four installments.
 1st – 20% at the beginning of the group
formation.
 2nd – 30% when group qualifies for
Revolving Fund.
 3rd – 40% when group takes up economic
activity.
 4th --10% after the start of economic
activity and on adherence of group to
repayment of bank loan.
iii) Capacity Building Support
 Fund support is made available to
organize training of beneficiaries in
group processes and skill development
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(iv) Infrastructure Building Support  There is planned focus on infrastructure
build- up, technology and marketing
support to make self-employment
activity economically sustainable.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE SWARNAJAYANTI GRAM

SWAROJGAR YOJANA (SGSY) SCHEME

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) is a self-employment scheme. This scheme was
introduced from 1 April, 1999. Six different self-employment and training schemes and sub-
schemes were merged to form this scheme. The principal aim of this scheme is to bring BPL
families to APL status within three years. The main difference with the previous IRDP DWCRA
scheme is to encourage group loans and group enterprise and ultimately to stop giving individual
loans to members of the groups. Funding for the project is shared by the Centre and The States
on a 75:25 ratio Initially groups are formed with 10 or 15 persons belonging to the BPL families.
This group is called a Self Help Group (SHG) and the individual members of the group
Swarojgaris. There is provision under the scheme to involve local NGOs to help the DRDC in
forming such groups. The funds received by the DRDC are kept in a savings bank accounts The
DRDC can open their account with branches of the principal participating banks in the field. The
funds deposited in the saving account earn interest at the usual rates till the amount is given as
loans to the Swarojgaris.

In the first six months the group members are taught to save money i.e. they have to build up a
corpus fund by saving a certain amount every week/month. These savings are kept in a local or
field bank. After six months, the group is evaluated by a team where the Project Director, a
member of the Block Development Office and a representative of the bank are present. If they
pass the evaluation test they are given Grade I status. At this stage they are paid Rs. 10,000. - as
a revolving fund. Individual members can borrow from this money either for business purposes
or for personal Consumption. They do not have to pay any interest. They are also given Rs.15,
000. - as loan by the bank, which is called the cash credit or matching corpus fund. After
completion of one year, according to performance and again going through an evaluation
process, the group gets Grade II status.

After a group gets Grade II status they get credit cum subsidy facilities. This stage is called bank
credit linkage. Subsidy under SGSY is uniform at 30% of the project cost, subject to a maximum
of Rs. 10,000.
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SOCIO- ECONOMIC PROFILE OF MEMBERS OF SELF HELP
GROUPS
The strata of rural families, handled through Self-Help Groups, are capital scarce, labour surplus,
and, by and large, bereft of proper knowledge as well as management skill. At the same time, it
also remains a fact that barring certain location limitations, rural areas do throw ample
opportunities for installation of micro enterprises by making use of untapped manpower
resources, available raw material of various forms, and existing market channels. Given the
financial support, together with appropriate knowledge and skill input, the poor people, in
general, have the propensity to make better use of labour and capital. Thus, installation of
income- generation activities and micro enterprises in the rural areas, in a way, helps promote
first-generation micro entrepreneurs with resource mobilization on their own through their
SHGs.

For our study we have concentrated on four districts of Uttar Pradesh to have a holistic
representation of the state. The four districts of U.P are: Junpur, Mirzapur, Ghaziabad, Rai
baralley.

CASTE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF SHG MEMBERS (U.P)

Caste Total

SC 23

ST 117

BACKWARD 79

FORWARD 26

MINORITIES 7

Total 252

OCCUPATION OF SHG MEMBERS (U.P)

OCCUPATION T
OTAL
AGRICULTURE 58

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 DAIRY 45
BUSINESS 38
CASTE 1
OCCUPATION
SKILLED 8
LABOURER
UNSKILLED 60
LABOURER
HOUSEWIFE 42
TOTAL 252

MARITAL STATUS OF SHG MEMBERS (U.P)

MARITAL Total
STATUS

Unmarried 14

Married 229

Widowed 10

Total 252

SELF HELP GROUPS (SHGS): DEVELOPMENTAL PARADIGM

1. In the SHG model the group approach was preferred for its relative merit. It was observed
that wherever the quality of SHGs and their members’ capacity for group entrepreneurship
was built, the swarozgaris have learnt the art of working in group mode and simultaneously
have retained their individual identity. So it has been a win win situation for the beneficiaries
and the group.

2. The mix of poor and non-poor for assistance under the programme was found to be
advantageous to the poor under some circumstances . In trades such as dairy, mixture of poor
and non-poor beneficiaries sometimes helped in acquiring the threshold level of volumes and
optimum use of infrastructure. In these cases, such mixture of poor and non-poor was
welcome. Combining poor with the non-poor sometimes provided opportunities for the
former to pick up entrepreneurial skills and also learn from the market participation. This
was clearly an opportunity for the poor to graduate on the entrepreneurial scale.

