Fwd: (GodFathers) good articles
Yamanoor Srihari <yamanoor-/[email protected]> Wed, 10 Mar 2004 20:15:26 -0800 (PST)
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--0-561482161-1078978526=:89400 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Jai Sivanantham <mail2mayil-/[email protected]> wrote: To: [email protected] From: Jai Sivanantham Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 19:43:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: (GodFathers) good articles very sensible articles http://www.deeshaa.org/who_paid.html http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=53257 Credit, SHGs And Women: The AP Way PANT JOSHI A silent revolution is sweeping through Andhra Pradesh through its networks of self-help groups (SHG). The state has demonstrated that empowerment based on the SHG model can have far reaching spin-offs. It has blazed a new path and shown clearly that the poor benefit materially from access to credit. That they are willing and able to service loans on a commercial basis. The uniqueness of the SHG approach lies in its simplicity. Groups which self-select 15-25 members are organised with the help of an animator, a trainer. This role fulfilled by a non-government organisation (NGO) which acts as a social intermediary, a bridge between the NGO and the bank and also helps financial intervention through the bank. SHG members are encouraged to make small, affordable and regular contributions to a savings fund managed by the groups. Once a reasonable corpus is collected, the group is encouraged to provide petty loans for its members. The group decides the priority of needs as to who should get the loans first and determines the rates of interest. Membership of the group gives women a sense of self-worth. It confers on them a voice in their families and in their larger society, and also ensures the economic and social upliftment of women. Once the group builds up a stake through regular contribution to its corpus, it is also given revolving credit. Though interest rates are set by the group, they are lower than the rates charged by the money lender by two - three per cent per month which means 24 - 36 per cent per annum. The velocity of turnover is quite rapid as repayments are prompt. This leads to disbursement of loans which are three to four times the quantum of savings. A medium-sized loan can average between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Supplementary doses of assistance are provided for those who have only been able to avail of a nominal sum during the first borrowing cycle. For landless women, assistance is provided for taking up animal husbandry programmes or cottage and village industries. For women who have taken land on lease and for those who own land, assistance is provided for land- based activities. This represents a demand-driven approach to credit. This is also a participatory approach, and gives rise to democratic empowerment among SHG members. The involvement of women in SHGs has also changed the behaviour of their men-folk. They have started helping them in domestic tasks, and have started sharing responsibilities within the home. Not just that. The access to and control over resources by women has empowered them towards asserting their own rights. Though gender division in decision-making still persists in the project-districts, there is definitely an increase in the intra- household decision making powers of women. This empowerment has percolated into decisions regarding credit activities, children's activities, and health care of family members and use of family assets. NGOs also play a central role in the formation of groups and in project activities. In Andhra Pradesh, Velugu was launched in 2000. It was introduced on a pilot-basis in six districts aided by the World Bank. Velugu provided additional funds which enabled skilled animators to be hired, thus reducing dependence on the free services provided by NGOs. It financed a `community investment fund' for building small local infrastructure as sheds for weavers, etc. After the success of the pilot-project, Velugu 2 has been launched in every mandal of the state. Under the umbrella of Velugu, all SHGs are encouraged to form `federations of village organisations' which in turn federate into Mahila Mandal Samakhyas. The model is highly cost effective: lender transaction- cost could be further reduced if the option of institutional lending to groups for lending to individuals rather than directly to individuals within groups is considered. This is attractive