Tips for Field Worker s Vol 2 - Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana

Vol. II 

Published by 

Central Project Support Unit 

Swa-Shakti Project 

Government of India 

Ministry of Human Resource Development 

19, Central Lane Bengali Market, New Delhi-110001 

Compiled by 

A.M. Tiwari, I.A.S. 

Executive Director, Swa-Shakti Project 

Editing support 

Ms. Dhanashri Brahme, Ms. Asha Spaak 

Designed by 

New Concept Information Systems Pvt. Ltd 

Ph.: 91-11-6972748,6972811 

Publication No. 19 

The Government of India has declared 2001 as Women’s Empowerment Year

SWA-SHAKTI 

Section I: Introduction 

Introduction to volume II 

The field worker 

Which activities can be supported under Swa- 

Shakti Project? 

Services that could be extended to non-Swa- 

Shakti groups? 

Focus of activities for the second year of project 

implementation 

How should the field worker plan her time? 

Tips on holding SHG meetings 

Formation of model groups 

Undertaking action research 

Area-specific problems that could be tackled 

under the Swa-Shakti 

Confidence-building of SHG Members 

5

Tips for Field Workers 

Section I: Introduction 

Introduction to volume II 

The "Tips for Field Workers - Part I" gave a general view of 

the role of field workers, the formation of SHGs and also 

several aspects of micro-credit. This handbook, "Tips for 

field workers - Part II", makes a more detailed study of the 

different elements of SHG formation and strengtheni ng. It 

highlights the activities to be initiated as the Swa-Shakti 

Project enters its next phase of implementation (12 -18 

months). The focus of this phase is on activities related to: 

bank linkage; 

networking; 

convergence; and 

micro-enterprise development (on-farm and non-farm) . 

Certain State specific initiatives like working on health, 

literacy, water supply and conservation, agriculture etc. 

would also be undertaken. 

In order to get an overall picture of the scope of the project, 

the phasing of different activities corresponding to the age 

of the SHG is given in the box in the next page. 

6

SWA-SHAKTI 

Different activities corresponding to the age of the SHG 

0-12 months 12-18 months 18-24 months 24+months 

Group formation Micro-enterprise Networking Networking 

development (On 

(strengthening 

Farm and non-farm) 

of federations) 

Initial Training Bank Linkage Improving State specific 

in group credit activities – 

formation, etc. 

absorption 

Land Improvement 

and work on natural 

resource management 

Insurance 

Work on atrocities 

against women 

Working on right to 

information towards 

promoting organizational 

transparency and 

accountability 

Confidence- Networking State-specific 

building (cluster formation) activities 

Health 

Adolescent 

girls 

Networking 

with Panchayati 

Raj institutions 

Animal 

Theme camps Convergence Husbandry 

Literacy Integration of gender 

issues in project 

activities 

Communication & *State-specific 

Identity 

activities 

Community 

involvement 

through community 

asset creation 

Literacy 

Starting crèches 

Drudgery reduction 

Note: 

The State-specific initiatives do not have to be ta ken up necessarily in the phase where they have been mentioned. 

Depending on the preparedness of the State machinery, any of the above mentioned initiatives could be undertaken 

in any phase. 

The project will come to a close in May 2004. However, the recent mid-term review discussions have given rise 

to the possibility of initiating Swa-Shakti Phase II after May 2004, based on an evaluation of project accomplishments 

in participating states. 

7


Majority of Swa-Shakti SHGs are at present around o ne 

year old. During the first year, every such project witnesses 

great progress and the SHGs and field workers are very 

optimistic. During every visit of the field worker, some 

progress is seen, members are enthusiastic, basic activities 

like group formation, savings and loaning starts, few groups 

and their field workers show more initiative and encourage 

members to get involved in community affairs, income 

generation activities, etc. 

Growth of a SHG can be compared to the growth of a new 

born child. In the first year (infant stage), the c hild shows 

great potential and parents are very happy. In some cases, 

they pamper the child. The real problem starts when the 

child reaches adolescent stage. During this age, the child 

is having great expectations and very frequently conflicts 

take place due to difference in what the parents can offer 

and what the child wants. Parents have to be very patient 

and careful at this age. They have to guide the adolescent 

child without hurting its feelings but have to ensure that 

the child develops properly. Our SHG may become 

“adolescent” during the second year. 

Once the child passes through adolescence and becomes 

adult, it becomes more responsible, its actual potential 

becomes known and it does not need much guidance from 

the parents. Our SHGs will become “adult” during their 

fourth year. 

The “Infant Groups” (which are up to one year old) have 

following characteristics: 

They get basic training through on site training, o ff site 

training and exposure visits; 

They meet regularly and are willing to learn from the 

field worker; 

They start savings and loaning activities; and 

Very fast growth is seen in the SHG and every thing 

appears to be under control. 

8

The “Adolescent groups” (all Swa-Shakti SHGs which are 

more than one year old, but less than three years o ld) may 

show following major characteristics: 

Their expectations from the Project are very high, now 

they want results from the field worker. Their 

expectations may be good quality of training, help for 

income generation activities, exposure visits, assistance 

for local problems, etc.; 

They are very vocal and confident; 

It is very difficult to handle them; 

When they find that the field worker does not have 

capacity to help them or the Project is not able to offer 

them the required help, some of the members start 

leaving the group. Some reduction in number of groups 

or membership size is expected at this stage; 

Many NGOs and their field workers do not have much 

experience of handling the SHGs which are passing 

through this phase; 

The NGO officials and DPM should frequently tour, meet 

these SHGs and try to assess their quality. Monitoring 

of numbers like number of SHGs formed, average 

attendance, etc. will not give much information on the 

expectations of SHGs, level of help needed by them and 

whether the field worker has the capacity to help the 

SHGs during this stage; 

Emphasis should be on the core activities like income 

generation, bank linkage, convergence of schemes of 

other departments and networking at cluster level. These 

core activities are described in detail in subsequent 

chapters; 

The facility for community assets creation would be very 

important at this stage; 

It is easier to stabilize the SHGs if they are involved in 

some form of community activities like monitoring of 

the school teachers, cleaning of village road, pond, etc. 

Once the women members are involved in such activities, 

they would be under self-pressure to remain part of the 

group, otherwise their reputation in the village will suffer 

and others will laugh at them; 

The withdrawal strategy of Project should be 

SWA-SHAKTI 

9


implemented at this stage. This strategy is described in 

a later chapter; and 

If the field worker succeeds in meeting the expectations 

of the SHGs at this stage, more SHGs will be formed on 

local demand. 

The “adult groups” (all Swa-Shakti SHGs which are more 

than three years old) may show following major 

characteristics: 

It is easier to handle them, they can perform many tasks 

without any outside help; 

Due to the above reason, they prefer reduced 

involvement from the field worker; 

SHGs will now develop on different lines, some of them 

will specialise in community activities, health, 

agriculture, literacy, etc. Due to this reason, their needs 

will be different and every SHG will have to be treated 

differently; 

Their needs will become more specialised and will need 

support from outside experts; and 

Many SHGs and their members will start becoming more 

empowered and a clear positive sign will start becoming 

visible. 

The Field Worker 

Based on the changes in the SHG as it grows the field 

workers’ roles also undergoes change. 

10 

The field worker is 

basically a facilitator, or 

community organiser 

belonging to the same 

neighbourhood or 

village, who helps group 

members to become 

self-reliant. Under her 

guidance, the members 

learn how to manage 

their affairs on their

own. Her role changes over a period of time: from initiating 

and leading to guiding and, finally, advising. It must be 

made clear that initiating and leading does not mea n 

teaching and dictating: village women are adults with a lot 

of experience and knowledge. The field worker's role is, 

essentially, to help them realize their potential. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

The field worker has three basic roles to play 

As a Group Adviser, she helps the poor in building their capacity to 

manage group affairs and strengthens the women's leadership abilities; 

As a Participatory Trainer, she teaches group membe rs basic skills such 

as literacy, accounts maintenance, problem-solving, etc.; and 

As a Link Person, she is the main liaison person be tween the groups 

and outside agencies like the DPIU, various government departments, 

banks, etc. 

Phase of SHG Role of Field Worker Role of SHG 

Preformation Explorer and initiator Observer 

Formation Promoter & facilitator Passive participant 

Stabilization Coach and resource person Active owner 

Growth Adviser and programme initiator Manager 

Stabilization 

Business support 

Self-managed. 

(Source: Resource Book for Group Building, DWCD, Government of India) 

Behaviour Tips for Field Workers 

Be respectful and patient. Listen before you speak. Nev er promise 

anything before you are sure that you can fulfil th at promise; and once 

made, always keep your promises; 

Never become a member of the group or its leader; a nd 

Help the women to articulate and take decision by a sking questions, 

listening to them and encouraging their active invo lvement. 

11


Changes in the field worker's role 

Field workers must remember that their usefulness to SHG 

will reduce with time and as the SHG progresses and gains 

more experience. 

Which activities can be supported by Swa-Shakti 

Project? 

Swa-Shakti Project can support following activities and 

needs of the SHG members: 

Agriculture related activities (on-farm activities); 

Animal husbandry related activities (on-farm activities); 

Other business related activities (non-farm activities); 

Establishment of credit linkages with banks; 

Credit assistance from the Revolving corpus of the Project; 

Convergence of the schemes of other departments; 

Integration of the schemes of Women and Child 

Development Department; 

Networking of SHGs at cluster and block levels; 

Assistance for building or repairing community assets 

for women; 

Drudgery reduction; 

Action to stop atrocities against women; 

Health improvements; 

Gender sensitization of the community and SHG 

members; 

Insurance support to members (life insurance, health 

insurance, asset insurance); 

Activities related to land and water improvement; 

Providing information and awareness generation of S HG 

members; 

Involvement in community affairs; 

Linkages with Panchayati Raj Institutions; 

Assistance for improving literacy status of SHG members 

and their daughters; 

Establishment of crèches; and 

Training to adolescent girls, who are normally not 

members of our SHGs. 

12

It is not possible to take up all these activities immediately. 

It is, therefore, decided to divide these activities into few 

phases. This is discussed in a later part of this chapter. 

In this process, following other issues are also likely to be 

handled: 

The question of subsidy which is available from other 

schemes will have to be discussed and an acceptable 

mechanism for its use will have to be evolved; 

The project personnel at every level will have to be 

motivated to efficiently perform their tasks; 

Many new initiatives, which are not listed above, will 

also have be supported; 

Project’s experiences, both good and bad, should be 

documented so that other programmes can learn from 

us; 

Training related material for all levels will have to be 

developed; 

Some specialised studies will have to be launched to 

study the impact of our initiatives; 

Communication with the SHG members and the local 

community will have to be improved; 

It has to be ensured that every SHG receives a good 

amount of support from the Project. Such support can 

be through training, exposure visits, demonstration 

programmes, printed literature, etc.; 

Even if more loans are made available, every SHG may 

not be in a position to use such loans properly. The 

credit absorption capacity of our SHGs will have to be 

improved. This is discussed in a subsequent chapter. 

Capacity of partner NGOs will have to be improved so 

that they are able to effectively perform their expected 

roles; 

Other linked agencies and persons like local community, 

Panchayati Raj functionaries, local officials, bankers, etc. 

will have to be sensitized on gender, needs of SHG 

members, SHG processes and Swa-Shakti project; 

Confidence levels of shy members will have to be 

improved through special training, exposure visits, etc.; 

Needs of SHG members from tribal areas will have to be 

SWA-SHAKTI 

13


studied and some special measures will have to be taken 

for them. This is discussed later; 

Swa-Shakti is a unique project which aims at 

empowerment of women through every possible means. 

There is no comparable project any where in the world. 

Its identity will have to be established so that 

implementers from other countries come to learn 

from us; 

Special efforts will have to be made to tackle the problems 

of disadvantaged women like those who are the poorest, 

who are facing natural calamity, who are abused or who 

are very shy; 

Some model SHGs will have to be created which can 

become role models for other SHGs from the area. The 

Project will encourage more expenditure and better 

quality training to the model SHGs; and 

The Project will end in May 2004. We have to start 

implementing the withdrawal strategy now so that the 

SHGs keep on functioning without any outside help 

after May 2004. This strategy is described in a 

subsequent chapter. 

Services that could be extended to non-Swa-Shakti 

groups 

It is possible that some other initiatives of the Government 

and NGO sectors will already have a presence in the 

villages adopted for this project. Although some of these 

groups may provide considerable vision and clarity to our 

groups, it is also likely that they may lack inputs like 

training, fund management skills, etc., that could 

cause quality-related problems to the Swa-Shakti Project 

groups also. 

In this situation, our Project could provide the following 

services: 

14 

Encourage participation of non-project SHGs in theme 

camps; 

Provide them informal training in record keeping, 

procedures and the role of leaders;

Provide them literature and posters developed under 

the Swa-Shakti Project; and 

Provide them information on Government schemes. 

Focus of activities during the second year of project 

implementation 

The field worker should take note of the following suggestions 

to develop the SHGs that have entered the second year: 

Every member should be aware of the Swa-Shakti 

Project; they must know what the Project can do and 

what is not possible; 

The Project should spend at least Rs.10,000 on each 

group every year in terms of their training, 

exposure visits, awareness materials, theme 

camps, etc.; 

Every group should by now be aware of the 

NGO's action plan and will also have 

developed an action plan for its own 

development; 

Some group members should have started 

income generation activities and others will 

have started discussing possible activities; 

Members are aware of possible Government schemes 

and have started applying for some of them; and 

The process of networking has started. 

The field worker should now take the following steps to 

promote income generation activities: 

A quick survey of SHG members should be conducted 

to identify those members already involved in some 

income generation activity and who need support from 

the Project; and also to identify those members who are 

in a position to increase their incomes through land 

development or cattle based activities; 

Once the survey results are analysed, the members can 

be divided into the following categories: 

Those who have access to land and can be provided 

agriculture related training; 

SWA-SHAKTI 

15


Those who have some cattle and can be trained in 

animal husbandry; and 

Those who have some other business or income 

generation activity, need credit to expand their 

activity, and can be trained in costing, quality 

improvement, etc. 

The remaining members can be divided into two 

categories: 

Those who have not undertaken any income 

generation activity but are ready to do so after 

training. Their training needs should be 

identified and training 

should be imparted; and 

Those who are not yet 

ready for any income 

generation activity and 

nothing can be done for 

them during the current 

year. 

It is expected that during the second year of the Project, at 

least a third of the members from each group will have 

improved their income through support from the Proj ect. 

How should the field worker plan her time? 

A proper planning for the month and for the week is 

essential if the field worker is to perform her role effectively. 

She should keep a diary in which she should: 

earmark two pages for each SHG and record details of 

their growth; 

note the details of her NGO's annual action plans; 

keep a record of her visits to the SHG; and 

set out her plan for the month. 

16 

She should consult the diary every day before starting her 

visit. She should memorise the names of members of the 

group she is to visit on that day, check what was discussed 

by the group during her last visit, what assurances were

made and decisions taken which have to be reminded to 

the group, what materials she must carry with her for the 

present visit, etc. 

The field worker must work at least six hours every day. 

The partner NGOs should develop a performance evaluation 

system for every field worker, identify their strengths and 

weaknesses and ask the SPMU to organize special training 

programmes for them. 

Some performance norms have been developed by the CPSU 

for the SPMU and DPIU personnel. The SPMU should 

develop similar norms for the field workers in consultation 

with the partner NGOs. 

Tips on holding SHG meetings 

The group meetings should not be held only for collection 

of savings & repayments and for sanctioning loans. The 

field worker should also ensure that: 

Some training is provided to the group at each meeting; 

Some cultural event like songs, poetry or a skit are 

organized; 

More timid members are encouraged to talk on any 

subject of their choice; 

The problems of women and girls are discussed; 

Other general problems of the village are discussed and 

solutions suggested; 

The SHG identifies a common problem in the village 

and takes it up; 

The training and exposure 

programmes that are to be 

planned for the group are 

discussed; 

Details of the Swa-Shakti 

Project and its instructions 

are intimated to the group; 

Information on Government 

schemes is provided and 

eligible persons fill application 

SWA-SHAKTI 

17


forms; 

The role and attendance of Government servants are 

discussed; and 

The role of the village panchayat is discussed. 

