Author:
Publication: newkerala.com
Date: September 18, 2005
URL: http://www.newkerala.com/newsdaily.php?action=fullnews&id=23567
This is a good example of poor women in Chhattisgarh
coming together for self-help and emerging as a formidable economic force.
Over a million women comprising Adivasis,
Dalits and other backward sections of the society living below the poverty
line (BPL) are members of 76,000 self-help groups in the state. And their
accumulated assets have crossed the Rs.130 million mark.
No challenge is beyond their means as these
women, mostly illiterate, are running mines, fisheries, vast agricultural
tracts and even 'haats' (weekly markets) or self-sustenance, reports Grassroots
Features.
They have taken over the traditionally male-dominated
tasks of running limestone and stone quarries and are no longer afraid of
undertaking mammoth construction projects.
Phatkan Bai, gram panchayat leader of Dhagaon
village here, sums up the mood: "We've succeeded in sidelining most of
the contractors in this area and are now running these establishments ourselves.
"This was not an easy task since the contractors, because of their money
power, had a vice-like grip on the establishment."
The self-help group in Rajnandgaon works under
the umbrella of Maa Bambaleshwari and that is how they greet fellow members
when they meet one another.
Maa Bambaleshwari is the name for the local
deity and she certainly seems to have bestowed her blessings on this vociferous
and vibrant group for this one district, which alone boasts of over 5,000
such collectives. "There was no looking back for us because we have proved
ourselves as good managers," Sukulaya from Bagdai village says.
Two years ago, when these women groups first
put in a bid to run the weekly 'haat,' the local musclemen were aghast. They
threatened to beat them up and kidnap them. When the women refused to be intimidated,
the men went to influence the district collector. But since the women had
put in the highest bid at the auction, there was no way their claim could
be overruled and the collector supported the women's group.
"Not only did we return the Rs 35,000
taken from the bank to pay for the deposit amount but we also succeeded in
earning a profit within four months of taking over the haat," points
out the fiesty Sukulaya, a grandmother with three grandkids.
The most ambitious project undertaken by these
women was when they put in a bid of Rs.500,000 to grow crops in over 4,000
acres of land being auctioned by the Rajgamai Sampada Trust three years ago.
Initially bank officials declined to give
them such a huge loan. The women organised themselves and began staging protests
outside the bank. The adverse publicity in the local newspapers forced the
bank officials to change their mind.
B.L. Aggarwal, director, department of women
and child development in Raipur, points out that women have traditionally
enjoyed a high status in the state and the literacy rate of over 52 percent
is only a trifle lower than the national average of 54 percent. Rajanadgaon
district boasts of a literacy rate of 68 percent.
"Initially the banks were reluctant to
give out loans to women but the recovery rate in the state has been almost
100 percent. Today, over 44,000 of these self-help groups have their own bank
accounts," he says. "The men complain that we have snatched their
jobs from under their noses. They find our success difficult to digest because
we work harder and don't drink. Also, we spend our earnings on our families,"
argues Chanda Barmati who is into fish farming.
One of the biggest problems, especially in
the tribal belt, is rampant alcoholism amongst the men. These groups are also
in the forefront in launching an anti-alcohol movement and have ensured that
there is no sale of alcohol in the 63 villages in the area served by them.
According to district commissioner Srivastava,
"these are basically women-driven schemes where different government
departments converged towards making them holistic and self-reliant efforts."
At a time when government schemes are being
taken with a pinch of salt, this is one effort where a supportive administration
has made all the difference in the lives of thousands of women.