3. Capacity building of SHG members: A critical contribution in SGSY is the training of

swarozgaris for building entrepreneurial capacity. The component of training was not built
into the earlier IRDP programme while in SGSY it has been inculcated as one of the basic

16
and essential components. All the swarozgaris have been provided an opportunity to better
their practical, serviceable and entrepreneurial skills through one or two days orientation
programme. In this basic orientation training, the beneficiaries were familiarized with the
goals, responsibilities, and aspects of book keeping. Envisaged as the prerequisite for
swarozgaris to seek institutional fund support, they were imparted knowledge of marketing,
familiarity with costing & pricing models and also financing by banks .To achieve this, the
DRDAs were provided with the funds and could spend upto Rs. 5000 per swarozgari. In this
section an attempt is made to examine the nature, value and magnitude of training provided
to the swarozgaris. Rural poor who join Self-Help Groups are helped to acquire capability
and competence to maintain and manage their groups in a productive way. They are
encouraged to undertake Income-generating activities, to deal with financial, trading and
input agencies and to manage their accounts and activities, etc. in such a way that they
continue growing socially and economically and become progressive and responsible citizen
of the nation. For this, they are exposed to various training programmes to provide them with
the necessary knowledge skills, motivation and competence. Hence, the training programmes
organized for the SHG members are of great significance in the poverty alleviation
programme pursued through Self-Help Groups promoted by SGSY. SHG members
interviewed to collect data for this study were also asked questions to collect information
about the training programmes they underwent during the last one-year.
The highest priority was accorded to the training programme for technology education
(IGA related) and SHG awareness creation by SGSY management. Next in priority was the
training on book-keeping which was organized.

Deputy Manager of Sundesh is interacting with SHG members during training session

17
 Sundesh staff and SHG members are visiting Pusa Kisan Mela, Delhi

4 .Loan repayment: Regarding repayment, the level of repayment in SGSY was clearly better
than that in therstwhile IRDP. At the national level this was reported to be 57% and it has been
steadilyincreasing over years (MoRD annual reports). The repayment performance was found to
have positive relation with the age of the SHG. The older group members had higher repayment
against younger groups. This suggests that the training and capacity building of SHG groupshas
bearing the financial discipline and of members’ attitude towards loan obligations. This reflects
on the quality of training. The lead district bank managers observed the percentagThe activity
wise analysis also shows that the over all bank loan repayment rate was higher among group
swarozgaris than with individual swarozgaris. Activity-wise analysis suggests that in the case of
dairy – which is taken up by larger proportion of swarozgaris – the
repayment rate was high ere of loan recovery ranging between 40 – 95 per cent in the study
districts. The SHG - Bank Linkage Programme has been very high on-time recovery. As on June
2005, the on-time recovery under SHG- Bank Linkage Programme was 90% in commercial banks,
87% in RRBs and 86% in cooperative banks.

5. Financial inclusion of poor women: More than 90% of the members of SHGs are Women and
most of them are poor and assetless. The SHG movement has been instrumental in mainstreaming
women by-passed by the banking system.

6. Other benefits of shg- bank linkage programme:

o Reduced the incidence of poverty through increase in income, and also enabled the
poor to build assets and thereby reduce their vulnerability.

o Enabled households that have access to it to spend more on education than non client
households. Families participating in the programme have reported better school
attendance and lower drop out rates.

o Empowered women by enhancing their contribution to household income, increasing

the value of their assets and generally by giving them better control over decisions
that affect their lives.

o Reduced child mortality, improved maternal health and the ability of the poor to
combat disease through better nutrition, housing and health - especially among
women and children.

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 o Facilitated significant research into the provision of financial services for the poor
and helped in building “capacity” at the SHG level.

o Finally, it has offered space for different stakeholders to innovate, learn and replicate.
As a result, some NGOs have added micro-insurance products to their portfolios, a
couple of SHG federations have experimented with undertaking livelihood activities
and grain banks have been successfully built into the SHG model in the Eastern
Region. SHGs in some areas have employed local accountants for keeping their
books, and IT applications are now being explored by almost all for better
management information sytems (MIS), accounting and internal controls.

