A Swa-Shakti Working Paper - Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana

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Women ‘owned’ affinity groups or SHGs are the foundation of Swa-Shakti 1
and the empowerment process it stimulates. The project strategy involves organising
women in self-help groups (SHGs) that work towards gaining access to and control
over physical, social and economic resources as well as political processes.
Furthermore, efforts under Swa-Shakti are focused on networking these groups to
build women’s institutions, which have the capacity to further their development
and that of the entire community on an ongoing basis. It is expected that the SHG
federations would not only provide a forum for women to articulate their needs
and demands, but would also actively liaise with local bodies such as the Panchayats,
DRDAs, etc., in the process of decision-making.
The project mainly focuses on the following aspects:
Capacity-building of the SHGs and the implementing agencies i.e.
the states and the NGOs;
Access to credit and inputs for starting feasible on-farm and offfarm
income generating activities;
Access to information on health, nutrition, natural resource
management, improved agricultural practices and animal
husbandry;
Awareness generation regarding legal rights, laws and delivery of
services;
Drudgery reduction and creation of community assets by
leveraging funds from the Government as well as the community;
and
Promoting sustainable SHG clusters and federations, which would
be in a position to place demands on the Government machinery
as a result of increased awareness regarding various schemes and
programmes pertaining to their well being.
The project aims at empowerment of women (especially from very poor families
and women headed households) by facilitating a process of social change, which
would have a positive impact on the quality of their lives. The project defines
empowerment as a process of helping the most disadvantaged lot of women to
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The name Swa-Shakti itself emphasises on recognising one’s inner strength as opposed to imparting any new learning.
Gender — A Swa-Shakti Working Paper