Make Women in Rural India Financially Secure

Sumi is a 36-year-old farmer who lives in Rajpur village in southern Rajasthan. The area is hilly and one of the most backward areas of the country on the human development index. Because of the low yield in revenue from traditional agricultural and animal husbandry livelihoods, families in this area have diversified their livelihood sources to include small businesses within their villages, daily wage labor in nearby urban areas, and migrant labor to other states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra state. Mother of 6 children, Sumi is a tribal woman who has been working as a farmer on her land as well as a laborer in larger farms in the neighboring state of Gujarat.

Sumi has been associated with Seva Mandir's Self Help Group for the last two years and has been a very active member of her group.

Earlier last year during Covid-19 induced lockdown, Sumi and her group encountered a new challenge. Chand, a community male approached the group for financial assistance. His family needed immediate medical support and he did not have enough savings. Since Chand was a known member of the community and very much in need, women decided to ask for his 1 beegha land as a collateral and extended him a loan of Rs.30,000 ($405).

Sumi saw this as an opportunity. After discussions in her group, it was agreed that the group should use the land for agriculture and distribute profit within the group. With the help of low-cost seeds from Seva Mandir and water from nearby sources, Sumi and her group were able to harvest 60kgs Urad (Black Gram Lentil) worth Rs 5,000 ($67). From her earlier experience of working on a large farm Sumi also hired two laborers for better yield. The harvest was sold together in the local market by Sumi and her group members.

Sumi said "We used Rs 3,000 ($40) as group savings and distributed other Rs 2,000 ($27) among women who could not get wages because of Covid. It was an experiment to try something new and we succeeded. We should not wait for anyone to help us during crisis; we already have so many resources around us".

Presently, Seva Mandir is helping more than 20,000 women run 1,476 Self Help Groups. Without your support none of this would be possible, so a heartfelt thank you goes out to you for supporting our efforts in empowering women. 

Best regards,

Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team

Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir

Links:

• Seva Mandir's Website
• Seva Mandir's Facebook Page
• Seva Mandir's Friends Chapter in USA

The current time is challenging! The world is fighting its toughest battle against the pandemic. India has just seen the devastating effects of the second wave and the loss it has made to the lives of hundreds of people.

The current situation brought uncertainty for many rural households around their health, livelihood and future. In India, it has become not only health crisis but an economic crisis also which has affected those living in poverty. In Seva Mandir’s work area, seasonal migrants, farmers, and daily wage laborers are being severely affected as most of them returned back to their villages and are now facing difficulties in finding employment.

During this medical emergency, we are working closely with health experts and organizations to understand needs and provide responses. Undeterred by the present situation and have learned our lessons from the previous year, Seva Mandir is ensuring an extended hand of support to the families during emergencies and also maintaining continuous dialogue between communities.

The SHGs (Self Help Groups) have been a crucial element of help in difficult times such as COVID-19. Beneficiaries have taken loans to meet the ends as the migrant workers had to return back home due to unemployment in the lockdown period.

Hakri, aged 45 lives with her husband and 4 children. Her husband has a small grocery store in the village along with farming on their own land which provides them income. Hakri joined Self-Help-Group "Sharda" and is a beneficiary of backyard poultry.

She at present, has a flock of 24 birds and has so far earned INR 7,000 ($94) by selling roosters. She invested the income to buy a male calf (untrained bull) for INR 3,000 ($40) and saved the rest. She believes this investment will further help her to improve her farming as it will allow her to invest in agriculture tools.

The nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 was announced suddenly which did not allow many to reach home or arrange food stock. The money Hakri saved proved very valuable during this unprecedented period.

In her words

"All of a sudden everything was closed, no shops, no work; it seemed like life was put on hold. I had some savings from poultry farming activity so I managed in this critical period."

The story focuses on the impact of lockdown on the average citizen, lockdown was to prevent the spread of disease but it also brought many challenges for everyone. Seva Mandir worked alongside the government to provide relief in the most remote and furthest areas of the Udaipur and Rajasmand districts.

We greatly appreciate your trust in Seva Mandir and for supporting our project. We hope that our project keeps working towards making this world a better place and this certainly has not been possible without your support. 

Thank you so much once again for your generous support.

Warm regards,

Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team 

Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir

Links:

• Seva Mandir's Website
• Seva Mandir's Facebook Page
• Seva Mandir's Friends Chapter in USA