The partner NGO has to see that every field worker develops 

a feasible plan to handle group meetings and that she is 

provided with the knowledge and training for this purpose. 

The DPM can also help in organizing some mock sessions/ 

role-plays on how to handle group meetings. 

A field worker’s kit may also be developed containing 

information, pamphlets, flip charts, etc. that can be used 

at group meetings. The DPM should discuss this matter 

with the field workers during the monthly meetings and, if 

needed, should organize training sessions for them. 

Formation of a few model groups by every field worker 

Each field worker should try to form 3-4 model groups in 

her area. These model groups could specialise in any one 

of the following areas: 

Confidence building; 

Health issues; 

Pressure groups; 

Agricultural improvement; 

Social Issues; or 

Linkages with other useful schemes. 

This approach has several advantages as these groups could 

become: 

Role models for other NGOs and groups; 

‘Testing fields’ for new concepts. The approaches used 

should be properly documented, so that the stages of 

their building up may be applied to other groups; and 

Provide the Swa-Shakti Project an "image". 

18 

The field worker may take the following steps in forming 

model groups:

She must identify groups with some potential, or those 

mature enough to specialise in a particular field. The 

field worker and NGO must, of course, be in a position 

to provide specialised inputs to 

such groups; 

Details of these should be 

discussed with the 

concerned SHGs, NGO, DPM 

and the WDC to prepare a 

workable programme. The 

roles and responsibilities of 

the Self-Help Groups and 

their leaders, and all those 

running the programme 

must be made clear from the beginning; and 

The field worker should document the progress of these 

groups. They should also be regularly monitored through 

visits and meetings. 

Action Research 

Swa-Shakti, being a pilot project, offers a lot of flexibility to 

experiment with new ideas and innovations. A good way to 

put these innovations into practice is through the initiation 

of action research on specific issues, ideas, communities, 

primitive tribes, etc. The field worker can help the DPM to 

identify areas for action research as she is closest to the 

ground realities. 

Some suggested areas for action research that have 

emerged through ongoing discussions are given 

below: 

Initiating cluster formation, strengthening and 

motivating cluster representatives to form SHGs 

without external stimulation; 

Experimenting with Rotating Savings and Credit 

Associations (ROSCAS) like chit funds; 

Initiating Health Insurance; 

Formation of SHGs based on the traditional forms 

of savings, e.g. savings in kind, grain banks, etc.; 

SWA-SHAKTI 

19


Introduction of credit cards; 

Formation of specialist SHGs in the area of political 

activism; or in the area of confidence-building; 

Formation of SHGs through non-economic intervention 

such as health, literacy, etc.; 

Formation of specialist SHGs in the area of right to 

information campaign; 

Formation of specialist SHGs in the area of natural 

resource management, including water resources 

development; and 

Formation of specialist SHGs in the area of community 

asset development and common property resource 

development, for example work on community 

pastureland, wasteland, village school, etc. 

Area Specific Problems that could be tackled under 

the Swa-Shakti Project 

The Swa-Shakti Project must evolve certain standard 

activities, and attend to issues that have not been addressed 

or that have a major impact on the lives of the women, 

such as the: 

Eradication of TB; 

Eradication of superstitions 

(nutritional, social or healthrelated); 

Attending to the poorest of the 

poor; 

Eradication of violence against 

women; and 

Prevention of nutritional 

anaemia. 

20 

The field worker should identify 

such problems and discuss detailed 

action plans to handle them. The 

project will make special financial provisions to deal with 

any of the above problem areas. The additional contracts of 

NGO provide for such initiatives.

SWA-SHAKTI 

Additional activities that may be taken up in tribal areas 

Functional literacy for all members; 

Improvement in drinking water supplies. Creation of drinking water 

facilities, maintenance of and training in maintain ing clean water sources; 

Improvement in soil moisture for on-farm activities; 

Improvement in agricultural productivity by improvi ng the soil, 

diversification of crops and better cropping practices; 

Improving cattle management; 

Improving processing of agricultural and forest produce; 

Improving design, quality and efficiency of handicr afts; 

Basic health care training; 

Traditional health care; and 

Child care centres. 

Confidence-building of SHG members 

SHG member's confidence level can be improved by doing the following: 

Getting expert organisations to arrange training pr ogrammes in 

confidence building. To start with, it is the SHG leaders who should 

be trained, but weaker members should be identified and trained 

in the second phase; 

Symbols play a very important role in confidence building. Some of 

the symbols that could be effectively used for this purpose are 

mentioned in the box below; 

Encouraging members to visit district and 

block officials with representations, 

making written representations 

themselves and following them up 

regularly; 

Organising theme camps and exposure 

visits for members and others; and 

Participation of members in community 

related activities like constructing or 

repairing a community asset, running a 

crèche or nursery for young children, 

organising a training programme for 

adolescent girls, participating in gram 

sabha meetings, organising cleanliness 

21


Use of Symbols in the Swa-Shakti Project 

Symbols play a very important role in social sector projects. They have the 

potential to accelerate the confidence-building pro cess of group members. 

Some symbols that could be used are: 

Logos and logo stickers; 

Individualised pass books and group registers; 

Rubber stamps and letter heads the group can use in all its 

correspondence; 

Songs and Competitions; 

Common decisions (discussed in detail in Part I of this book); 

Issuing note books to every participant in training programmes; 

Grading of groups; 

Certificates issued to members for special achievements; 

Colours to groups according to their maturity; 

Identity cards and signboards, bags, badges, visiti ng cards, etc; 

Public service events and organising events of local importance; and 

Annual gatherings. 

campaigns in the village, getting the electric transformer 

repaired, providing minor health facilities, and so on. 

*Some of these suggestions are discussed in detail in this handbook. 

22

SWA-SHAKTI 

Section II: Training 

Informal training 

Formal training 

How to plan and obtain approval for training 

programmes 

Assessment of the impact of training 

Exposure visits 

Theme camps 

23


Section II: Training 

Who will train the SHGs and what methods will they use? 

Swa-Shakti is in fact a training and capacity building project 

for rural women and training of SHG members is a very 

important part of the Project. About 28% of the total project 

outlay is earmarked for training, and 9% is for developing 

training materials. 

SHG members will receive both formal and informal training. 

a. Informal training 

The field worker should hold informal training sessions 

during her regular visits to the SHG. She will give the group 

basic information about the Swa-Shakti Project, gro up 

formation, record management, gender issues, 

management of savings and loans, bank 

procedures, government schemes, etc. This 

is why it is strongly suggested that the FW 

should make frequent visits to the SHGs 

during the first 18 months when most of 

the informal training modules are being 

implemented. 

24 

The NGO and field worker must organise 

visits by specialists to the various groups. 

Medical doctors, nurses, veterinary 

doctors, lawyers, police officers or 

development workers from the KVIC, 

agriculture department, animal 

husbandry, horticulture and fisheries 

centres, etc., should be invited to visit the

SHG at regular intervals and give members basic 

information related to their field of specialisation. 

Informal training also includes visits to other SHGs, 

government offices and places of interest like Krishi Vigyan 

Kendra, exhibitions, micro-enterprises, demonstrati on 

camps, etc. Pamphlets, posters and newsletters containing 

information on various issues that are relevant to SHG 

members will also prove effective. 

b. Formal training 

Formal training can be given by organising regular training 

programmes on group procedures, group accounts, 

confidence building, leadership development, etc. These 

programmes will have to be organised by the TAC and field 

worker with financial assistance from the DPIU. The 

sessions are generally organised 

for 2-3 days and held normally at 

a central place where two or three 

representatives from each of the 

7-10 SHGs can participate. The 

SPMU of every state has 

developed norms for these 

programmes 1 . 

Specialised training programmes on health, agriculture, 

animal husbandry, literacy, micro-enterprise development, 

will be organised by the NGO with the help of experts from 

the concerned government department, or a regular 

training institution/ expert organisation. The SPMU of every 

state has developed norms for these programmes 2 . Every 

year, in fact, an action plan is developed by the WDC for 

the project. The field worker should have a copy of this 

plan and ensure that it is implemented in time. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

1 Few SPMUs have developed training modules that can be followed by the FW. The CPSU is 

having some existing modules translated. The Lead Training Agency is also involved in 

developing specialised modules. 

2 Some limited interventions are being undertaken for this purpose by the CPSU and SPMU in a 

few districts for intervention in health, micro-enterprise development and on-farm activities 

on a trial basis. 

25


How to plan and obtain approval for training 

programmes 

Specialised training programmes can be organised with 

the help of local experts and government workers. It may 

take a few attempts to perfect the programmes. Financial 

guidelines are available with the SPMU and DPIU. 

Once the design and cost of a programme is finalised, these 

should be discussed with the DPM and the Training 

Coordinator at SPMU and their approval obtained. They 

have been asked to ensure that such approvals are given 

within 10 days. The NGO's monthly training programme 

calendar should be sent to the DPM in advance so that 

district and state level officials may attend these programmes 

whenever they wish. 

Field workers will also find the handbook, entitled ‘Training 

of SHGs – a guide book’, published by the DWCD useful. 

Copies of the book in English are available with SPMU. The 

CPSU is arranging to translate the handbook into Hindi. In 

addition, every NGO and SPMU has developed training plans 

for the SHGs. The field worker should obtain copies and 

ensure that the plans are followed. 

Although every WDC has prescribed a training schedule for 

SHGs, for both on-site and off-site training programmes, 

experience shows that many SHGs still lack basic skills. In 

some cases, it was found that the field workers are not 

following the schedules prescribed for them. 

It is essential that every field worker should provide the 

following minimum number of hours of training to each 

group every year: 

26 

Each SHG should receive at least 3 hours on-site training 

every month; 

At least 4-5 members from each group should be trained in 

off-site programmes or taken on exposure visits, etc; and 

In the first year, the field worker must spend at least six 

hours per month with the group in the village. Along

with on-site training sessions, she should attend group 

meetings and instruct members on how to conduct 

group meetings properly. 

Assessment of the impact of training 

Field workers should not simply try to meet targets when 

training SHG members. The real purpose of every training 

programme is to give such knowledge and skills so that 

trainees can remember and use them even after 3-4 

months. It is, therefore, important that training programmes 

are both useful and of a very high quality. If the programmes 

are not useful in the long term, members will stop 

participating in them. 

CPSU has now asked every WDC to continuously assess 

the impact of training programmes. These assessments will 

be conducted by outsiders 3-4 months after the training 

programme is completed. The experts will be asked to meet 

some of the participants and check the usefulness of the 

SWA-SHAKTI 

A good trainer is one who: 

Knows the subject matter well; 

Motivates the trainees; 

Uses participants’ experience in the session; 

Structures the session and is yet flexible when required; 

Links each session to previous sessions; 

Achieves the aims and objectives of the session; 

Uses a clear, intelligible, audible and interesting voice; 

Achieves a high level of trainee participation; 

Uses simple and jargon free language; 

Makes eye contact with the participants; 

Uses a variety of training tools; 

Manages time well; 

Handles negative feelings like anger expressed by t he trainees 

without being affected by it; 

Keeps participants focused on the session; 

Checks the understanding of the participants; and 

Summarises the topics. 

27


programmes. If they are found to be of poor quality, the 

cost incurred will not be reimbursed to the NGO. 

Exposure visits for group members 

The Swa-Shakti Project encourages frequent exposure visits 

that play an important part in training, awareness 

generation and confidence building. The field worker must, 

of course, motivate group members to agree to such visits 

and organize the visits to serve a useful purpose. It is 

suggested that interested members from 3-4 groups be 

involved in each visit so that they also get an opportunity 

to interact with each other. 

Local level visits may be arranged to the offices of the District 

Magistrate, the Block Development Officer, the Police 

station or to the office of any concerned official where the 

women have found that access is limited. 

Visits may also be arranged to a dairy or poultry farm or to 

some centre where an activity that could be of interest to 

members as a possible micro-enterprise could be 

demonstrated. In this way, the group could address its queries 

to the owner and understand the various stages involved in 

setting up such an activity on their own. 

Experience has shown that visits to an advanced SHG serves 

as tremendous morale booster, a good learning opportunity 

and a confidence building mechanism for younger groups. 

An advanced SHG is a stabilised group that has: 

28 

evolved good norms and procedures; 

initiated a micro-enterprise; 

experimented with innovative practices 

in accounting, leadership, loan 

disbursement, etc; or 

extensively worked on social or 

community issues such as wife beating, 

alcoholism or building of a kuccha road, 

cleaning a local pond, etc.

Community Exposure Visits 

The community at large, such as members of Panchayati 

Raj institutions, bank officials, teachers and other opinion 

leaders, men as well as women, could also be taken to 

visit experienced SHGs that have played an active role in 

seeking the involvement of the community to strengthen 

the group. 

Theme Camps 

Organising Theme Camps is also a very effective method to 

generate awareness at village level. The principle aim is: 

to identify the most common problems needing 

awareness generation; 

developing a one-day programme on that theme by 

bringing in local resources and material; and 

implementing and evaluating it for further refinement/ 

improvement. 

Possible areas that could be covered in theme camps are: 

Legal literacy; 

Health issues – maternal health, malaria, TB, 

Anaemia; 

Nutrition, hygiene and sanitation; 

Agricultural practices, 

animal husbandry, water 

harvesting, and soil 

moisture conservation; 

Panchayati Raj; 

Good civic practices; 

Traditional medicine; 

traditional practices 

and superstition; or 

Important government 

scheme, bank procedures, etc. 

Steps to follow in organising theme camps 

Identify the major needs and problems of the groups; 

make a list of priorities; 

SWA-SHAKTI 

29


List the most common issues that can be handled 

through theme camps; 

Identify local resources, posters, pamphlets, and 

other information that could be useful to the local 

women. Identify local artists who could make them 

more attractive. Film shows, competitions and 

cultural events could also be organized; 

A maximum expenditure of Rs. 1500/- could be 

sanctioned for each theme camp to cover 

honoraria to resource persons, prizes, 

refreshment and other organizational costs; 

Decide the date for the camp in consultation with 

the group members of the identified village; allocate 

major organizational responsibilities to them, thus 

encouraging them to handle publicity, involvement 

of the whole village, organizing individual events, 

refreshments, etc.; 

Finalise the schedule; allocate remaining 

responsibilities among DPM, BDO, TAC and FW. Brief 

the resource persons, collect print material and 

posters in adequate quantity, finalise cultural items, 

etc; and 

The field worker should reach the village in advance 

to supervise the preparations, organize activities and 

the inauguration by the Sarpanch. 

Unit cost norms have been approved for all these activities. 

Field workers are advised to carefully study them. 

30

SWA-SHAKTI 

Section III: Project Core Components 

Bank Linkage 

Micro-enterprise Development 

On-farm activities 

Off-farm activities 

Convergence of Government Schemes 

Networking 

SHG sustainability and withdrawal 

31


Section III: Swa-Shakti Core Components 

Bank Linkages for Self-help Groups 

As mentioned in volume I, in micro-credit related projects, 

bank linkage is said to have been established when the 

local bank sanctions a loan to the self-help group. The same 

definition applies to the Swa-Shakti Project. 

* 

Bank linkage through a Cash-credit limit 

A bank loan granted to the SHG can be a fixed amount 

sanctioned only once. But some banks offer a “Cash Credit 

Limit” which means agreeing to a facility under which the 

SHG can keep on taking loans, repaying a part and again 

taking a loan within a fixed ceiling. 

When the SHG has worked satisfactorily for 6 to 9 months, 

the banks should be approached to provide bulk loans to 

the group. The SHG will pass on these loans to its members 

in the form of individual loans for both personal consumption 

and productive purposes. The SHG will be responsible for 

repaying the loan to the bank. Initially, these loans are 

sanctioned to the SHG on a cash credit limit basis. 

Before sanctioning the cash-credit limit, the bank will assess 

the credit-worthiness of the SHG and also review the 

group's track record in credit management. It will examine 

the SHG's records, savings bank account, loans, repayment 

history, etc. Banks normally sanction a credit limit in 

proportion to the savings available with the SHG. Many 

banks have developed clear assessment norms, copies of 

which may be obtained from them. 

32 

* Though this aspect has been talked about in Volume I, it has been repeated for reference 

purposes.

However, the bank or FW will not interfere in the terms and 

conditions of further loans by the SHG to group members. 

