Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

CHAPTER 9
DECENTRALISED GOVERNANCE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
157
contingency, consumption and income generation needs.
Obviously, this is an indication of the development of saving
habits among the poor women on the one hand and on the
other this also indicates the increased accessibility of poor
women to small loans. 18 The repayment rate in the groups is
100 per cent.
Another major achievement of the Kudumbashree programme
is evident in the 25,000 vibrant individual micro enterprises
and 1,000 group enterprises, with minimum 10 women in
each group, functioning in the State. Obviously, this shows the
development of entrepreneurial skills among the poor women.
Further, it also implies the development of managerial skills,
productive skills and marketing skills, which are important for
the women to take decisions affecting their own productive
activity and lives. The activities undertaken were numerous
ranging from direct marketing, IT unit, coir carpet and photo
album making units. Almost 97 activities are undertaken by
the various units of Kudumbashree in the state. The most
frequently practised activities are direct marketing (69 units),
IT units (59), soap making unit (50 units), catering service
(45 units), canteen (45), dairy units (44), IT schools (43), ethnic
delicacies (41), hotels (41) and garment units (40). Some of the
different programmes implemented under the Kudumbashree
during the last year include balasabhas, vidyashree, IT services
to the poor, identification and rehabilitation of destitutes,
linkage banking, lease land farming, etc.
In infrastructure development front too, Kudumbashree has
made remarkable achievements. In Kerala, 36,617 houses
and 34,679 toilets for the urban poor and 21,907 houses
and 20,409 toilets for the rural poor have come up with the
initiative and resources of the Community Development
Societies.
The most striking limitation of the Kudumbashree
programme is that out of 1,51,406 neighbourhood groups
formed across the different districts of Kerala, not many are
able to run viable micro enterprises. This fact raises the
important question of why certain groups are functioning
well while others are not, given the identical organisational
as well as institutional framework for all the groups. The
differences appear to be owing to the local set up in which
the group is operating, initial endowment of the members
of the group like higher educational qualifications,
nature of activity, other artisanal skills, connections to
the mainstream social networks, previous experience,
effectiveness of local government intervention with the
group activities in the local area, etc. The replication of the
same activity in a number of groups, aggravates the extant
problems of marketing. Are these factors responsible for
the differences in the functioning of the groups? A separate
study on this issue is needed to correct the loopholes of the
existing system.
Another major criticism raised against the self-help groups
in general and Kudumbashree groups in particular is their
inability to help the poorest of the poor to come out of
poverty. This programme is asking the poor women to
help themselves, with an additional help extended by
the State. However, in this process of self-help many
women belonging to the poorest of the poor families will
be kept out of the entire system due to the inability to
provide weekly savings, which is a prerequisite for getting
membership in a group. In several seminars/workshops on
women’s empowerment, another major criticism voiced
by the non-Kudumbashree SHG members is regarding the
discrimination against such groups making it difficult for
them to maintain membership and sustain their activities.
It is also argued that the non-Left affiliations of the
non-Kudumbashree SHGs aggravates the situation. 19
Above all, while on paper, the Kudumbashree Programme,
emphasises a holistic empowerment perspective, covering
several dimensions of the lives of the poor, in particular of
18 Some of the measures announced in this year’s Union budget will go a considerable way in strengthening the system of
dispensing credit by micro-finance institutions (MFIs) in conjunction with self-help groups (SHGs) and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs). There is indeed a welcome recognition in the Finance Minister’s speech of the role MFIs have played
in catering to the credit needs of the poorer sections of rural society. The Government hopes to enhance the beneficial role of
the MFIs as an intermediary between banks and rural borrowers. Commercial banks will be allowed to appoint MFIs as their
“banking correspondents” for providing a variety of services on their behalf. That will vastly increase their reach and remove
some of the intractable rigidities that have stood in the way of the spread of rural banking.
19 Views often aired by members of non-Kudumbashree self-help/neighbourhood groups at womens’ meetings.