Economic Growth India Project #3907

Make Women in Rural India Financially Secure

by Seva Mandir

Make Women in Rural India Financially Secure

Project Report | Mar 2, 2020
SHGs- Giving Wings to Women

By Atul Lekhra | Programme Incharge

Dear Friend,

In our working area, women often have no say in decisions regarding the finances of their family. They have always worked to contribute to sustaining their family – whether in the fields or by doing work paid for by the government or by commercial employers. But they have had little or no control over where the family money goes. Women who have been deserted or forced to leave the matrimonial home commonly have nothing.

With limited income, families are forced to borrow to pay for healthcare, social obligations or investment necessary to increase or safeguard the family’s livelihood. In the area we work in, where banks are generally far away, largely unsupportive and daunting to rural people, credit is often only available through moneylenders who target rural women and offer credit at extortionate rates (frequently 60-120% p.a., with crippling monthly payments). Many women are forced to pawn their precious jewellery, which is seen as the only kind of realisable asset these rural people have. Reclaiming it is, once again, only possible at high rates of interest.

As a response to these problems, Seva Mandir has helped women to set up Self-Help Groups in the villages. These allow women to save regularly and receive credit which is controlled collectively with their friends and colleagues at a much more affordable rate (1-2% monthly). We have also introduced a number of livelihood opportunities to enable women to earn more for their families. This adds to their security, confidence, status in their own communities and financial independence.

Financial independence for women is life-changing, giving them the ability to make independent decisions for themselves and their family. Since the SHGs’ creation, over 10,000 women have been given access to affordable credit and saving schemes. As a result, SHGs have accumulated more than INR 116 million (approximately USD 1.6 million) which is available to support women further.

Sheela, mother of 5 is a homemaker and takes care of her children. Her husband works as a waiter at marriage functions in Udaipur, and has to stay away from his village for 15 or more days at a time. So, it’s the sole responsibility of Sheela to take care of her children whilst her husband works. It’s very difficult for her to manage the household work and take care of the children all alone, yet, she is managing everything.

Sheela is a member of one of the SHG groups. Once, her husband did not receive his paycheck on time and was not able to come home. It became a difficult situation for Sheela to look after her children and get food for them. The situation got bad and she ran out of sundries and food entirely.

She went directly to the only option available to her; her SHG group. The group gave her immediate loan of Rs. 500 ($7) to buy much needed food for her hungry children. To most, this is just a small amount, but to Sheela it meant survival.

Sheela explains; ‘It’s just a small amount but it saved my children’s lives by providing help when I needed it the most.’

The SHGs empower women, even in the most dire of situations, to stay in control of their own lives, maintain their dignity, and provide for their family.

It is because of you, we at Seva Mandir were able to bring all these women together, make them aware of becoming self-sufficient and form these loan groups that can empower them. 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. The empowerment and autonomy of women are essential for the achievement of sustainable development.

We are also happy to share with you that our project Make Women in Rural India Financially Secure is accepted to participate in the 2020 Girl Fund Campaign by GlobalGiving. The campaign is our chance to win one of eight year-long slots in the GlobalGiving Girl Fund. The Girl Fund is made up of hundreds of donors committed to supporting GlobalGiving’s top tier organizations working to accelerate women’s equality around the world. For one year, the winning cohort will receive funding on a monthly basis from the Girl Fund. The campaign will be held from March 6-13. Fifteen organizations with the most unique donors will get a chance to enter in the final round of the Girl Fund Campaign. Please help us by spreading the word with your friends about our project.

Thank you once again and Happy International Women’s Day to you.

Regards

Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team

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Dec 2, 2019
More Successes and Achievements for Seva Mandir

By Atul Lekhra | Manager- Resource Mobilization

Dear Friend,

The status of women has improved considerably in the last few decades in the regions of Udaipur and Rajsamand. While there are still major hurdles to overcome, it has brought about meaningful transformations in the lives of rural and tribal women. Women have become more confident, are more visible in social and political spaces, and young women in particular are aspiring to a receive a quality education and increased autonomy.

Seva Mandir's Women's Empowerment programme continues to contribute towards this change and seeks to enhance the status of women through a variety of interventions. Working in collaboration with women, men and their communities, the programme tackles multifaceted inequality at each level, in order to cultivate more just and gender-equal relations, norms and practices. By helping women run and self-govern institutions such as the Self-Help Groups (SHGs), the programme also develops solidarity, governance and management capacities among women.

Thavri is from a remote tribal community in southern Rajasthan, where, as is often the case for women in most remote areas, she had no control of her family’s or her own finances. That all changed when a Seva Mandir facilitated Self-Help Groups (SHGs) opened in her village. Tharvi immediately joined as a member. Before the SHG, Tharvi was unable to save any money, and she would have to borrow money from a local moneylender at 5% interest but she was often unable to keep up with the payments.

As a member of the SHG, she was able to avoid such moneylenders. Tharvi took a loan of Rs 45,000 (USD $627) to pay for her son’s wedding at an interest rate of just 1%. She takes comfort in knowing that the interest in re-invested into the SHG to help other women like herself.

This is just one of the examples of how the SHGs help women during their time of need. Without your support none of this would be possible.

We would also like to share that Seva Mandir is delighted to congratulate long-time academic collaborators and supporters of its work, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, who have just won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science ‘for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.’

On receiving the award, Abhijit paid tribute to Seva Mandir: ‘I really owe to those with whom we work, whose lives we study in many ways. And also the people who work with them. We've learned a huge amount from organisations like Seva Mandir and Pratham, for example. In my personal experience, these organisations work on a very large scale with very poor people.’

This is not the first time that one of Seva Mandir’s research partners has received a Nobel prize. In 2015, Professor Angus Deaton won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences for his analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare. With Banerjee and Duflo, and in partnership with Seva Mandir, Professor Deaton conducted a survey of rural households and health facilities in Udaipur district, discussed in their joint paper Health Care Delivery in Rural Rajasthan, 2003.

Seva Mandir will continue to work with many other prestigious international and national academics to solve the problems faced by people living in poverty.

I am also happy to share with you that we have a new website (www.sevamandir.org)! We invite you to explore it!

Thank you again for your generosity in choosing to support the project of Seva Mandir. Together, we can transform lives.

Regards

Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team

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Sep 4, 2019
Giving Women Wings to Fly High

By Atul Lekhra | Manager- Resource Mobilization

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