The SHG has the power to decide: 

a. The terms and conditions of the loans to its members; 

b. Who will get loans; 

c. What will be the purpose for which the loan is 

sanctioned; 

d. What the amount of the loan will be; and 

e. What will be the repayment amount and interest rate? 

Most SHGs charge interest at 2-3 per cent per month. 

The Project has estimated that with the increase in the SHG’s 

own resources, a group can disburse credit of about Rs.100,000 

in the fifth year. It is assumed that at least 90 per cent of the 

SHGs would be linked to the banks in this manner. 

It is estimated that in the first year, about 70-80 per cent 

loans taken are used for consumption, social and health 

needs, and the remaining 20-30 per cent for production 

and investment. This position changes in the third year when 

loans for consumption purposes form only 20-30 per cent of 

total loans taken and those for productive purposes go up to 

70-80 per cent. It has also been noted that the initial 

production-based loans are used for traditional on-farm 

activities like buying seed, fertilizer, pesticides, cattle, etc. 

Linkages help banks in the following ways: 

a. The transaction costs to the bank are low; 

b. Recovery rates on SHG loans are extremely high; 

c. SHGs do not just take loans but also deposit savings 

in the bank. The banks do, in fact, receive more 

deposits than the amounts sanctioned as loans; and 

d. In many cases, SHG members have helped banks 

recover very old defaulted loans. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

33


Some tips for bank linkage given by other DPMs are as 

follows: 

a. The bank should not open separate savings and loan 

accounts of the SHG. Savings account interest rates 

are very low, but, interest rates are high on loans. 

Savings should go into the same account once the 

bank opens a "Cash-Credit Account". This would 

reduce the interest burden on the SHG; and 

b. Every time the signatories to the bank account are 

changed, the bank demands fresh photographs. It 

is better to have a group photograph with the 

names of group members certified by the village 

pradhan. This would simplify the procedures and 

the SHG could simply notify the bank about a 

change in signatories. The field worker should discuss 

the feasibility of this system with the bank manager in 

her area. 

Why bank managers sometimes refuse loans to an SHG? 

Complaints are frequently received that a particular bank 

branch has taken a negative stand and refused to sanction 

loans even to the older groups. We will try to analyse such a 

situation in this chapter. 

The reasons for the refusal may be any or all of the 

following: 

34 

a. The manager is not convinced that women can handle loans, 

or that the SHGs will be able to repay the loan. Such a 

situation arises when the bank manager does not have 

first hand experience of an SHG, or has not seriously 

examined the savings bank account of an SHG; 

b. The SHG may be very old but it may not be sufficiently 

stable for the banker to sanction a loan. This may also 

be due to the absence of bank history, because the SHG 

may not have a bank account, or it may have an account 

in one branch and is asking for the loan from another. 

Or it may not have a stable membership, regular savings 

or holding regular meetings; or 

c. There is no pressure on the bank to link SHGs.

Many banks have issued very clear and detailed guidelines 

on bank linkages for SHGs. These are available with the 

DPM and the concerned NGO. Before approaching the 

bank, the field worker should be familiar with these 

guidelines and make sure that the concerned SHG meets 

the criteria established by that bank. 

Ensure that the SHG's loan requirements are included 

in the District Credit Plan 

Every district prepares an annual credit plan that the banks 

have to follow. The DPM should collect the loan requirements 

of Swa-Shakti SHGs and have them included in the plan. 

Normally, the process of preparation of these plans starts 

in December of the previous financial year. 

The District Steering Committee Meeting 

District Collectors chair committees in which the lead bank 

officer and other important officials participate. The field 

worker may inform the committee, through the DPM, about 

major problems and make suggestions to resolve them. Once 

the committee takes a decision on the matter, every bank 

in the district has to follow it. 

Filing a case against the bank in the consumer court 

This is another possible method of solving problems, but it 

should be used in extreme cases only, and only with the 

consent of the DPM as tackling a problematic bank officer 

through this method is very expensive. However, since every 

bank is given a service area and the SHG cannot get loans 

from a bank from another service area, consumer courts 

may be approached in extreme cases. 

It is possible that in extreme cases, few bank officers do 

not respond to efforts made to sensitise them and are 

creating deliberate and unnecessary problems. As a last 

resort, a field worker may make a formal complaint to the 

bank's head office. However, she should be prepared to be 

patient as this is a lengthy process. In the meantime, the 

concerned bank official will keep on creating difficulties. 

In such cases, the field worker should look into other 

avenues to obtain loans for the SHG. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

35


Credit Absorption Capacity of Members 

There are many self-help groups in which members have deposited large 

amounts of their of savings but are not interested in getting loans from the 

bank, or rotating the amount as loans amongst the members. 

There are many SHGs that have received large loans from banks, but their 

members are not involved in income generation activities. As a result, a 

large proportion of these loans are used for consumption purposes thus 

creating repayment problems and possible defaults. 

The problem lies in the fact that project implementers make no attempt to 

improve the credit absorption capacity of the members. Credit absorption 

capacity is defined as the capacity of individual member to take bigger 

loans from SHGs and use them for income generation purposes so that they 

are able to repay the principal and interest amounts in time through the 

profits and subsequent increase in income. 

Although the Swa-Shakti Project is trying to ensure bank linkage for all its 

SHGs, their credit absorption capacity must be improved so that they do not 

face loan-default problems in the future. 

The credit absorption capacity is linked with the available or possible 

productive assets of poor members. A poor person generally has the 

following assets: 

(a) Her body: if she is healthy, she can earn more by working; 

(b) Every women, poor or otherwise, has some existing skills that can help 

her take up some income generation activity; 

(c) Her knowledge of her surroundings, the local markets and social 

systems; and 

(d) Minor physical assets like a small piece of land , a house, some cattle, etc. 

Loans are available from several other sources. These 

sources of loans include: 

36 

a. Revolving Corpus loan from Swa-Shakti Project; 

b. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, New Delhi; 

c. Co-operative Banks; and 

d. Regional Rural Banks.

SWA-SHAKTI 

The wage earning capacity of a poor woman can be improved by providing 

quality health facilities, regular check ups and adequate information 

on health related matters. Support facilities, too, should be made 

available to help her in making best use of the available time for income 

generation purposes. The project provides for crèche facilities and 

assistance to build other community assets useful to women. Drudgery 

reduction techniques, many of which are low-cost, can help in 

saving much labour and time. 

Once a woman starts an income generation activity 

on the basis of her existing skills, her income 

can be increased considerably by providing 

better skills and knowledge. For example, if a 

woman is involved in buffalo rearing, she can 

be taught how to feed the cattle or identify 

common cattle diseases. Services of veterinary 

doctor would also help. 

The project must also give the women detailed information about 

various government schemes that can help them in becoming 

more productive. Information about markets, procedures and 

practices, rules and laws will also be required. 

In the case of a woman who owns a minor physical asset like land 

or cattle, or is involved in an income generation activity, providing 

the required inputs would improve the quality and productivity of these 

assets. A small piece of land can become very profitable if proper crops/ 

trees are grown and irrigation, or water harvesting facilities are provided. 

Similarly, the productivity of a tree can be improved by making pest control 

and other yield enhancing techniques available. 

It would, however, be useful to try and build a good 

environment for bank linkage in the district. Some successful 

methods tried by others in the past are: 

a. Sensitise bank officers: The Lead Bank Officer (LBO) 

can play a major role for this purpose. DPMs have been 

asked to contact their LBO and request him to organize 

37


a sensitization workshop for bank 

officers who are working in the Project 

area. 

b. Attend Block Level Banker’s Committee 

Meeting: The DPM should make it a 

point to regularly attend the BLBC 

meeting. The WDCs have been asked 

to request State Governments to have 

the DPM nominated to the District and 

Block level Banker’s Committees. The 

field worker should bring her problems 

to the notice of the DPM and request 

her to discuss them at these meetings; 

c. Organise exposure visits for good SHGs to their bank 

branches; 

d. Organise exposure visits for local branch managers and 

bank staff to good SHGs in their service area; and 

e. Organise exposure visits of district level bank officers 

and NABARD officers to good SHGs. 3 

Audit of SHGs 

Definition: Checking of books of accounts and other 

registers for corrective action. 

A team of experienced local persons identified and trained 

by NGOs can handle it. Project can pay for training of such 

auditors. The main features of such audit could be: 

It should be done at six monthly intervals; 

The audit charges should be around Rs. 25 and should 

be paid by the group; and 

It should not be for finding faults and should focus on 

safety of members funds and group procedures. It 

should focus on the following: 

Proceeding register and other books of SHG; 

Verification of individual and bank passbooks; 

38 

3 How to handle defaults: 

The latest RBI instructions say that even if family members of SHG members are bank loan 

defaulters, the bank should not deny loans to these SHGs. The reason behind this is that the 

bank is granting the loan to the SHG and not to the individual member. However, the SHG 

should ensure that it does not grant loans to defaulting members.

SWA-SHAKTI 

Regularity of savings and loan repayments; and 

Members awareness about rules of the group. 

A brief and simple reporting format could be developed by 

WDC and the audit reports should be discussed in the 

next group meeting. Compliance of last audit report should 

be verified during subsequent audit. 

Formation of SHG clusters and their associations 

The Swa-Shakti project lays emphasis on the formation of 

SHG clusters and the federation of such clusters. Generally, 

the SHG clusters can be formed at the level of one or a few 

villages. Cluster federations can be formed at the level of 

the block. The Department of Women & Child Development 

has brought out an interesting book for field workers 

entitled ‘ Networking of SHGs – A guide book’ that field 

workers should consult for guidance. Field workers are 

suggested to read the book for further information. 


On-farm activities under the Swa-Shakti Project 

The experience of existing SHGs indicates that more than 

50 per cent of the loans sanctioned are used for agriculture 

related activities. The Swa-Shakti project will, therefore, 

identify the following categories of SHG members: 

a. Landless women with access to small pieces of land 

around their homes; 

b. Women with some land who are involved in the 

production of cereals; and 

c. Women with some land who are already growing cash 

crops. 

What assistance can the Project provide? 

The field worker will promote discussions between women 

and Government agricultural extension workers to identify 

the most appropriate activity. Training programmes will be 

designed on the basis of these discussions and after a rapid 

need assessment of members. 

39


The Project will support locally suitable soil and moisture 

conservation practices and implement them with assistance 

from community assets creation provisions. Some of these 

activities could be: 

Contour bunds; 

Trenching; 

Diversion drains; 

Nala drains; or 

Percolation ponds. 

Exposure visits to Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), extension 

units of agriculture universities and agricultural research 

institutions or to progressive farmers to learn best practices 

will also be organised and methods to improve the 

productivity of the land, such as the following, may be taught: 

Green manuring; 

Mulching; 

Vermi-composting; 

Bund and border planting of fodder; 

Hedge cropping of legumes; 

Improved inter-cropping and crop rotation practices; 

Promoting new vegetable crops and fruit tree 

cultivation; and 

Cultivation of vegetables, flowers, medicinal plants, 

herbs and spices. 

Local Krishi Vigyan Kendras and other expert organisations 

should be contacted by the NGO to conduct training 

programmes on above issues. 

Training in rearing small animals, arranging for better 

varieties of animals and better availability of fodder would 

improve the output of cattle. Access to veterinary services, 

disease management and improved nutrition practices would 

go a long way in keeping animals healthy. Such support 

services should be arranged by NGO and field worker. 

40

SWA-SHAKTI 

The focus of activities in different states will be as follows: 

Bihar and Jharkhand 

Gujarat 

Haryana 

Karnataka 

Madhya Pradesh 

Uttar Pradseh 

Moisture conservation activities; 

Water storage ponds and lift irrigation; 

Kitchen gardens; 

Cattle management; 

Post-harvesting value addition; and 

Horticulture. 

Soil and moisture conservation; 

Green manuring, composting; 

Dryland horticulture; and 

Cattle and small animal management. 

Floriculture; 

Soil and moisture conservation; and 

Organic farming. 

Soil and water conservation; 

Improved productivity of traditional crops; 

Dryland vegetables and horticulture; 

Floriculture and vegetables; and 

Food processing. 

Minor agricultural produce; 

Vegetable production; 

Mushroom growing; and 

Cattle and small animal management. 

Medicinal plants; 

Fodder and mushroom cultivation; 

Horticulture; 

Prosopis plantation in wasteland; and 

Soil and moisture conservation. 

Field workers should identify SHG members who need any of above inputs 

and provide their names to BDO. The BDO is expected to organise suitable 

training programmes for these members 

41


Support activities should also be encouraged to help the 

women earn extra money. These could include: 

Processing of animal and agricultural products; 

Common storage facilities; 

Grading and packaging; 

Market outlet development; 

Transport arrangements; 

Introduction of drudgery-reduction technology; 

On-farm demonstration of technology packages; 

Training of para-vets; 

Networking with resource persons; and 

Setting up an advisory service to implement new 

initiatives. 

Assistance from other departments 

The DPIU and NGO will tie up with the on-going 

programmes of departments such as: 

Agriculture; 

Horticulture; 

Soil Conservation; 

Irrigation; and 

Animal Husbandry. 

Non-farm activities under the Swa-Shakti Project 

The Swa-Shakti Project also aims at improving the quality 

of micro-enterprises run by women and helping other 

members to take up viable micro-enterprises. 

42 

First Cycle 

It has been noted that women can start working with very 

small investment and low skill levels that require a high 

labour input. At this level of investment and skills, the 

enterprises would generally be in areas having considerable 

competition and, therefore, offer very little return. The first 

few enterprise-related loans to SHG members would be in 

the range of Rs.1,000 per member. With the most optimistic 

ratios, we cannot expect the women's daily earnings to 

exceed Rs.10-15. More often than not, women are paid 

less than Rs. 15 per day for 5-6 hours of labour. As a result,

SWA-SHAKTI 

Regularity of savings and loan repayments; and 

Members awareness about rules of the group. 

A brief and simple reporting format could be developed by 

WDC and the audit reports should be discussed in the 

next group meeting. Compliance of last audit report should 

be verified during subsequent audit. 

Formation of SHG clusters and their associations 

The Swa-Shakti project lays emphasis on the formation of 

SHG clusters and the federation of such clusters. Generally, 

the SHG clusters can be formed at the level of one or a few 

villages. Cluster federations can be formed at the level of 

the block. The Department of Women & Child Development 

has brought out an interesting book for field workers 

entitled ‘ Networking of SHGs – A guide book’ that field 

workers should consult for guidance. Field workers are 

suggested to read the book for further information. 


On-farm activities under the Swa-Shakti Project 

The experience of existing SHGs indicates that more than 

50 per cent of the loans sanctioned are used for agriculture 

related activities. The Swa-Shakti project will, therefore, 

identify the following categories of SHG members: 

a. Landless women with access to small pieces of land 

around their homes; 

b. Women with some land who are involved in the 

production of cereals; and 

c. Women with some land who are already growing cash 

crops. 

What assistance can the Project provide? 

The field worker will promote discussions between women 

and Government agricultural extension workers to identify 

the most appropriate activity. Training programmes will be 

designed on the basis of these discussions and after a rapid 

need assessment of members. 

39

SWA-SHAKTI 

Animal Husbandry 

The following activities may be tried for SHG members: 

Linkage to be established with local KVK and Extension 

Departments of agricultural Universities; 

Exposure visits to Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK), other 

extension organizations or progressive farmers; 

Training in cattle management, proper feeding, catt le 

diseases and cattle health camps to be organised; 

Arranging loans for purchase of more cattle; 

Intensive training of one group member as a para-vet; 

Linking with Govt. veterinary hospital; and 

Govt. Animal husbandry programmes to be studied & linked. 

Agriculture 

The following activities may be initiated for SHG members: 

Exposure visits to Krishi Vigyan Kendras, other extension 

organizations or progressive farmers; 

Intensive training on cropping pattern, high yielding seeds, 

fertilizers, pesticides, harvesting and storage methods; 

Organising demonstration programmes through expert 

organizations; 

Organising minor irrigation facilities through the Project's 

community asset funds; 

Land and watershed improvement; 

Training in the cultivation of better cash crops; 

Creation of community tool banks which can be run by the 

SHG; 

Seed and fertilizer banks; and 

Arrangement of loans to members for these activities. 