for banks. However, this requires the exercise of great care in so far as group dynamics is concerned particularly with regard to loan distribution within the groups to ensure that the poorer women are not marginalised. It is necessary not to lose sight of the fact that pro poor, equitable and transparent financial operations through built-in savings and lending practices contribute to the efficient functioning of the groups and to the collective engagement of the group in socially productive activities. SHGs have successfully created a number of successful income generating opportunities. Loans have enabled women to manage their activities independently and to have greater control over their assets and incomes. The assumption that women would generally make wise choices due to their expertise and knowledge of local markets conditions has been justified by healthy repayment rates. SHGs in Andhra Pradesh have achieved much and heralded an era of social change with respect to empowering women in rural communities. Its strongest point centres around the formation of cohesive women's groups who have developed the habit of systematic savings. It has helped consolidate their bargaining power and decision making responsibilities towards the overall development of their communities. The distinct features and success in enabling women to overcome the double burden of being poor and being women are indicators of the need to replicate the model to empower women in other states. There are valuable lessons to be learnt from SHGs of Andhra Pradesh. (The author is chief general manager at Reserve Bank of India in Hyderabad. The views expressed here are personal) bye Jaimv __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Links La vie.. http://www.stanford.edu/~yamanoor http://yamanoor.tblog.com --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster. --0-561482161-1078978526=:89400 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit <html><body> <DIV> <DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Jai Sivanantham <mail2mayil-/[email protected]></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">To: mail2mayil-/[email protected]<BR>From: Jai Sivanantham <[email protected]><BR>Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 19:43:18 -0800 (PST)<BR>Subject: (GodFathers) good articles<BR><BR>very sensible articles<BR><BR>http://www.deeshaa.org/who_paid.html<BR><BR><BR>http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=53257<BR><BR>Credit, SHGs And Women: The AP Way<BR><BR>PANT JOSHI<BR><BR>A silent revolution is sweeping through Andhra Pradesh<BR>through its <BR>networks<BR>of self-help groups (SHG). The state has demonstrated that <BR>empowerment based<BR>on the SHG model can have far reaching spin-offs. It has<BR>blazed a <BR>new path<BR>and shown clearly that the poor benefit materially from<BR>access to <BR>credit.<BR>That they are willing and able to service loans on a<BR>commercial <BR>basis.<BR>< BR>The uniqueness of the SHG approach lies in its simplicity.<BR>Groups <BR>which<BR>self-select 15-25 members are organised with the help of an<BR><BR>animator, a<BR>trainer.<BR><BR>This role fulfilled by a non-government organisation (NGO)<BR>which <BR>acts as a<BR>social intermediary, a bridge between the NGO and the bank<BR>and also <BR>helps<BR>financial intervention through the bank. SHG members are<BR>encouraged <BR>to make<BR>small, affordable and regular contributions to a savings<BR>fund <BR>managed by the<BR>groups.<BR><BR>Once a reasonable corpus is collected, the group is<BR>encouraged to <BR>provide<BR>petty loans for its members. The group decides the priority<BR>of needs <BR>as to<BR>who should get the loans first and determines the rates of<BR>interest.<BR>Membership of the group gives women a sense of self-worth.<BR>It <BR>confers on<BR>them a voice in their families and in their larger society,<BR>and also <BR>ensures<BR>the economic and social upliftment of wome n.<BR><BR>Once the group builds up a stake through regular<BR>contribution to its <BR>corpus,<BR>it is also given revolving credit. Though interest rates<BR>are set by <BR>the<BR>group, they are lower than the rates charged by the money<BR>lender by <BR>two -<BR>three per cent per month which means 24 - 36 per cent per<BR>annum.<BR><BR>The velocity of turnover is quite rapid as repayments are<BR>prompt. <BR>This leads<BR>to disbursement of loans which are three to four times the<BR>quantum of<BR>savings. A medium-sized loan can average between Rs 500 and<BR>Rs 1,000.