Success Stories

Success story of Cutting and Tailoring : BETI KISI SE KAM NAHIN

Gone are those days when daughters were taken as a liability

for the family members. Now they can also take stand and also
be the bread earners. These lines are best suited for Radha who
is a resident of Nangla gajju block Dholana, district
Ghaziabad. Radha D/O a reputed teacher is amongst the three
daughters and also having one younger brother. Her two elder
sisters are married.At that time father was the only bread
earner but his income was not that much enough to pull the
family. With the dreams in her eyes Radha also wanted to be
an active member of her family and be her fathers helping hand. With this in mind she joined six months
cutting tailoring course in 2008 being conducted by SUNDESH. After the successful completion of course
now she is into stitching clothes for near and dear ones and easily earns upto 1000 rupees a month. Now
she is also achieving her dreams by helping her younger brother and sister in their educational expenses.
With this now her family’s income status is stable and is leading a happy life.

TAMSO MAA JOTIRGAMAY

“KAHATEN HAI BHAGWAN USI KI MADAD KARTA HAI JO KHUD APNI MADAD KARTA HAI”

This is the story of Om who was very talented shoes & sandal maker and he wants
open self business but lack of the money it was not possible

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Sundesh has been entered in Masauta village for formation of SHGs. Om did consult with the SHG co-
coordinator for join the SHG. After join the SHG he got the help of 10,000/- behalf of SHG and started
own shoes business.

After some time he got the commend on the Rural and urban market and also got the contract by big shoe
seller.

Before join the SHG he was unemployed but in a now days more then 4 young workers are working in his
shoe making factory.

PARAG DAIRY UDHYOG

Nagla Gajju block is 50 Km far away from Delhi and 10 Km from Dhaulana. In this village already so
many development schemes are in progress for upliftment of people of this village. Swarn Jayanti Gram
Swarojgar Yojna is one of them for BPL family. Sundesh organization is working for the welfare of the
BPL families by the formation of SHGs with the support of DRDA. In this
village so many peoples are under BPL and SHG coordinator Mr.Sarat
Chandra Ojha is making the groups for the members.

Lok priya SHG set up in 5 October 2001 having 11 members of same

economic condition. This group has been passed 1st grading and was
sanctioned loan of 2500/- by the Syndicate bank of Sapnawat. With the moral
and money support by the Sundesh and Syndicate bank, group members
started with the “Buffalo rearing”. After the second grading work has been
increased and SHG members opened the “Dairy Udhyog”. Sundesh
Organization helps this group by linking it to “Parag Dairy”. After being
attached with Parag Dairy, group members got value for money of milk as
compared to what they used to get as a local milkman. Now all members are
earning upto 3000-4000 per month.

MIL KAR HAATH BADANA

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SHG known to change the lives of people and reshaping their destiny towards a prosperous life and
healthy living. This is the success story of the person who did realized that SHG can change the life.

The name of the person is Rambhool. He is th e resident of Dhaulana block, Sikheda village with the
family of 6 members. He was a poor man for whom arranging the meals for two times a day was a tedious
task and had to struggle a lot. One day he was too hopeless and was feeling very dejected and low
because he has no money and the season to do the business was there. He was sad because the idea was in
front of him, but he was not in a position to take the advantage of it. For Rambhool, income generation
was a very tough work.

At this point, his friend, Gyanchand visited him and asked him to attend the SHG meeting which was to
be held shortly. Rambhool though heavy at heart, went with his friend Gyanchand to the SHG meeting.
There he told about his condition and was desiring to work for the family. He was a hard working honest
man, but, was very poor and sad. The SHG members supported him, and consoled him. They told him,
about their working. After he understood the concept of the SHG he was convinced and got ready to join
Sant Kabeer SHG. The SHG members collected Rs. 6000/- to support Rambhool and help him to start his
“THELA” of “CHUSKI” and “SHIKANJI”, so that he can earn a livelihood and sustain his living.

Now he happily earns the handsome amount of Rs. 300 per day along with the daily expenditure of Rs.
200. His life was changed and he became more prosperous after becoming the member of the Santkabeer
SHG. Thus SHGs continue to support people and change their life towards more developed living.

NAI RAAH MIL GAI

Surendra Kumar is the member of Om Sai SHG. Before he joined the

SHG he was the famous as Punditji (for the Pooja - Paath, Havan, etc)
in his village Dhaulana. But, he was not happy with himself because in
this profession the earning was very limited. The amount of money he
earned was insufficient neither for food nor for the children’s education.
Also he has the burden of a sick father who was requiring medical
attention at the earliest and at regular intervals.

After joining the SHG his dreams were fulfilled. He is now a very happy
man now, and has opened his own book center in his village. He also
took a loan from the SHG of Rs. 10,000 for the treatment of his father.
Now he is able to generate money for expense money for his father
treatment and children’s education. He earned Rs. 2500/- per month.
Surendra Kumar & His father is very happy with the linkage of SHG.