43


How to start On-farm activities? 

To support agriculture based (on-farm) income generation activities, 

field worker should begin by: 

Focusing on women who have land or can get involved in 

such activities; 

Collecting information on their possible activities and 

training related needs; 

local resource persons and training institutions for 

organising training programmes according to above needs 

and to provide subsequent guidance to the trainees; 

Organising training, demonstrations and exposure visits 

to useful institutions, places and model farmers; and 

Planning use of community assets funds for some of the 

support activities mentioned in this chapter. 

It is expected that by the end of second year of the SHG, field 

workers will organize on-farm training, exposure visits and 

demonstrations for at least one- third of the SHG members and 

due to this, there will be visible increase in their income. 

such earnings can only supplement the family income; they 

cannot become the main source of their livelihood. During 

the first cycle, not much assistance is required from the field 

worker. She can assist the member only in applying for 

proper size of loan and some basic training in costing and 

quality improvement. 

Second Cycle 

The field worker would have to ensure certain inputs in 

terms of skill–building for SHG members to help them 

enter the second cycle of investment leading to 

enterprise growth and sustenance. Skill 

building needs to be in the area of managing 

an enterprise – costing, business planning, 

market study, value addition, etc. Questions 

such as: 

44 

What is required by the market? 

Is it possible to provide it?

SWA-SHAKTI 

45


How much would it cost? 

Is there competition from other suppliers? 

Can we add value to the same product by packing it in a 

better manner? and 

Ensuring that it is clean and hygienic depending on the 

market demands? 

Need to be asked to help women analyse the business 

environment. These inputs would make them ready to take 

up more skilled enterprises, which cater to the market 

demands and give higher returns as compared to the previous 

investment cycle. 

Third Cycle 

The real dent in their poverty will be made around the 

third cycle of investment, when they have sufficient 

experience and courage to undertake more skill and capital 

- intensive enterprises that have less competition. At this 

stage, returns are higher but the capital requirement is 

also significant. 

These cycles are summarised below: 

First Cycle: Likely investment of Rs.500-1,000 in the 

first year; 

Second Cycle: Likely investment Rs.5,000-10,000, 

any time during the second to fourth year; and 

Third Cycle: Likely investment Rs. 15,000 onwards, 

possibly in the fifth year or later. 

Problems faced by women 

Several difficulties confront rural women in starting a nonfarm 

activity 4 : 

a. Credit is not easily available; 

b. Most of them are uneducated and have problems 

organising their business and maintaining accounts; 

c. Line agencies have a rigid mind-set and lack gender 

46 

4 Source: Staff Appraisal Report: Rural Women’s Development and Empowerment Project

sensitivity; 

d. Due to their limited mobility, they have little 

knowledge of better opportunities outside their 

village; 

e. They lack confidence in dealing with officials; and 

f. Field workers do not realise that a poor woman cannot 

afford to make a wrong business choice because the 

cost of mistakes is very high. 

The disadvantages of entrusting marketing 

services to the support agency 

When the support agency (in our case the NGO or 

WDC) tries to market the products made or grown 

by the women, group members do not learn much 

due to the following reasons: 

a. Women are then normally involved in wage-labour 

or piece-rate work and rarely become entrepreneurs; 

b. Their earnings remain very low; 

c. The support agency may not possess the necessary 

marketing skills and the women end up being blamed 

for a huge unsold inventory; 

d. There is no link between the women and the customer 

and the women get no direct feedback from the 

market; and 

e. Women are permanently dependent on the support 

agency. 

The most popular economic activities selected by rural 

women can be divided into six main categories 5 - 

a. Trading in vegetables, milk, fish, etc.; 

b. Activities based on traditional skills and local raw 

material like, embroidery, durrie weaving, etc.; 

c. Production of processed foods like papad, biscuits, 

spices, pickles, etc.; 

d. Traditional activities like printing, making notebooks, 

files, envelopes, etc.; 

e. Other traditional services like running small hotels, 

tea stalls, etc.; and 

SWA-SHAKTI 

5 Swa-Shakti project has listed more than 400 such activities. A list can be obtained from the 

Business Development Officer. 

47


f. Skill-based non-traditional services like hand pump 

repair, radio repair, running STD booths, etc. 

Major improvements in any of the above activities are possible 

with small additional investments and training. Women selling 

vegetables, for example, would benefit if timely and adequate 

loans are made available. Their profits would improve further 

if the loan is made available at an annual 24 per cent interest 

rate from the SHG instead of the 120 per cent charged by the 

moneylender. They can be taught the basic skills like costing, 

negotiations, grading, etc. 

Similarly, women involved in traditional skills like 

embroidery can benefit from improvements in design, colour 

combinations, better quality thread, technology and tools. 

Food processing activities can be improved through quality 

control, brand names, licenses, measuring and packaging 

instruments, etc. 

The FW can arrange the following assistance from the Swa- 

Shakti Project: 

48 

a. Skill training in identified activities; 

b. Micro-enterprise development training; 

c. Training in idea-generation, business planning, market 

surveys, marketing, product costing and negotiation skills, 

quality and inventory control; 

d. Providing a menu of options; 

e. Identification of locally available master crafts men and 

successful entrepreneurs to assist women; 

f. Follow up, quality control, design testing & packaging 

facilities and other non-financial assistance the women may 

need; 

g. Business counselling to women who have already taken up 

some activity; 

h. Assistance in conducting market surveys. The assistance 

should be facilitative only, like arranging accommodation, 

escort services, child minders, etc.; 

i. Participation in fairs and exhibitions, etc.; and 

j. Organising study visits to similar and successful enterprise.

It is suggested that once a woman has taken up some activity, 

the field worker can assess her training and support needs 

with the help of the Business Development Officer who will 

design specific training programmes with the help of the 

Marketing Coordinator (MC). The training programmes may 

cover the above areas along with opportunity-sensing and 

business management skills. 

Separate programmes will be needed for different types of 

enterprises. Women upgrading existing activities would need 

a short course on business concepts, accounts, costing, 

marketing strategies and some practical exercises. 

But women taking up more complex activities may need 

longer, more specialised training covering the above points 

along with rules and procedures, market studies, etc. The 

Project would fund specialised training agencies to develop 

specific programmes for them. The field worker is expected 

to identify these needs with the help of the Business 

Development Officer. The BDO will subsequently organise 

the training courses with the help of MC. 

The field worker must remember: 

Not to initiate discussion on income generation activities 

unless members are ready; 

The group should discuss the income generating 

activity before sanctioning a loan to one of its 

members; 

The member must decide the activity with assistance 

from the group. The field worker, however, will not 

play a definitive role in the discussions; 

Identify those already doing something, study their 

needs and provide assistance if 

required; 

The first few members 

should start income 

generating activities with 

group loans; 

All the members cannot start 

activities at the same time; 

SWA-SHAKTI 

49


Summary — Non-farm activities 

Focus on women already involved in income generating 

activities; 

Focus on existing enterprises of these women; 

Provide business development services to them; 

Motivate other potential women and focus on economic 

activities, which they know about; 

Conduct skill survey; 

Develop menu of options; 

Training on skill upgradation, costing and negotiations; 

Linkages with banks and other schemes; 

Exposure visits to micro-enterprises similar to those they 

have started; 

Set up Business counselling centers to help women in 

starting and running income generating activities; and 

Making special interventions through expert institutions on 

pilot basis. 

Output – one third participants to be covered during the second 

year of SHG and one third of them to report income increase. 

In the beginning, small activities should be encouraged 

by the group; 

Skill development training will be organised only 

when the member is already involved in a trade and 

needs to upgrade her skills; 

The member must develop marketing links herself. 

The field worker should only play a facilitating role, 

that is, she should not herself get involved in 

marketing; and 

The field worker must not promise any financial 

benefits. 

Convergence 

Swa-Shakti SHGs can be converged with services offered 

by other departments in following sectors: 

50 

Education/literacy; 

Safe drinking water/water supply; 

Nutrition;

Access to support services, awareness raising, legal 

literacy and violence against women; 

Credit; 

Primary health including immunization, reproductive 

health, etc; 

Sanitation; 

Skill development; 

Housing; 

Non conventional energy; 

Rural development; 

Social forestry; and 

Agriculture. 

Admittedly, it will not always be possible to bring together 

every scheme in these areas immediately. To begin with, 

attempts could be made to converge a few important 

schemes and, with experience, more schemes could be 

added. The following steps could be taken for this purpose: 

Seven to eight most important schemes which are being 

implemented in the block should be identified in 

consultation with SHGs; 

A “convergence workshop” in every Swa-Shakti block 

should be organized with the help of the Block/ Taluka 

Development Officers; 

The group leaders of mature SHGs should be invited to 

attend the workshop and they should be given guidance 

on these important schemes, benefits under individual 

schemes, qualifications of the “beneficiaries”, documents 

required and whom to approach; 

Printed details of these schemes and their forms should 

also be given to the SHG leaders; 

The group leaders should be asked to directly approach 

these officials and the BDO in future; 

Similar exercise should be conducted with the bankers 

with the help of Lead Bank Officer of the district; and 

This workshop should be followed by another “Bank 

Linkage Training Programme” for the leaders of the 

mature SHGs. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

51


How to converge other schemes? 

There are very few models in the country that offer guidance 

on this issue. A mix of the following approaches could 

initially be followed: 

1. The schemes can be converged through a person. A 

group leader or any person from the village can become 

the nodal person for receiving information and forms 

for various schemes. The village level workers can also 

contact her to provide information on their schemes; 

2. It is also possible to start convergence by setting up a 

small inter-departmental team of village level 

functionaries. This team could visit the village 

periodically and meet interested persons; and 

3. The cluster association can identify the needs of member 

groups and identify the schemes that would satisfy these 

needs. The cluster will obtain details of these schemes, 

their forms and provide them to member groups. 

4. Integration of schemes for women at the level of NGO: 

The Department of Women and Child Development 

implements more than a dozen useful and very flexible 

schemes for the development of women. Some of the most 

popular schemes are: 

a. Loan schemes of RMK; 

b. Family Counselling Centres of CSWB; 

c. Condensed Courses of Education of CSWB; 

d. Socio-economic Programme (NORAD); 

e. Support to Training for Employment Programme 

(STEP); 

f. Working Women Hostels; and 

g. Short Stay Homes. 

52 

Above schemes are implemented through NGOs and are 

available to women in any part of the country. The 

Department has brought out a handbook called “Schemes 

for Assistance” which gives complete information on these 

schemes.

These schemes should be discussed with the SHG members. 

The NGO should then prepare proposals for bringing the 

useful schemes to SHGs. The Project can provide some 

financial assistance to NGOs for preparing proposals with 

the help of experts. 

Copies of these proposals should be sent to the WDC and 

CPSU also so that they can follow up the proposals at various 

levels. 

Simple steps, taken carefully, can create a big impact in 

the area of convergence. The following could be tried in the 

beginning: 

Start convergence by collecting literature on various 

schemes useful for rural women, along with the necessary 

forms, and make it available to every women's group; 

Provide a large number of blank forms of various 

schemes of other departments to women’s groups. In 

rural areas it is very difficult to obtain forms for 

these schemes. This step could create awareness of 

the schemes and the convergence will start taking 

place; and 

Start organising field visits for functionaries of other 

departments to the women’s groups. 

Role of the District Project Coordination Committee 

(DPCC) 

The Project stipulates that there should be such a committee 

in every district, which should, normally be chaired by the 

District Collector. This committee plays following major roles: 

Periodically reviews the progress and performance of 

the Project in the district; 

Reviews the status of decisions taken in its earlier 

meetings; 

Identifies problems and finds solutions for them; 

Identifies the schemes that can be converged with the 

Project at the district level. The District Collector can help 

in converging many important schemes even without any 

formal orders from the State Government; 

SWA-SHAKTI 

53


Role of Government departments in the Swa-Shakti Project 

District and block level Government agencies 

can play an important role in making the 

Swa-Shakti groups sustainable. It is, 

therefore, suggested that they are involved 

in the activities of the SHGs. 

There is an abundance of Government 

schemes to suit every eventuality. Majority of 

the needs of the SHGs can be satisfied if these 

schemes are systematically brought to the 

notice of the Swa-Shakti groups. These 

schemes are permanent and will remain 

available to SHG members even after the 

closure of Swa-Shakti Project. Moreover, many 

of these agencies, particularly in agriculture, 

animal husbandry, cottage industries, health, 

etc., have trained persons who can be of help 

to our groups. Some of them have very good 

training facilities, IEC or awareness-building 

material and grass roots level outreach. The 

women participating in Swa-Shakti Project 

should, avail of the services offered by these 

agencies. 

In return, the Swa-Shakti Project could offer 

them an efficient delivery system and an 

effective monitoring system that would 

ensure that the benefits quickly reach the 

target group. The Project also offers highly 

motivated and trained SHG members who can 

set an example for others. 

Government officials can play the following 

roles in Swa-Shakti Project: 

54 

Provide information to SHG members on 

their schemes; 

Provide IEC and other material to the 

groups; 

Train SHG members under their regular 

programmes; 

Identify their beneficiaries from the Swa- 

Shakti groups and link them with 

Government schemes; 

Attend to complaints and requests made 

by Swa-Shakti members; 

Organise field visits and create a strong 

network of persons who can work for 

women’s empowerment; 

Act as resource persons for Swa-Shakti 

activities; and 

Participate in review meetings and offer 

their expertise to the DPIU. 

Field workers should regularly invite the 

village level Government functionaries to 

attend their training programmes and 

workshops. They should also encourage 

SHGs to participate in the programmes of 

other departments. DPMs should compile and 

publish the details of useful programmes of 

these departments. 

In order to achieve these aims, the field 

workers, NGOs and DPMs should provide 

copies of Swa-Shakti publicity and other 

resource material to the local Government 

officials. They can also identify areas for 

mutual help. The field workers and DPMs 

should regularly contact these officials and 

inform them about the developments in the 

Project. If required, they should work as 

resource persons in the programmes of other 

agencies and also involve them in planning 

meetings where functionaries of these 

departments can offer their expertise. Some 

field visits for these officials should also be 

organized along with block and district level 

sensitization workshops for line 

departments. 

The field workers and DPMs should be clear 

on the roles of other departments and not 

hesitate in seeking their help when required.

Improves the involvement of bankers in the Project; 

Resolves other local level problems; 

Asks other departments to promptly take action on the 

requests of SHGs; 

Promotes the Swa-Shakti concept among other 

departments; 

Shares the IEC material of Swa-Shakti and other 

programmes with each other; 

Plans major events with the involvement of SHG members; 

and 

Provides better resources to the Project. 

The DPMs should finalise a regular agenda for these 

meetings which would contain the above items. The field 

workers and partner NGOs should bring their problems to 

the notice of the DPM so that these can be discussed at 

the DPCC meetings. 

Although every State Government has agreed that the 

DPCC would be chaired by the District Collector, but 

should he be busy, these meetings may be chaired by any 

other senior officer like the ADM, RDC, etc. It should, 

however, be ensured that the Committee meets at least 

once every quarter. The DPMs should ensure that proposals 

for holding the meeting are processed in time, every 

member has received the background papers and the 

Chairperson is properly briefed about the important items. 

The DPM should also ensure that the minutes are properly 

recorded and issued immediately so that the concerned 

departments have adequate time to take action on the 

decisions of the committee. 

The Project Director and the Managing 

Director should personally meet the 

Collector and request him to hold the 

meetings of DPCC every quarter. 

What action can the SHG take if 

local agencies are not performing their role? 

A mature, experienced Swa-Shakti SHG must demand its 

rights from various government agencies. Village level 

SWA-SHAKTI 

55


officials, expected to perform various tasks for the village, 

are sometimes either indifferent or inefficient. It is the duty 

of SHGs to protest against non-performing officials. 

SHGs should discuss the following at their meetings: 

Whether all rationed goods are available in the Fair Price 

Shop? 

Is the Fair Price Shop owner charging the right price for 

these goods? 

Are school teachers regularly attending school? Are they 

effectively teaching? 

Are the facilities (books, uniforms and mid-day meals) 

meant for the children, regularly available? 

Does the village revenue officer regularly visit his office? 

Is the anganwadi centre in the village running properly? 

Are the children getting the facilities promised (toys, 

food and books) from the anganwadi centre? 

