Livelihood Promotion through Women Collectives at Champua in Keonjhar district of Orissa.
One of the livelihood promotion initiatives of Shamayita Math is collectivization of women in the form of Self Help Groups, Village Organizations, and promotion of livelihood through such collectives. Shamayita Math is already working with more than 3000 SHGs in West Bengal in the districts of Bankura, Paschim Midnapur and Jhargram from 2017. In past three years, there has been a noticeable change in the women collectives , such as :
- 86 % SHGs doing fortnightly meeting
- 25 % SHGs increased their monthly savings
- 45% SHGs doing interlending and maintaining proper books of accounts
- Grading improved of 41 % SHGs
- 61% community trainer taken ownership
- 80% functional VO and doing fortnightly meeting
With this experience and learning Shamayita Math has started similar initiative in Champua block in Keonjhar district of Orissa from January 2021. In the past six months team reached to nearly 6000 households belonging to 589 SHGs spread over 55 villages in 9 Gram Panchayats. The villages of Champua block have been found to be backward where SHG members are from marginalized families, with no education, low aspiration and zero knowledge on technology based agriculture. With these challenges ,Shamayita Math has started socio-economic development of the area through multidimensional approach-
- Development of local resources in the form of Community Resource Persons
- Strengthening of SHG, formation of VO and their strengthening
- Promotion of scientific and remunerative agriculture – Improved paddy, improved vegetable cultivation- access to quality seeds , quality inputs , improved technology (SARP) ,
- promotion of nutritional garden using organic practice and convergence with government
- Promotion of backyard poultry – procurement of chicks from government and handholding with pashu sakhis for vaccination and deworming support
- Grooming of CRPs to become entrepreneurs through sale of agri- inputs (basically hybrid paddy seeds) , setting up of polyhouse and selling of quality vegetable seedlings
Empowering rural women through promotion of sustainable institutions in West Bengal.
Outreach :
Working with 3442 SHGs, 181 Village Organizations in Bankura, Paschim Midnapore and Jhargram districts of West Bengal
Objective :
Strengthening of SHGs, Village Organizations (Upasangha) and Clusters (Gram Panchayat Level Federations or Sangha ) and making them financially self sustainable and active in addressing livelihood, health and social issues
- To develop efficient Village level cadre/community trainer
Process:
- Training provided to community trainer selected from GPLF by our professional
- Community trainer provides trainings to SHGs on strengthening of SHGs (Why SHG? Why women?, Panchasutra, Importance of Higher savings, MCP, Grading etc.) through various games ,flip chart, role play, debate and discussion
- Community trainer also provides trainings to SHGs on improve agricultural practices and improve management practices of farm animal (Goat, BYP etc.)
- Our professional provides training to VOs regarding the concept of VO, services of VO, VO subcommittees and their functions, Leadership training ,poverty analysis etc.
Impact :
- 50% of the VOs we are working with have been strengthened. The VOs which are developed now review the health of the SHGs based on Panchasutra, grading, Micro Credit planning.
- Livelihood planning is done through VO
- New agri-techniques like Improved Paddy Cultivation, System of Assured Rice production are percolating into SHG level through VOs.