<BR>Supplementary doses of assistance are provided for those<BR>who have <BR>only been<BR>able to avail of a nominal sum during the first borrowing<BR>cycle.<BR><BR>For landless women, assistance is provided for taking up<BR>animal <BR>husbandry<BR>programmes or cottage and village industries. For women who<BR>have <BR>taken land<BR>on lease and for those who own land, assistance is provided<BR>for land-< BR>based<BR>activities. This represents a demand-driven approach to<BR>credit. This <BR>is also<BR>a participatory approach, and gives rise to democratic<BR>empowerment <BR>among SHG<BR>members.<BR><BR>The involvement of women in SHGs has also changed the<BR>behaviour of <BR>their<BR>men-folk. They have started helping them in domestic tasks,<BR>and have <BR>started<BR>sharing responsibilities within the home. Not just that.<BR><BR>The access to and control over resources by women has<BR>empowered them <BR>towards<BR>asserting their own rights.<BR><BR>Though gender division in decision-making still persists in<BR>the<BR>project-districts, there is definitely an increase in the<BR>intra-<BR>household<BR>decision making powers of women. This empowerment has<BR>percolated into<BR>decisions regarding credit activities, children's<BR>activities, and <BR>health<BR>care of family members and use of family assets. NGOs also<BR>play a <BR>central<BR>role in the formation of groups and in project activities.<BR><BR>In Andhra Pradesh, Velugu was launched in 2000. It was<BR>introduced on <BR>a<BR>pilot-basis in six districts aided by the World Bank.<BR>Velugu provided<BR>additional funds which enabled skilled animators to be<BR>hired, thus <BR>reducing<BR>dependence on the free services provided by NGOs. It<BR>financed <BR>a `community<BR>investment fund' for building small local infrastructure as<BR>sheds for<BR>weavers, etc. After the success of the pilot-project,<BR>Velugu 2 has <BR>been<BR>launched in every mandal of the state.<BR><BR>Under the umbrella of Velugu, all SHGs are encouraged to <BR>form `federations<BR>of village organisations' which in turn federate into<BR>Mahila Mandal<BR>Samakhyas. The model is highly cost effective: lender<BR>transaction-<BR>cost could<BR>be further reduced if the option of institutional lending<BR>to groups <BR>for<BR>lending to individuals rather than directly to individuals<BR>within <BR>groups is<BR>conside red. This is attractive for banks.<BR><BR>However, this requires the exercise of great care in so far<BR>as group<BR>dynamics is concerned particularly with regard to loan<BR>distribution <BR>within<BR>the groups to ensure that the poorer women are not<BR>marginalised. It <BR>is<BR>necessary not to lose sight of the fact that pro poor,<BR>equitable and<BR>transparent financial operations through built-in savings<BR>and lending<BR>practices contribute to the efficient functioning of the<BR>groups and <BR>to the<BR>collective engagement of the group in socially productive<BR>activities.<BR><BR>SHGs have successfully created a number of successful<BR>income <BR>generating<BR>opportunities. Loans have enabled women to manage their<BR>activities<BR>independently and to have greater control over their assets<BR>and <BR>incomes. The<BR>assumption that women would generally make wise choices due<BR>to their<BR>expertise and knowledge of local markets conditions has<BR>been <BR>justified by< BR>healthy repayment rates.<BR><BR>SHGs in Andhra Pradesh have achieved much and heralded an<BR>era of <BR>social<BR>change with respect to empowering women in rural<BR>communities. Its <BR>strongest<BR>point centres around the formation of cohesive women's<BR>groups who <BR>have<BR>developed the habit of systematic savings. It has helped<BR>consolidate <BR>their<BR>bargaining power and decision making responsibilities<BR>towards the <BR>overall<BR>development of their communities.<BR><BR>The distinct features and success in enabling women to<BR>overcome the <BR>double<BR>burden of being poor and being women are indicators of the<BR>need to <BR>replicate<BR>the model to empower women in other states. There are<BR>valuable <BR>lessons to be<BR>learnt from SHGs of Andhra Pradesh.<BR><BR>(The author is chief general manager at Reserve Bank of<BR>India in <BR>Hyderabad.<BR>The views expressed here are personal)<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>bye<BR><BR>Jaimv<BR><BR>_________________________ _________<BR>Do you Yahoo!?<BR>Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster<BR>http://search.yahoo.com<BR><BR><BR>------------------------ Yahoo! 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