Are the various beneficiary-oriented schemes (like widow's 

pensions, house-sites for the landless, rural insurance 

schemes, etc.) reaching needy and deserving women? 

Is the ANM regularly visiting the village and performing 

her duties? 

What are the exact tasks of local government workers? 

Do they follow a schedule for their visits and meetings in 

the village? 

(* The field worker should collect information on the roles of these officials and their schedules 

and keep the SHG members informed). 

This is just an illustrative list. In case of problems with 

officials, the SHG should take action by: 

Summary - Convergence 

56 

Identify 7-8 beneficiary oriented schemes; 

Prepare pamphlets for SHGs; 

Convergence workshop to be organized at block level; 

Guard file; and 

Information board.

Meeting the concerned village level government worker 

and asking him to function properly; 

Writing to, or personally meeting his/her superior officer 

to take action; 

Writing to the local newspaper about the problem; and 

Writing to the District Magistrate or the concerned MLA or 

MP to make representations to resolve the problem. 

Networking 

Role of Clusters and Federations 6 

Sharing Experiences and Collective Action: 

collective knowledge building and leadership; 

supporting weak groups; 

solving inter-group and intragroup 

disputes/problems; 

promoting new groups; 

training SHG members and 

leaders in running SHGs; 

monitoring SHGs progress 

towards empowerment of its members; 

lobbying for policy changes and 

resource mobilisation (government funds, 

schemes, bank funds); and 

promoting representation of SHGs in 

appropriate fora. 

Management of Business Activities: 

Undertaking business activities such as purchase of 

raw materials and marketing in bulk either directly 

or through business promotion associations or producer 

groups formed amongst the members. 

Provision of Financial Services: 

audit facilities; 

inter-group lending of surplus funds generated by some 

groups to member groups wishing to borrow additional 

funds; 

acting as a financial intermediary on behalf of banks, 

receiving larger loans to be passed on as smaller 

loans to member SHGs; and 

SWA-SHAKTI 

6 Source: Staff Appraisal Report: Rural Women’s Development and Empowerment Project. 

57


providing specific purpose saving and credit services. 

Provision of Social Services: 

management of certain community services (crèches, 

maintenance of drinking water supplies); and 

providing social security schemes such as life 

insurance, cattle insurance, health care, economic 

security schemes for women. Also, conducting health 

camps, cattle camps and awareness generation 

camps. 

Guidelines for the formation of Cluster Associations 

Some key factors in the formation of cluster associations are: 

58 

It is essential that cluster associations emerge naturally, 

based on a demand generated from the SHGs themselves. 

Initially, some form of informal clustering should be tried 

out. The field worker could help by organising exposure 

visits, meetings and joint training programmes for 

members from various SHGs through monthly 

interactions. But she should identify and train those 

group leaders who have time and are highly motivated; 

Membership may range from 15 to 20 SHGs, or 225 to 

400 members and only groups that are stable should join; 

The formation of cluster associations can start 18 

months after the formation of the SHGs in that area; 

Ideally, a cluster should include only those groups that 

are located within easy reach of each other so that leaders 

can attend meetings regularly without incurring high 

transport costs. The cluster association should also be 

located in the service area of a bank branch or a key 

extension worker. Decisions on these points will, 

however, need to be taken by the concerned SHG members; 

The cluster association should fix its own procedures 

and criteria for membership, admission procedures and 

membership fees. It should allow only a stable and well 

working group to join; and 

Member SHGs should pay an admission fee and annual 

contribution to cover the association's operating costs. 

Some additional fees could also be charged for services 

provided. For example, the association may take bulk 

loans from the Revolving Fund, or the RMK, for its

SWA-SHAKTI 

member SHGs and charge a small 

margin to cover its costs. 

NGOs and the field worker play an 

important role in the formation of 

cluster federations. Their assistance is 

important in: 

Identifying SHG representatives and 

their training; 

Developing interactions among the 

SHGs informally at first, and then formally; 

Registering Cluster Associations; 

Facilitating the election of office bearers, developing rules, 

roles and responsibilities in a participatory manner; 

Training office bearers; and 

Providing expert staff to help the cluster association in 

the beginning. 

Field workers are suggested to read the book “Network of 

Self-help groups — A guide book” for further information. 

Following mistakes are being committed while forming 

Cluster Associations: 

The names of SHGs, which would become members of 

a Cluster Association are decided by the NGO or DPM; 

Artificial geographic area like the area of Nyay Panchayat 

are forced on the SHGs; 

The role and activities of Cluster Association are decided 

by the NGO or DPM and the individual SHGs are not 

consulted; 

The Swa-Shakti Project would provide the 

following assistance to cluster associations: 

Rent for the association’s office for two years; 

Purchase of furniture, registers, etc.; 

Training office bearers and staff; 

Salary of one staff for one year; 

Reimbursement of postage and stationary expenses; and 

Travel of office bearers for one year. 

59


The contribution which is to be made by each SHG is 

decided by others and SHGs may not be happy with it; 

Representatives of SHGs are decided by others. It is not 

necessary that every SHG will decide to nominate its 

President as Cluster Representative; and 

Cluster Association decides to perform the same roles 

which the SHGs are already successfully performing. 

Although it appears a good idea to completely plan everything 

and have standard rules, it does not work in practice, 

especially in case of a social sector project. The participants 

are likely to see the Cluster Association as a structure which 

is the need of project implementers and not as a structure 

which is to support their needs. Similarly, the Cluster 

Associations formed in this manner may either be insensitive 

to the real needs of the SHGs or may start performing those 

functions which the SHGs were successfully performing. 

The basic idea of cluster formation is to help the SHGs and 

not to take away their powers and responsibilities. 

60 

It should always be remembered that: 

Clusters should emerge as a result of the natural needs 

of the SHGs. FW should not try to force the Cluster 

Association; 

Clusters Associations are supposed to help the SHGs and 

perform only those activities which are difficult for the 

SHG to perform due to its small size or distant location; 

SHGs should realize the need and importance of the 

Cluster Association; 

The expenditure of Cluster Associations should be 

controlled by the SHGs; 

Every SHG member should be member of the General 

Body of the Cluster Association. They should be trained 

on their rights and responsibilities towards the Cluster 

Association; 

SHGs should be able to control the Cluster Association. 

Such control should be by way of: 

Deciding the membership; 

Deciding the admission procedure; 

Deciding the monthly and annual contribution;

Deciding the constitution and rules of the Cluster 

Association; 

Deciding the activities of the Cluster Association; 

Deciding the staff of the Cluster Associations and their 

terms; and 

SHG leaders should be trained on their role in formation 

of Cluster Association. 

Some tips for formation of Cluster Association 

It is easier to form a Cluster association if the SHG 

members of that area are trained jointly; 

The field worker should organize joint meetings of all SHG 

leaders from her area at least once in two months. Slowly, 

the meeting would get converted into a Cluster Association; 

SHGs from very close geographic area should be 

motivated to form Cluster Association. This will save 

transportation cost and time; 

The SHGs can consider to form a Cluster Association in 

the service area of the local bank. This will help in better 

bank linkage in future; 

All the operation costs of the Cluster Association are to 

be borne by the SHGs. The Project can provide very 

limited financial support. It is, therefore, necessary that 

only common and very important roles are handed over 

to the Cluster Association; 

An ideal size for Cluster Association is of 15-20 SHGs, 

which means total membership size of 200-400 members; 

Potential leaders and opinion makers from the SHGs 

should be thoroughly trained in the roles and 

responsibilities of the cluster before actual work starts; 

Similarly, the SHG members should also be trained in 

the roles of cluster and how are they going to function. 

This will avoid many conflicts later; 

Formation of Cluster Associations should start as soon 

as the SHGs are 12 months old; and 

Formation of a cluster will take 3-4 months. FW should 

not hurry this activity. 

Possible Roles of the Cluster Associations: 

A list of possible activities is given below. The Field Worker 

and DPMs should ensure that this list is discussed with each 

SWA-SHAKTI 

61


SHG and initially only few important activities are assigned 

by the SHGs to the Cluster Association. As the association gains 

some experience of handling these activities, the member SHGs 

can assign some more activities to the Cluster Association. 

Supporting weak groups; 

Solving the disputes within the groups; 

Promoting new groups; 

Training SHG leaders in running of SHGs; 

Monitoring action plans of SHGs; 

Arranging health care services for members; 

Organising literacy classes for members; 

Arranging IEC material for members; 

Arranging bank loans and sharing the loans with 

member SHGs; 

Arranging loans from revolving corpus; 

Arranging linkage of other schemes; 

Implementing some schemes of Government; 

Promoting representation of SHGs in important forum; 

Purchase of common raw materials for the members; 

Marketing of common goods produced by members; 

Training SHGs in market survey, costing and designing; 

Auditing group accounts; 

Inter-group lending of surplus funds generated by some 

groups; 

Arranging insurance schemes for the members; and 

Management of community services like crèche, 

drinking water supply, etc. 

Activities mentioned in the beginning do not require much 

experience and can be handled by a new Cluster Association. 

62 

Subsequent activities will depend on: 

The capacity of Cluster Association; 

Resources of Cluster Association; 

Training provided by the NGO to the office bearers of 

Cluster Association; 

Support provided by the Project to the Cluster Association; 

Need of the member SHGs; 

Strength of the member groups; and 

Quality of the leadership of the Cluster Association.

Funding of Cluster Association 

The Cluster Association should start generating its resources 

from the beginning. It may have following sources of funds: 

Annual contribution from member SHGs; 

Fees for the services provided to the members; 

Commission on income generating activities; and 

Interest charged on the loans provided to the member 

SHGs. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

To summarise, FW can take following steps 

Study the possibilities, informally consult the SHG members 

and read as much literature on cluster formation as possible 

and clear all your doubts before initiating the activity; 

One month campaign with SHGs for need of clusters, role 

and procedures; 

Start joint training programmes and meetings of SHG 

leaders from your area and see which leaders are strong 

personalities, which leaders do not get along and what are 

the problems of SHGs which are common; 

Discuss the need of cluster formation with the leaders and 

SHG members and try to prepare a blue print of possible 

activities, possible rules and financial contribution which 

would be expected from the members; 

Call a meeting of all members of the SHGs and discuss the 

complete proposal with them. Do not rush through or impose 

your views. Patiently consider the opinion of the members 

and then help them in selecting one member from each 

group to further discuss these views. These members will 

form a committee; 

Help the committee members to take a decision on the need 

of cluster, its membership, its roles and its rules; 

Meanwhile organize a study visit of SHG leaders to a nearby 

cluster and discuss the need for a cluster during every visit 

to the SHGs; 

Discuss the views of the Committee with every SHG during 

the visits and once all SHGs come to some conclusion, help 

them to implement these decisions; 

Translation of networking book in Gujarati and Kannada; and 

Development of SHG and field worker level pamphlets. 

63


Swa-Shakti Project can provide some assistance to newly 

formed Cluster Association. The SPMU will develop standard 

norms for this purpose after consulting the NGOs. 

SHG Sustainability and Withdrawal 

Swa-Shakti is the first major project to decide that: 

(a) Its SHGs should become sustainable; 

(b) Its SHGs should form their own networks; and 

(c) The roles of NGOs, WDCs and the CPSU must 

change along with the levels of growth achieved by the 

SHGs. 

To achieve these aims, field workers should ensure that 

from the second year: 

a. The group’s internal practices have stabilised; 

b. It has become financially viable; 

c. It has started networking with other similar groups and 

the capacity of these networks has improved; 

d. The Swa-Shakti groups are safeguarded against 

immature “groups” of other programmes; 

e. SHGs are actively involved in community based activities; 

and 

f. SHGs benefit from a large number of government schemes 

and interact with government officials. 

The time taken to stabilise the group’s internal practices such 

as zero drop-out rate, regularity of savings, loan repayment, 

handling of various activities without the help of the field 

worker, etc., will determine its level of maturity. At the same 

time, the group's financial sustainability would depend on 

the growth in its income and its capacity to meet the costs of 

some of the services it receives from the project. 

64 

There are very few models of networking at cluster and 

federation level. Formation of these networks is time 

consuming and requires a different kind of input. There 

are programmes like the Swaranjayanti Gram Swarojgar 

Yojana that follow a subsidy based approach to group

formation. An issue frequently raised is: should the SHG 

absorb such a high dose of subsidy at a formative stage (or 

at any stage)? Few experts ask why SHG members should 

be denied benefits of subsidies that would have become 

available to them in the normal course? This issue should 

be resolved by the SPMU and DPIUs. 

Following suggestions are made for sustainability of SHGs: 

a. It should be made clear to every member that the WDC 

and Government would withdraw their assistance after 

May 2004. The NGO, being the local organisation, would 

retain some link with the SHG and its clusters, possibly 

on a payment basis; 

b. Strong clusters and federations are normally essential 

before effecting complete withdrawal. The networking 

process should commence once the groups are more than 

a year old. Prior to this, informal meetings among the 

groups can prove effective; 

c. Organisation building is not an easy task and 

considerable time, training and nurturing is required to 

form a strong cluster. Moreover, unless these structures 

are really needed by the SHGs and are performing tasks 

really required by the SHGs, these bodies will not become 

sustainable; 

d. A group based on credit or any other single activity, cannot 

become sustainable in the long term. Effective 

convergence with other local schemes and government 

machinery is a necessity for this purpose; 

e. Groups should, at the same time, be involved in 

community-based activities. The example of the Indira 

Mahila Yojana in Rohru may be cited where, although 

the SHGs were neither well trained, nor strong in 

procedural matters, they were highly motivated and 

successful because of their involvement in community 

matters; and 

f. The process of withdrawal should be gradual and a time 

frame should be fixed by every NGO to withdraw from 

non-financial services and financial services. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

65


These six factors for sustainability are 

discussed in detail below: 

1. Stability of the group’s internal 

practices 

A fully developed group should be 

capable of handling issues related to: 

The leadership of the group; 

Taking decisions regarding group 

matters, both financial and nonfinancial; 

Problem solving and conflict resolution in the group; 

Maintenance of accounts; and 

Establishing and maintaining linkages with banks, 

government agencies, NGOs, etc. 

Individual members should be able to: 

increase their income by expanding existing income 

generating activities or initiating new ones; 

become more influential in taking decisions regarding 

their family’s economic matters; 

gain self-respect and dignity in their families and the 

community; and 

develop the confidence to interact with outsiders. 

2. Improved financial viability of the group 

The group must be able to pay for the following from its 

own income: 

Cost of stationery, books and records; 

Conveyance of its members when they go on group 

work; 

Cost of postage; 

Interest payable on loans from the bank or revolving 

fund; 

Loans that have defaulted; 

Cost of its other activities; 

Partial cost of training programmes and demonstration 

camps organized at the village or at cluster level; and 

Membership charges of cluster association. 

66

3. Networking with other similar groups 

The Group should become member of a cluster 

association and the cluster association should be able 

to perform at least two activities that were earlier 

undertaken by the field worker and NGO. 

4. Safeguarding against immature groups 

Majority of poor families should be encouraged to 

join the Swa-Shakti Project; 

These Swa-Shakti groups are 

involved in at least two 

permanent activities. At least 

one of these would be a social 

activity; 

The field worker visits these 

groups regularly, attends their 

meetings and helps to solve 

their problems; and 

The Project provides useful 

training and literature to these groups. 

5. Community based activities of the group 

The Group should be involved in at least one or two of 

the following activities in the village: 

Sanitation related activities; 

Health related activities; 

Literacy related activities; 

Campaign against atrocity against women; 

Campaign against alcoholism; 

Ensuring regular attendance by government officials; 

Attending Gramsabha meetings; 

Arranging drinking water facilities; 

Social forestry related activities; 

Campaign against corruption; or 

Any other socially relevant activity. 

Access to other government schemes 

All members of the group must be informed of other 

government schemes. Group members should apply to some 

of these schemes and identify other persons, who should 

participate in these schemes. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

67


Since the Swa-Shakti Project will end in May 2004, every 

field worker should discuss these issues with her group and 

establish a time frame for the group to achieve the above. 

This should also become part of group’s action plan. 

DPMs will review the level of sustainability at every review 

meeting with the field worker and NGO. 