NAI JYOTI

21
This is the story of Chauna village where Sundesh organization is providing the services to community by
the SHG formation, NFE, Medical facility etc.

In this same village Sundesh is organizing eye camp time to time for welfare and development of
Dhaulana block community. In this camp one old lady (Sonwati) aged approx. 65 years came for her eye
test. According to her earlier she tried some eye drops but with the result failure, she approached at this
camp. After eye test doctors found that she is having cataract (motiabeend) in her eyes and suggested her
for operation. After the operation of the same Sonwati in now having clear visibility and living her life
happily

CHUDIYAN KHAN AK RAHEE

In the village of Kakrana there resided a hardworking farmer and

labourer. His name was Ram Avtar. He was the member of Ekta
SHG. His wife had the knowledge and skills for making the bangles.
She used to provide the bangles to other village women, on special
festive occasions, such as Karva Chauth, Diwali, etc. This was very
beneficial for the women and was of great help to them.

The village women asked Ram Avatar to help his wife and
to support her to open the bangles shop on the village. For this
purpose, Ram Avatar got the loan of Rs. 10,000/- from the SHG and
opened the shop for his wife. She thus started the bangles shop in
that village. Also she started providing make-up items or beauty
products from that same shop only. Now she earns a handsome
amount of Rs. 1000 – Rs. 1200 from that shop. Thus she helped
Ram Avatar to increase the earnings of the house. She also helped
herself to generate self – employment and to provide more products
to the village community. So the SHG finally contributed to sustainable development of the village.

GROCERY WITH GLOSSARY

With the development of time promises for development of society

also increases for rural as well as urban areas. The ray of hope also
increases in the eyes of people. SUNDESH is also one of them who is
actively participating for the development of rural people.

Shikheda village of block Dholana is also one them who

aspires to be a successful village. And to help them SUNDESH is
continuously there for them. Sundesh provides them useful
knowledge and importance of SHGs With this group of 18 people

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started with the SHG. Within a year of formation in a general meeting a villager named Tejpal Singh also
expressed his wish to be active member of group. With the approval of treasurer and APC Manju Joshi
was allowed to be the mem ber. Now to be a well employed person Tejpal took a loan of 50,000 and
started a small grocery store at his home only. Sooner the success of store was seen and Tejpal started
paying back the loan in small amounts.

Now around after 50 months Tejpal is living his life happily with his family members. And is very much
thankful to SUNDESH for the ray of hope the awakened in the village natives.

AGE NO BAR

Shri Rameshwar Ikla, Village Ikala, block Dholna, Ghaziabad joined the SHG, dhen many objected that
whether will he be able to continue the membership effectively due to his increasing age. But Rameshwar
assured them he will regularly submit his monthly savings. Effectively he was able to submit his savings
but to strength his income status he decided to open his shop which will deal n animal food. For this after
the detailed discussion SHG provided him with the loan amount of rupees 20,000/-. With this money he
invested in the animal food. At present his monthly income through this store is Rupees 3000/-..

He at this age is helping himself with earning this much and is an example for others.

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Recommendations:

1. The spread of SHGs in hilly regions, particularly in the North-Eastern Region, is poor. One of the
reasons for this is that the population density in hilly areas is often low and the banking network is
weak. There is a need to evolve SHG models suited to the local context of such areas.

2. It is recommended that subsidies provided under SGSY are restructured. Various studies,
conducted by the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) and National Institute of Rural
Development (NIRD), point out that linking credit with subsidy is not an effective approach for
reaching out to the poor. So there is a need to formulate a single programme synergising the positive
features of SGSY such as specific targeting of below poverty line (BPL) families, etc. and those of
the SHG – Bank Linkage Programme such as group cohesiveness, discipline, etc.

3. While recognizing that individual subsidies are distortionary, it is recommended that the
Government may consider redirecting subsidy in the SGSY Programme for the following purposes:

• Capacity building of NGOs and other field based agencies such as Krishi Vigyan
Kendras, to form and strengthen SHGs.

• Exposure visits to successful models by bankers, government officials and SHG

leaders etc.

• For strengthening input supply and marketing arrangements

Interest rate subsidy: It has been brought to the notice of the NGO’S that certain States are
providing a subsidy on interest rates being charged by banks to the SHGs. While the average rate of
interest on banks’ lending to SHGs is around 12%, most SHGs charge interest rates of around 22%-
24% to members. The margin available to SHGs is, thus, sufficient to take care of operational costs,
even after considering the small amounts of loan provided to members. The NGO is of the opinion
that a subsidy on interest rates cuts at the very root of the self help character of SHGs. As already
indicated the subsidy could be re-directed towards capacity building efforts or in providing input
supplies and marketing support to the SHGs.

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