Cost sharing by the SHGs 

The table below lists some possible activities where Swa- 

Shakti groups must share costs: 

Activity Share of SHG When SHG should 

start sharing cost 

Group establishment Full cost The material will be 

material 

provided free of cost 

only once by the project. 

Subsequent material to 

be paid by the group 

Travel cost of block level Full From the beginning 

meetings and training 

within the block 

Travel cost for state level Full After two years 

training/visits 

Travel cost for out 25 per cent From 1 January, 2002 

of state visits 

Cost of training on health, 20 per cent From 1 January 2002 

agriculture, animal husbandry 

and skill development 

Tuition for school going girls 50 per cent From the beginning 

Recurring cost of crèches Full From the beginning 

Cost of creation of 10 per cent From the beginning 

community assets 

Cost of making Full From 1 January 2002 

representations to officials 

Replenishment of Full From the beginning 

medicines for First-Aid Box 

68 

Revolving fund No subsidy From the beginning

SWA-SHAKTI 

Some important parameters that could be used to assess the sustainability of Swa-Shakti groups: 

Area 

Groups’ internal 

practices 

Groups’ financial 

viability 

Networking 

Saturation 

Participation in 

community activities 

Parameter 

Attendance – 90 per cent 

Meetings – at least 2 per month 

Training – 1 training programme per member every 18 months 

Savings – monthly and regular 

Loans – 1 loan per member every two years 

Repayment of loan - 100 per cent 

Record management – own arrangements by the group after 

18 months 

Average group membership – 15 or more members per group 

Proportion of shy members – less than 25 per cent after two years 

The group will pay all the costs (mentioned in the earlier table 

on cost sharing) from its own funds. 

Cluster is formed 

Cluster leaders are trained 

Cluster begins to perform a few tasks 

Cluster has own funds for its activities 

At least 70 per cent poor families in the village are covered under 


Group's participation in any 4 of the following activities: 

Forestry 

Health 

Sanitation 

Drinking water 

Education & literacy 

Panchayati Raj 

Atrocities against women or 

Any other significant local problem 

Participation in Participation of a few members in the schemes of any 4 

government sectors mentioned below: 

schemes 

Health 

Community development 

Panchayati Raj 

Education 

Agriculture 

Welfare 

Industry 

Banks 

Rural Development 

69


70

SWA-SHAKTI 

Section IV: Other activities 

Community Asset Creation 

Revolving Corpus 

Literacy 

Drudgery Reduction 

Health 

Child Care centres 

Working with adolescent girls 

71


Section IV: Other activities under Swa-Shakti project 

Community Asset Creation 

The level of women’s participation in economic work and 

community activity, is often affected by the degree of 

drudgery women face. Drudgery is the time and energy 

required in routine tasks such as fetching water, collecting 

or cutting fodder and fuel wood, etc. The project provides 

funds that the SHGs can use to create assets that will help 

the members reduce their drudgery 7 : 

a. The Project would assist SHGs to create needed assets 

like drinking water facilities, sanitation, multipurpose 

halls and acquiring teaching and learning material for 

schools or pre-school groups; 

b. The maximum amount available to a village from the 

project would be Rs.100,000 over the duration of the 

Project; 

c. The SHGs should use this money to access more funds 

from other development schemes, grants from local 

bodies, donations from the community so that bigger 

works may be undertaken; 

d. These funds could be spent either on several items in 

small amounts or on one major asset; 

e. The activity should be supported by the panchayat 

through a resolution that would also state the amount 

of financial support which the panchayat would make 

available; 

f. The SHG making the request should be stable and at 

least 12 months old; 

72 

7 Full details of this sub-component have been circulated to the WDCs. Copies of instructions 

are available with the NGO and DPM. Also refer to Annexure II on drudgery reduction.

g. The partner NGO should consult with the community 

on the usefulness of the work proposed; and 

h. The SHG, village or panchayat should agree to maintain 

the asset in future, even after the close of the Swa-Shakti 

Project. 

Principles 

While making proposals for this purpose, the field worker 

should ensure that the following principles are followed: 

a. Access to social services would be attempted only for a 

group and not for individuals; 

b. The project would attempt to fill the gaps in services 

and, as far as possible, not duplicate the government or 

non-government services that are already available; 

c. As far as possible, convergence between various agencies 

involved would be attempted before embarking on the 

creation or acquisition of assets; 

d. Preference will be given to those services that contribute 

to drudgery reduction and improvement in productivity; 

e. The funds would be available only after a group has 

stabilized; 

f. The community would partly share the costs; and 

g. The community or the SHG would subsequently 

maintain the asset. 

Possible activities 

a. Expenditure to improve schooling facilities for girls 

that could include the construction of good quality 

toilets or hand pumps within the school premises, 

repairing of school rooms & boundary walls, providing 

better teaching facilities and black boards in the 

school (both primary and secondary schools); 

b. Creation or repairing of any asset that is likely to 

reduce drudgery for women; 

c. Creation or repair of any asset that can improve 

health facilities for women, their children and their 

cattle; 

d. Creation or repair of any asset that can result in 

better agricultural productivity, improved irrigation 

facilities, improvement on community land, 

SWA-SHAKTI 

73


afforestation of community lands, better access to 

markets, water points, agricultural fields, etc.; 

e. Construction or repair of culverts, drainage channels, 

ponds, wells, hand pumps, installation of 

street lights, electric poles and transformers, 

water pipelines (both for agricultural and 

drinking water purposes), community halls 

for women, construction of sheds at the 

work place (both agricultural and nonagricultural), 

creation of common 

production or marketing facilities, small 

roads useful to women, common bathing 

places for women; 

f. Creation of health related facilities useful to women 

and children; 

g. Paving streets, providing improved sanitation facilities 

in the village; 

h. Creation of transport facilities useful to the women; 

i. Installation of community owned energy saving devices; 

j. Arrangement for improved cattle breeding, 

community cattle sheds and grazing areas; 

k. Setting up a small library for women and children; 

l. Assets for a crèche, provided that the recurring cost 

is borne by the SHG or users; 

m. Setting up a medicine bank for women and children, 

provided that the users pay the actual cost of the 

medicines; and 

n. Rent for computers if used by girls for learning 

purposes, provided that the cost for a tutor is borne 

by the users. 

This list is indicative and the SHGs are welcome to suggest 

other activities. 

Banned activities 

Following activities cannot be supported by the Project: 

74 

Any activity that is essentially wasteful or not useful 

to the women; 

Any major work that can not be maintained by the 

women’s groups;

Purchase of automobiles, TVs, tape recorders, 

utensils, furniture, air conditioners, air coolers, 

computers, etc.; 

Any activity that would benefit just a few women, or 

a single individual, or a specific caste; 

Any cash subsidy; 

Any recurring expenditure. All recurring expenditure 

should be borne by the SHG or the community; 

Improvements to the burial ground; 

Construction of a bus stand; and 

Construction of a religious place like a temple, 

mosque, etc. 

Funding pattern 

The maximum amount sanctioned will be Rs.100,000 per 

village. In case the proposal from a village is for a lesser 

amount, activities for the balance amount 

may be proposed by the SHGs during the 

remaining years of the Project. There is, 

therefore, no need to immediately start 

planning works and activities requiring the 

full amount for every Project village. 

Contributions from other sources 

The purpose of this component is to 

mobilize additional funds from other government and 

private sources. The project funds will be available only 

when the following percentage of outside funds are also 

linked with the SHG proposal: 

Contributions from other state, central 

Government or local Government funds/ 

schemes – 30 per cent; 

Contributions from SHG members, or from 

the community – 10 per cent; or 

If contributions from state, central 

Government schemes or local body funds 

are not available to the above mentioned 

level, the MD can also allow a loan to the 

groups from the revolving fund for a sum of 

up to 10 per cent of the total cost. This 

loan will have to be paid by the SHGs on 

SWA-SHAKTI 

75


the normal terms and conditions applicable to loans 

from the revolving fund. In such cases, therefore, 

the external support would be 20 per cent (10 per 

cent from the SHG/ community and 10 per cent 

from the RF loan). The remaining 80 per cent funds 

can be obtained from this component. 

Project funds will be available only when the NGO and 

Women Development Corporation are convinced that the 

above requirement of outside funds is completely tied up. 

The MD of the concerned Women Development Corporation 

can relax these norms in exceptional, genuine and 

deserving cases. 

Construction and implementation by the SHG 

The SHG would construct/implement the facility. If there 

are more than one SHGs interested in the activity, a 

committee consisting of equal members from each group 

could be formed. The field worker, or any other person 

from a partner NGO, may guide them but would not be 

part of such a committee. 

Ownership 

It is advisable for the assets to be officially owned by the 

SHG(s). 

Maintenance of assets 

No activity will be sanctioned unless the SHG or community 

agrees to bear all maintenance and recurring costs of the 

facility. The SHG must also prove the availability of 

separately earmarked funds for this purpose. While 

preparing the proposal, the FW should ensure that the 

local community has the resources and capacity to repair 

the asset; and further, that the use of the asset is not 

dependent on power or telecommunication systems since 

in rural areas these systems either do not exist or are 

frequently out of order. 

76

SWA-SHAKTI 

The FW would perform the following functions 

a. Identify SHGs that are likely to fulfil the established criteria; 

b. Get the most useful activity identified through a 

participatory exercise (PRA) within the group. If there are 

more than one Swa-Shakti SHGs in the village, the activity 

should be decided at a meeting of all such groups. It should 

be ensured that every member knows about the meeting. It 

is possible that more than one meeting will be needed to 

finalise the activity, or several activities, selected according 

to the different requirements of individual groups; 

c. Hold further discussions with village, community and 

panchayat office-bearers; 

d. Arrange the remaining funds through the participating 

SHGs or through the RC, as the case may be; 

e. Prepare a brief proposal on the activity for consideration by 

the WDC. The proposal should be brief and state (a) title of 

the activity (b) the name of the SHGs interested in the 

activity, and copies of their resolutions (c) item-wise cost of 

the activity and funds available from other sources, and 

whether funds have indeed been confirmed from these 

sources (d) who would own the assets in the future and 

copies of relevant permissions/ resolutions (e) who would 

be responsible and the time frame for the completion of the 

activity; 

f. The field worker and NGO will supervise the construction/ 

implementation work to ensure that the funds are used as 

stated in the proposal and there is no wastage, and see to it 

that the activity is completed within an agreed time limit. 

They will also ensure that the implementing SHG maintains 

all the vouchers. Information on the status of the work would 

be provided to the WDC every month. It would be useful if 

the SHG gets the facility inaugurated 

formally; 

g. They would also monitor maintenance of 

the assets created through this component; 

and 

h. The field worker would 

ensure that a proposal is 

sent to the WDC within 

15 days from the 

resolution decided by 

the SHG. 

77


Revolving Corpus 

Rationale of the Revolving Fund 

Poor women need loans that are made available to them 

immediately, without complicated collateral and with the 

minimum of paper work. It is a well-documented fact, 

however, that the formal banking structure has not met 

the small and immediate loan requirements of these 

women. Very often, they are forced to seek such loans 

from informal structures like the local money-lenders 

where, although the loan is available immediately and 

without much formality, the interest rates charged are 

prohibitive, going upto 120 per cent per year. 

Use of the Revolving Fund 

Project has set up a revolving fund and loans from the 

fund will be available to partner 

NGOs, who in turn, will provide 

loans to the self help groups. These 

SHGs must be 6-9 months old. The 

revolving fund is intended to 

improve the fund position of the 

groups in the initial stages and 

encourage lending activities to meet 

the immediate credit needs of 

members. This will help poor 

women take up income generating 

activities based on their skills and 

local potential, as also to meet their 

immediate consumption needs. 

Loan facilities available to the SHG, in the beginning, would 

be in small amounts. They will act as a good motivator and 

binding force to the groups in the long run. A successful 

loan recovery programme would subsequently set a good 

example and motivate bankers to link these groups with 

credit. 

78 

Loans from the WDC to the NGOs, and from the NGOs to 

the SHGs will be for a fixed duration i.e. 12 months. The 

NGO will repay the loan in two equal instalments at the end 

of the 9th and 12 th months. At the level of the SHGs, funds

can be revolved according to members’ needs, for different 

repayment periods. NGO could, however, insist on monthly 

repayment. The recovered amounts could be further used 

by the NGO to extend similar loans to other groups. 

Functioning of the Revolving Fund 

The Revolving Fund loan to the SHGs will range from 

Rs.1000 to Rs.5000 depending upon the quality of the 

group. 

It should be made clear to the Self-Help Groups that 

assistance from Revolving Fund is not a permanent activity. 

It is merely a bridge loan till the SHGs are linked with 

bank loans by the NGO. 

Procedure 

A sample application form that must be signed by the SHG 

Group Leader should be given to field worker. It is 

suggested that no other document should be asked from 

the SHG. The NGO will assess the quality of the group as 

soon as the application is received. A model proforma for 

assessment is available with NGO. Once the NGO is satisfied 

that the group's performance is of a high order, the loan 

should be sanctioned along with the cheque for the required 

amount. No receipt is necessary and there should be no 

pre-disbursement formalities. The SHG must receive the 

loan within 30 days of its application. 

Eligibility Criteria for SHGs 

a) The SHG should be between 6 and 9 months old; 

b) The NGO will assess the SHG’s quality according to 

the criteria laid down in the proforma. The following 

limits could be sanctioned to individual groups on 

the basis of their assessment: 

Points obtained Loan limit 

150 and above Rs. 5,000 

125-149 Rs. 3,000 

c) The SHGs already linked with Banks, or those having 

obtained loans from the RMK or some other 

organisation, will not be eligible to access the 

Revolving Fund; and 

SWA-SHAKTI 

79


d) An individual SHG can obtain assistance from the 

fund only once. It is expected that after completing 

one such loan cycle, the NGO would ensure that the 

group is linked with a Bank or RMK for its future 

credit needs. 

Other terms and conditions for revolving fund loans 

Interest Rates 

The NGO will charge from the SHGs interest at the rate of 

12 per cent per year on the outstanding loan; 

The SHGs will take their own decisions to charge interest 

from the members and the decision, once taken, will be 

applied uniformly to all borrowing members. 

Purposes for which the loan is given 

Neither the Corporation, nor the implementing NGO, 

should place any conditions on the type of activity to be 

funded from these loans. This decision should be left to 

the SHG. They must be free to decide the type of activity, 

whether income generating or otherwise, that they want to 

assist. 

Repayments 

The SHG will repay the loan and interest to the NGO in 

equal monthly instalments, starting from the second month 

after which it received the loan. 

Penal Interest 

In case of default or a delayed repayment, the NGO may 

charge a penal interest at the rate of one 

per cent per month from the SHG for the 

period of default or delay. 

Merger of Loans with the Group’s Own 

Savings 

The group will pool the Revolving Fund 

loan from the NGO with its other savings 

and use the total amount (loan and 

80

savings) to provide short duration loans to its members for 

consumption or income generation purposes. It will also 

revolve the funds among needy members. 

Second Loan to SHGs 

As and when a cluster and block level federation of SHGs 

are formed, these organisations can approach the WDC for 

a Revolving Fund loan to finance their member SHGs, 

irrespective of the Bank linkage status of these SHGs. 

Literacy 

What literacy-related activities can the Swa-Shakti 

Summary 

Field worker should perform following functions: 

Inform SHGs of Revolving fund provisions; 

Help SHGs in taking a decision on loan application; 

Assess the score of SHGs quickly; 

Ensure prompt release of loans to SHGs; 

Ensure regular recovery of instalments from SHGs; and 

Use SHG’s revolving fund history for their bank linkage. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

Project take up? 

The field worker may: 

Organise tuition classes for girls studying in standards 

9 th to 12 th ; 

Arrange escort services for school going adolescent girls; 

Arrange toilet facilities for girls in local schools; 

Organise coaching and functional literacy classes for 

school drop-out girls to prepare them to sit for the board 

examinations; and 

Run pre-school education facilities for young children; 

In the beginning, part of the cost of these activities should 

be borne by the SHG or the community. Their contribution 

should increase in later years. The project expenditure can 

be met from ‘community assets‘ component. 

81


Reduction in Drudgery 

The Swa-Shakti Project defines drudgery as any activity 

that is repetitive, involves intensive labour or takes an 

excessive amount of time to complete. Women perform 

most of the daily tasks that fall within this definition. 

These include fetching water, collecting fuel wood and 

fodder, grinding grain, cooking, weeding, sowing or 

transplanting in the fields, etc. Women often have to walk 

long distances to fetch water or collect fuel; they generally 

work in kitchens which are full of smoke; they are also 

forced to work bent over, or on their knees, for long 

hours while working in the fields or in the house. All these 

tasks carry drudgery hazards that are detrimental to their 

health. 

Activities aimed at drudgery reduction can be categorised 

as support activities, practice-related activities or gender 

interventions. 

Support Activities 

This would involve mapping activities throughout the 

woman’s day that involve drudgery and making 

interventions to reduce the amount of time or labour 

involved in doing these activities. For example, building a 

small water storage tank, introducing drudgery reducing 

equipments for grinding grains, weeding, de-shelling corn, 

etc., installing a pulley at the village well to reduce the 

amount of labour required to pull water out of the well, 

introducing improved knife, sickle or axe that require less 

force etc. can help reduce health hazards related to 

drudgery inducing activities. 

82 

Practice – related activities 

Though not directly related to reducing drudgery, 

introduction of certain practices like wearing of footwear, 

introducing smokeless chulahs, having regular bath (also 

ensuring availability of water nearby), suggesting changes 

in posture during certain activities, making use of toilets 

(also ensuring water saving, hygienic toilets) etc.

Gender interventions 

The activities mentioned above may be able to reduce 

drudgery and also health hazards to some extent, but they 

do not necessarily reduce the burden of tasks on the 

women, which is more often than not, disproportionate as 

compared to that of men. 

It would be important for the FW to take up the above 

mentioned activities and also initiate discussions within 

the community, especially with men on tasks undertaken 

by men and women, time taken and amount of leisure or 

relaxation time available. An exercise drawing out the time 

use profile of men and women may be useful. Through 

theme camps and use of traditional media the FW needs to 

inform the community about the gender based division of 

labour, that is division of labour that is based on whether 

an individual is a man or a woman (man’s job and woman’s 

job) rather than on who is free to do it at a given time. The 

idea of sharing of household chores, which involves a lot of 

drudgery, can be communicated to the men. During joint 

discussions with men and women certain critical issues 

could also be discussed like - repeated pregnancies with 

SWA-SHAKTI 

The FW, therefore, should 

Understand the nature of ‘drudgery’ in a given context; 

Identify the activities which could be undertaken to reduce 

drudgery; 

Identify line departments or institutions, which can be 

linked to the SHG for providing training, drudgery reducing 

equipments, access to existing programmes like rain water 

harvesting, etc.; 

Discuss various aspects with the SHGs, find out their views, 

practices that could be changed – like wearing footwear; 

Discuss these aspects with the community at large; and 

Organise theme camps addressing gender issues in 

drudgery, talk about sharing of household responsibilities, 

equal division of work between boys and girls – taking care 

of younger siblings, grazing cattle, fetching water, etc. while 

linking these aspects to provision of equal food and 

education opportunities to both boys and girls. 

83


very little or no gap between two pregnancies also amounts 

to drudgery as it exposes women to health hazards and 

involves acute investment of time and energy in addition to 

their already heavy burden of tasks. 

Health Related activities 

The project can provide medical assistance to SHG members 

so that they are able to benefit fully from the economic 

activities. 

Poverty and malnutrition are the principal causes of ill 

health, particularly amongst women. The gap between 

knowledge and information, poor infrastructure, a poor 

quality of life that leads to poor environment and unhygienic 

living conditions, lack of linkages within the health care 

delivery system, inaccessibility of health care facilities make 

people suffer more, even for minor illnesses. 

Under the project, women can demand support for health 

needs and a woman health volunteer from the group can be 

trained in basic health care to provide the following services: 

disseminate information on basic health care; 

promote simple and affordable preventive health care 

measures; 

build linkages and coordination with local 

health centers and existing Government 

programmes; and 

Provide simple, basic health care services 

like first aid, oral rehydration 

salts, etc. 

These services will be actively assisted 

by the project which will also provide the woman 

volunteer health education material and a basic 

first aid kit. 

84 

Initially, the health volunteer will only help 

group members. Since it will be purely parttime 

work, she will receive no

honorarium at this stage. As her confidence and skills grow, 

she can start helping the whole community and charge a 

small fee for her services. 

The field worker may initiate following activities: 

Organise training in first aid for a few members 

through the Indian Red Cross Society or St. John's 

Ambulance; 

Provide a first-aid box to a trained member. She 

should, however, ensure that the instructions of the 

Medical Council of India are not violated and 

prescription drugs (drugs requiring doctor’s advice) 

are not included. There are standard first-aid boxes 

available with the ICDS that could be used. The 

contents of the box will have to be replenished by 

the SHG, which can charge a small fee for this service; 

Train traditional birth attendants and provide them 

with regular kits; 

Organise health camps to identify members suffering 

from TB, poor eyesight, malaria or nutritional 

anaemia, and arrange medicines for them through 

the regular government system; and 

Organise theme camps on nutrition, birth control 

methods, childbirth and childcare and other health 

issues related. 

The salient features of this sub-component are as follows: 

Assistance would initially be provided to only those groups 

that have gained some experience and are willing to receive 

health-related services. They should also be ready to take 

responsibility for creating a better health environment in 

their community. The eligible SHGs should, therefore: 

Be around 6 months old; 

Have discussed the package of health-related inputs 

in their meetings and have identified the input(s) 

most relevant to them; and 

Be willing to take over the health-related activities at 

a later date and are capable of funding it. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

85


Training of Health Volunteers 

They should be trained in basic health care like: 

preventive and occupational health; 

sanitation; 

common diseases and their remedies; 

mother & child health care; 

contraceptives; and 

immunization. 

Any professional organization with the expertise and 

capacity to provide training on health related matters 

may also be involved. The health volunteers would be 

provided a health kit. 

Provision of the medical kit would be a one-time assistance. 

Users would have to bear the actual cost of the medicines 

and other materials. This contribution can help them in 

creating a health bank to maintain the health kit. 

After the health volunteers are selected, the group, with 

the help of the field worker, would establish contact with 

the local primary health centre and other organizations 

supported by government health departments. A meeting 

with the Government health department and anganwadi 

workers could also be arranged. This meeting would help 

in building up proper linkage and coordination. It could 

also help in listing the services that could be extended 

towards the group/community. Regular meeting, with the 

Medical Officer, ANMs, AWWs can help in assuring that 

they make regular visits to the village. 

No financial incentive should be provided to the health 

volunteers. 

86 

As an alternative to health volunteers, one health worker 

could be selected from each village. She would be 

responsible for disseminating information on health related 

issues, providing access to the formal health system for 

group members and others and, whenever necessary, 

provide basic health care.

The health workers would be selected and trained only on 

the group’s request. It is advisable to induct a woman from 

outside the SHG to avoid conflict. 

Training of Traditional Birth Attendants 

3-4 birth attendants should be selected from each cluster 

and trained in safe motherhood, pre and post natal as well 

as neo-natal care, etc. The TBAs would also be provided 

with a delivery kit in keeping with the practices approved 

by the state health department. 

To promote health awareness and preventive health care, 

the group may also undertake the following: 

Procure bleaching powder from the 

block/taluka office to use in cleaning 

community wells, surface drains and 

other places; 

Chlorinate drinking water; 

Maintain clean surroundings of hand 

pumps and wells; 

Spray DDT/insect repellents in the surroundings of 

surface drains, water logged and other areas; and 

Inculcate good civic practices like protecting drinking 

water sources, not spitting in public places, regularly 

washing hands, not defecating near the pathways, etc. 

Curative health care 

Health camps should be organized in every cluster with 

the close involvement of the State Health Department and 

Public Health Departments, health workers and health 

volunteers. The main objective of the camps would be: 

To generate awareness on basic, preventive and curative 

health care; and 

To arrange diagnostic health check-ups for SHG 

members. 

Health education materials like pamphlets, calendars and 

booklets developed by the Health Department, should be 

given to the groups during the camps. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

87


Total outlay for a health camp would be Rs.1500/- per 

camp. The NGO can organize one such camp for every 

Project village every year. 

Health melas can be organized at the cluster level. It should 

also include non-members. The components of the 

health mela should not only be limited to 

generating awareness on basic and preventive 

health care but they should also highlight 

community hygiene, family planning, care during 

pregnancy, mother and child health care, 

immunization, eye check-ups and 

health check-ups for adolescent girls. 

The melas may also be theme specific 

with a focus on one or two of the above 

issues. Items like ORS packets, sanitary towels, posters, 

pamphlets, cards on various health issues can be displayed. 

The total cost of a health mela should be equivalent to the 

cost of organizing three health camps. One such mela may 

be organized by the NGO in each cluster every year. 

Awareness among adolescents 

The Project would also assist in providing reproductive 

health education to young boys and girls. 

Following elements could be included in their training: 

88 

Physical and mental changes experienced during 

adolescence; 

The process of reproduction and the role 

of male and female in reproduction; 

Appropriate age for marriage and 

reproduction; 

Family planning and disease prevention; 

Sexually transmitted diseases; 

Gender awareness and need for respect 

between sexes; and 

Preparation of low cost sanitary towels 

and pads.

The last point is very important as a large number of 

gynaecological problems affecting rural women are linked 

to unhygienic sanitary pads. Since commercial sanitary 

pads are expensive, the project could initiate training to 

make low cost, hygienic sanitary pads. 

Formation of specialised SHGs 

It is possible to either encourage existing SHGs to develop 

into specialized health SHGs, or promote new SHGs into 

health activities. 

Alternatively, the WDCs could discuss with expert NGOs 

and explore the possibility of forming 25-50 specialized 

SHGs. Such activities can be undertaken as part of action 

research. 

The WDC will perform the following roles 

Finalise a calendar for health-related activities; 

Organise training programmes for health volunteers, 

health workers, birth attendants and NGO 

functionaries; 

Involve other expert organisations like medical 

colleges, medical associations, expert NGOs, etc; 

Prepare and procure useful posters, pamphlets and 

brochures; and 

Establish the contents of medical kits. 

Partner NGOs will perform the following tasks 

Inform SHGs about the range of possible activities; 

Implement the activities with the help of SHGs and 

the community; 

Identify health workers, health volunteers and birth 

attendants for training; 

Identify the most common diseases to be treated; 

and 

Converge Project activities with PHC, ICDS and other 

programmes at the local level. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

89


Child Care Centres 

Summary - Health 

Tie up with Food and Nutrition Board, Home Science 

Colleges, Nursing Schools and PSM departments for 

resources 

Integrate with existing programmes (RCH, MSS) & 

government supply medicines 

Focus initially on hygiene, sanitation and nutrition 

List out existing schedules of block level workers of other 

departments 

Implement existing circular 

Help only in remote inaccessible areas 

The SHGs that are more than a year old can start a crêche 

with following assistance from the project: 

a. The Project will reimburse 90 per cent of the total 

cost of hiring a child minder, during the first year 

and 60 per cent during the second year. Thereafter, 

the expenditure on child minder becomes the 

responsibility of the SHG; and 

b. Some initial equipment to start the crèche. 

The approved pattern established by the National Crèche 

Fund must be followed for this purpose. 8 


Following steps could be taken to involve them in project 

activities: 

Adolescent girls who are literate could be encouraged to 

become literacy volunteers for teaching the SHG members; 

The trained SHG representatives could be encouraged 

to become master trainers for forming and training 

adolescent girls SHGs on their own without the 

intervention of the field worker; 

90 

8 These norms are described in the DWCD handbook “Schemes for Assistance”. Copies of this 

handbook in English and Hindi are available with the SPMU.

As referred to in Section I of this book, efforts could also 

be made by field workers to help the DPM undertake 

an action research in the area on issues concerning 

adolescent girls like, reproductive health, access to 

resources and life skills, legal rights, decision-making 

and gender issues, etc.; and 

Special initiatives could be taken to provide information 

regarding Government schemes pertaining to 

adolescents. For example, in M.P. efforts have been made 

to collaborate with Kishori Shakti Yojana of the State 

Government. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

91


92


Child Care Centres 

Summary - Health 

Tie up with Food and Nutrition Board, Home Science 

Colleges, Nursing Schools and PSM departments for 

resources 

Integrate with existing programmes (RCH, MSS) & 

government supply medicines 

Focus initially on hygiene, sanitation and nutrition 

List out existing schedules of block level workers of other 

departments 

Implement existing circular 

Help only in remote inaccessible areas 

The SHGs that are more than a year old can start a crêche 

with following assistance from the project: 

a. The Project will reimburse 90 per cent of the total 

cost of hiring a child minder, during the first year 

and 60 per cent during the second year. Thereafter, 

the expenditure on child minder becomes the 

responsibility of the SHG; and 

b. Some initial equipment to start the crèche. 

The approved pattern established by the National Crèche 

Fund must be followed for this purpose. 8 


Following steps could be taken to involve them in project 

activities: 

Adolescent girls who are literate could be encouraged to 

become literacy volunteers for teaching the SHG members; 

The trained SHG representatives could be encouraged 

to become master trainers for forming and training 

adolescent girls SHGs on their own without the 

intervention of the field worker; 

90 

8 These norms are described in the DWCD handbook “Schemes for Assistance”. Copies of this 

handbook in English and Hindi are available with the SPMU.

SWA-SHAKTI 

Section V: Focus Areas 

Mainstreaming gender 

Working in Tribal areas 

93

SWA-SHAKTI 

Developing a work plan for tribal areas 

The Project’s strategy in tribal areas must concentrate its 

efforts to identify the approaches necessary to achieve 

empowerment within existing tribal cultures and traditions. 

Visits to tribal women’s groups have drawn 

attention to the fact that, despite a 

subsistence-oriented culture, their need for 

credit is as great as that of any other nontribal 

group. NGO experience has also shown 

that, contrary to belief, the concept of 

savings to serve in times of need is, in fact, 

well understood by tribal women. 

The following guidelines could be useful when working with 

tribal women: 

While initiating savings and credit as an entry-point 

activity, efforts should be made to understand existing 

customs and traditions (grain banks have been a part of 

savings in some places) in making savings, if any. 

In certain places, it is possible that an entry-point activity 

other than savings and credit may be found more useful 

in forming groups. For example, issues such as trouble 

in collecting minor forest produce or alcoholism (common 

even amongst the women) may serve as a good rallying 

point. On occasion, this may also hold good in nontribal 

areas. 

Initiatives should be taken to weave some traditional 

aspects of the tribal communities into the processes of 

awareness raising and environment-building. For 

example, in Madhya Pradesh, one NGO has developed 

tribal story telling forms, like the Ram Satta and 

Chutkura, into an effective instrument to talk about 

women’s issues and the importance of the Swa-Shakti 

Project. The field worker, CO and the TC should identify 

and incorporate these art forms, especially in planning 

environment-building exercises. 

While initiating micro-enterprise development among 

tribal groups, it would be useful to look at enterprises 

105


that are forest-based and already linked to their day-today 

activities. 

NGOs and field staff agree that small research studies 

need to be undertaken to find out more about tribal 

culture so that project activities can be effectively located 

within it. Some subjects on which research studies could 

be initiated are suggested below: 

The use of traditional medicines in the community, 

its availability, effectiveness and potential for 

collection and marketing as an income generation 

activity; 

The presence of art forms in the community, their 

relevance and how they could be incorporated to 

target messages; and 

Different types of income generating activities that 

could be linked to the tribals’ day-to-day living, their 

feasibility in a given context. For example, if Tendu 

leaves are available, would leaf collection be a viable 

micro-enterprise? 

The development of a tribal area activity plan is one of the 

important areas of focus within the Project. It is essential, 

therefore, to 

Review the feasibility of the strategy; 

Develop a tribal status paper on the work so far done 

and the groups formed while incorporating NGO 

experiences; 

Identify tasks for the Consultant and commission small 

research studies. This would be more useful than 

formulating a revised strategy; and 

Suggest a list of consultants to undertake the studies. 

106

SWA-SHAKTI 

Section VI: Project Management Issues 

Ideal Annual Average Expenditure on each SHG 

Additional contract with partner NGOs 

Powers delegated to District Project Managers 

(DPMs) 

Role of SPMU in supervision of field workers 

Computerised Project Management Systems 

Concurrent Monitoring and Evaluation 

Lessons learnt from similar to Swa-Shakti 

projects 

Action to be taken to improve some areas of 

weakness in Swa-Shakti 

107


Section VI: Project Management Issues 

Ideal Annual Average expenditure on each SHG 

Project should attempt to provide concrete inputs of 

Rs. 8,000/- to 10,000/- every year to each SHG. Some of 

the areas where such expenditure could be made are given 

below. These are average expenditure and it is possible 

that every group or every member may not get equal amount 

of inputs. 

Activity 

Amount (in Rs.) 

Formal Training 1,500 

Skill Development 2,000 

Training of paravets 500 

Honorarium to Health Volunteer 500 

Exposure visits 1,000 

Theme camps 1,500 

IEC 50 

Development of cluster association 100 

Community assets creation 1,000 

Functional Literacy 300 

Total 8,450* 

Additional contracts with the partner NGOs 

The initial contract with the NGOs who are implementing 

the Swa-Shakti Project was approved for a limited set of 

activities. As the Project progressed, it became clear that 

108 

* This pattern was developed by the Swa-Shakti Project Directors in June 2001 at Bangalore.

the NGOs have to perform many more activities at the SHG 

level like: 

Formal training of SHG leaders 

and their members; 

Organising exposure visits, 

demonstration programmes, 

meetings and theme camps 

for the SHG members; 

Conducting IEC related 

activities like wall writing, 

sign boards, etc; 

Supporting the community 

assets component for the 

SHGs; 

Supporting other components 

like literacy, health, crèche, 

paravets, various camps on health, cattle, etc.; 

Assistance to cluster associations; 

Supporting the NGO in inviting outside experts to help 

SHGs; 

Supporting the field workers by providing them a vehicle 

and some other necessary items like umbrellas, water 

bottles, etc.; 

Supporting any other activity in future to help the SHG 

members; and 

Formation of additional SHGs within the Project villages. 

The WDCs are now entering into additional contracts with 

the partner NGOs so that they can perform above tasks. 

Some of the conditions which will have to be met by the 

NGO are given below. 

The content and cost of every activity will require prior 

approval of the WDC; 

The NGO will submit a specific action plan to the WDC 

in advance and obtain the WDC’s approval; 

The action plan should contain details like name of 

activity, number of units, unit cost, break-up of unit 

cost, contents of the activity and month-wise break-up 

of units to be completed. In case the activity is to be 

SWA-SHAKTI 

109


completed by an outside agency, the name of the agency 

should also be mentioned; 

Any instruction issued by the WDC would be applicable 

to the activities included in the action plan; 

The details of additional contract should be made 

available to the field workers and the SHG leaders also; 

NGOs can now organize training programmes through the 

help of any outside organization on specialized subjects 

like confidence building, leadership development, on-farm 

& off-farm activities, networking, etc.; 

Whenever the field worker attends any meetings as 

per the instructions of the DPM, she can claim a 

reasonable TA; and 

A fixed reimbursement of Rs. 4,000 per additional SHG 

for the remaining project period would be available. This 

is on the assumption that these additional SHGs would 

be formed by the existing field worker in the villages 

where work has already started and the NGO would be 

responsible to provide all the on-site training to these 

SHGs. Such on-site training would include group 

dynamics, accounts, procedures, legal and functional 

literacy, etc. No additional funds would be available to 

the NGO for these trainings. 

Field workers are advised to carefully study the contract 

and plan the new activities which can be performed by them. 

Copies of these contracts are available at the DPM’s office. 

Powers Delegated To District Project Managers (DPMs) 

S.No TYPE OF POWERS 

DPM’S POWERS 

1. Printing forms, reports & stationery Rs.5000 per case 

2. Contingent expenditure Rs.500 per item but 

limited to Rs.2000 

per month 

3. Workshops Upto district level 

110 

4. Participation of Project members in Full Powers, for SHG 

formal training programmes; organising members

SWA-SHAKTI 

S.No TYPE OF POWERS DPM’S POWERS 

or approving such programmes; deciding 

on the number of programmes, etc.; 

their duration, contents, etc.; engaging 

a regular training organisation 

5. Procurement of resource material— Full powers, for SHG 

audiovisual cassettes, training games, members 

books, posters, manuals, etc. 

6. Identification of resource persons and Full powers 

preliminary discussions 

7. Exposure visits, their number and Full powers, for SHG 

locations 

members (within or 

outside the district/ 

state) 

8. Organising meeting of SHG members, Full powers, within 

cluster leaders 

the district 

9. Sanctions to NGOs for making sign boards, Upto Rs. 1,000 in 

wall writings, printing pamphlets and each case 

posters 

10. Direct production of sign boards, wall Upto Rs. 1,500 each 

writings, printing pamphlets and posters case 

11. Payment for material development, Rs. 500 each case 

photographs, songs, etc. through an 

external agency 

12. Organising theme camps and use of Rs. 1,500 per case 

traditional media 

13. Health camps including cattle camp Full powers 

14. Creation of community assets Rs. 25,000 per village 

15. Printing of IEC material Upto Rs. 5,000 per 

case, subject to 

annual ceiling of 

Rs. 25,000 

111


Role of the SPMU in supervision of the Field Workers 

The performance of the Swa-Shakti Project is monitored at 

various levels through Project Management Information 

Systems (MIS), Concurrent Monitoring and Evaluation 

(CME), the World Bank’s Supervision Missions and the 

annual performance appraisal of Project personnel. Since 

the field workers are central to the Project performance, 

Project Directors may ask the partner NGO to: 

Health related activities 

a. Fix performance norms for its field workers; 

b. Improve the performance of an individual field worker 

within a reasonable time frame; or 

c. Withdraw a given field worker from the Swa-Shakti 

Project. 

The Project Director can also insist that the field workers 

should have some qualifications or that they should stay 

within the villages assigned to them. 

The Project’s Management Information System 

SHG level information must be quickly and accurately sent 

to the SPMU and CPSU. For this purpose, two methods 

have been developed. 

A. A Computerised Project Management System 

The field worker has to fill the Form A when a new group is 

formed, providing some general information on the SHG 

members. A copy of the form should be sent to the DPM 

immediately. This form will not be updated in future. In 

case, the SHG stops functioning and is to be removed from 

the Project, the field worker should inform the DPM during 

the next meeting. Every SHG will be given a code 

by the DPM. 

112 

Every month thereafter, the field worker should 

help the group to record details of every meeting 

held in the Form B. On the 25 th of March, June, September 

and December, copies of Form B should be sent to the 

DPMs. It should be ensured that the DPM receives the


Role of the SPMU in supervision of the Field Workers 

The performance of the Swa-Shakti Project is monitored at 

various levels through Project Management Information 

Systems (MIS), Concurrent Monitoring and Evaluation 

(CME), the World Bank’s Supervision Missions and the 

annual performance appraisal of Project personnel. Since 

the field workers are central to the Project performance, 

Project Directors may ask the partner NGO to: 

Health related activities 

a. Fix performance norms for its field workers; 

b. Improve the performance of an individual field worker 

within a reasonable time frame; or 

c. Withdraw a given field worker from the Swa-Shakti 

Project. 

The Project Director can also insist that the field workers 

should have some qualifications or that they should stay 

within the villages assigned to them. 

The Project’s Management Information System 

SHG level information must be quickly and accurately sent 

to the SPMU and CPSU. For this purpose, two methods 

have been developed. 

A. A Computerised Project Management System 

The field worker has to fill the Form A when a new group is 

formed, providing some general information on the SHG 

members. A copy of the form should be sent to the DPM 

immediately. This form will not be updated in future. In 

case, the SHG stops functioning and is to be removed from 

the Project, the field worker should inform the DPM during 

the next meeting. Every SHG will be given a code 

by the DPM. 

112 

Every month thereafter, the field worker should 

help the group to record details of every meeting 

held in the Form B. On the 25 th of March, June, September 

and December, copies of Form B should be sent to the 

DPMs. It should be ensured that the DPM receives the

Form B before 27 th of every quarter. The same information 

will be collected by the DPM and then sent to the SPMU by 

30 th of every quarter. 

b. Concurrent Monitoring & Evaluation 

Officials from the Agricultural Finance Corporation will 

contact selected field workers every quarter for discussions, 

visit some SHGs and conduct focus group discussions and 

verify their records, after which they will prepare a report 

on Project’s progress. 

Findings from Concurrent Monitoring and Evaluation 

exercise 

Shy members 

Linkage with Govt. schemes 

Regular supervision of NGOs 

Swa-Shakti Project Identity 

Weak clusters 

Unsatisfactory Field Worker participation 

Account keeping 

Non-formation of additional groups 

Short group meetings 

Lessons to be learned from projects similar to 

Swa-Shakti 

Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Project (TNWDP) 

The Swa-Shakti Project is based on the Tamil Nadu Women’s 

Development Project that came into being some ten years 

ago. Today, the TNWDC’s Project performance report, based 

on a review conducted by IFAD a few years ago, contains 

many lessons that will help improve the performance of 

the Swa Shakti Project. 

Achievements of the TNWDP 

There is clear and ample evidence that very poor women 

have formed well functioning, homogenous groups; 

Landless women report a significant social change: where 

they were formerly labourers, they are now small-scale 

entrepreneurs; 

Collective action taken by the groups has been 

SWA-SHAKTI 

113


successful. It ranges from 

petitions for street lighting to 

arranging for milk routes to stop 

in their villages; 

Social impact appears to have 

been greater in empowering 

women in the public rather than 

in the private sphere; 

The women have developed 

greater mobility and greater 

ease when visiting banks and 

conversing with officials; 

The groups have developed a 

“repayment culture”; 

The Project has demonstrated that banks are ready to 

give loans to women’s self-help groups and enjoy high 

repayment rates; 

There is complete co-operation between the Government, 

the WDC and officers from the line departments, the 

banks and the NGOs; and 

Group members are willing to borrow even without 

subsidies, provided loans are given in time and the 

investments are sound. Some of these investments would 

be viable even without a subsidy. 

The TNWDP also brought up several concerns. These can 

also serve as lessons for the Swa-Shakti Project: 

Variation in group quality and performance; 

Several well to do women remained as members of the 

groups; 

Many clusters were formed without first consolidating 

the SHGs at the base leading to a top-down system of 

management; 

There has been serious lack of support from the line 

departments, particularly in the field of animal 

114 

Can we say that the majority of Swa-Shakti SHGs have achieved 

this level of efficiency? If not, what should be done by the field 

worker or the District Project Manager? The DPMs should 

discuss these observations with the field workers.

husbandry where veterinary services were totally 

inadequate; 

The field workers’ tendency to dominate the group was 

clearly noticeable. There is a need to train field workers 

in participatory skills to equip them to support the 

emergence of other leaders within the group; 

The quality of record keeping needed to be improved. 

Most NGOs were not equipped to maintain accounts 

and audit the group’s common fund; 

The most disadvantaged women, namely the landless, 

women with marginal land holdings and female heads 

of households, have not been adequately represented; 

Field workers lacked the qualifications, and the 

experience, to conduct training programmes. Moreover, 

there was a serious lack of good communication material; 

A large number of women were passive participants at 

the meetings. Group training with a focus on the weaker 

members should be given priority; 

Inadequate training has been provided to members in 

relation to their income generating activity; and 

Training should be offered at the village level. It should 

be practical, on the job training, well adjusted to the 

women’s reality. 

The experience gained by the TNWD Project in empowering 

self-help groups, institutionalising and simplifying the 

banking, financial and other important facets of the project 

can provide solid guidelines for the Swa-Shakti Project. 

Financial Operations 

It has been seen that projects with wide area-coverage 

need a large number of participating banks; 

The linkages between the SHGs and the commercial 

banks have been institutionalised; 

Loan-transaction costs have been considerably reduced 

when bank loans are granted to the groups rather than 

SWA-SHAKTI 

Which of these problems is the Swa-Shakti Project dealing with? 

What corrective steps must the field worker and NGO take? 

DPMs must discuss these steps with the field workers. 

115


directly to individuals. The groups then 

disburse loans to individual members; 

The project budget should include 

provisions for separate transport 

arrangements, or allowances, for bank 

field staff; 

The TNWD Project allows for flexible 

savings by the group. At the same time, 

it ensures that internal lending is not 

linked to the amount saved; 

Criteria governing the minimum savings 

amount should keep in mind the 

individual’s capacity to save; 

Decisions on loan ceilings are best left to 

the group; 

Declaring dividends and paying interest on savings gives 

the women a sense of achievement; 

Encourage poor women, who are fearful of taking loans, to 

join the group and slowly increase their risk taking capacity; 

Allow members to withdraw small amounts from their 

savings accounts. This encourages more women to 

participate in group activities; 

Groups and group leaders must be aware of the interest 

rates charged by moneylenders and commercial banks 

before establishing their own rates; 

The TNWDC women’s groups offer differentiated 

financial products (i.e. loans for those aspects not covered 

by banks) against varying interest rates, fees, flexible 

instalments and maturity periods, special services like 

doorstep collection depending on loan size, etc.; and 

The SHGs monitor the source of repayment to ensure 

that group members do not resort to strategies 

detrimental to the individual’s welfare when the need 

for repayment occurs. 

116 

Institutional Arrangements and Co-operation 

The Indian Bank offered its vast resources and 

institutionalised an efficient system; and 

Co-operation from government authorities, line 

departments and the principal implementing agencies 

is important to ensure neutrality and minimise delays.

Empowerment and Self-help Groups 

Women’s empowerment can be seen when members 

exercise control over their labour, mobility, interactions, 

resources, decision-making processes and identity; 

The men started helping their wives in domestic tasks 

when they saw the tangible benefits of their involvement 

in SHGs; 

Although a gender division in decision-making still 

exists, women are today playing a more important role 

within the home; and 

The SHGs have been accepted as an institution of 

development within the village community. 

Group Formation and Sustainability 

Group formation has continued at a steady pace; 

Groups are strong because there is a continuity of 

membership; 

Targets and regulations are kept to a workable minimum; 

The SHGs receive institutional loans only after saving 

and rotating funds for a year of two; 

Pro-poor, equitable and transparent savings and lending 

practices have proved very effective in group operations; 

Cluster-level federations have slowly taken 

over some of the functions of NGOs; 

Effective cluster federations wield more 

authority when dealing with problems and 

issues that cannot be resolved at the group 

level. They can deal more effectively with 

common social and economic needs. They can 

even act as financial intermediaries to 

mobilise capital from some groups and pass 

it on to others; 

Cluster federations must grow out of a 

demand. They must be need-based and not 

set up to meet project targets; and 

Cluster federations can be very successful 

when the decision-making process and 

operations at the group level are truly democratic, 

efficient and based on sound operational principles. 

SWA-SHAKTI 

117

Form B before 27 th of every quarter. The same information 

will be collected by the DPM and then sent to the SPMU by 

30 th of every quarter. 

b. Concurrent Monitoring & Evaluation 

Officials from the Agricultural Finance Corporation will 

contact selected field workers every quarter for discussions, 

visit some SHGs and conduct focus group discussions and 

verify their records, after which they will prepare a report 

on Project’s progress. 

Findings from Concurrent Monitoring and Evaluation 

exercise 

Shy members 

Linkage with Govt. schemes 

Regular supervision of NGOs 

Swa-Shakti Project Identity 

Weak clusters 

Unsatisfactory Field Worker participation 

Account keeping 

Non-formation of additional groups 

Short group meetings 

Lessons to be learned from projects similar to 

Swa-Shakti 

Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Project (TNWDP) 

The Swa-Shakti Project is based on the Tamil Nadu Women’s 

Development Project that came into being some ten years 

ago. Today, the TNWDC’s Project performance report, based 

on a review conducted by IFAD a few years ago, contains 

many lessons that will help improve the performance of 

the Swa Shakti Project. 

Achievements of the TNWDP 

There is clear and ample evidence that very poor women 

have formed well functioning, homogenous groups; 

Landless women report a significant social change: where 

they were formerly labourers, they are now small-scale 

entrepreneurs; 

Collective action taken by the groups has been 

SWA-SHAKTI 

113


Income Generation Activities 

Loans taken by group members were expected to be 

used for crop improvement. More than half the amounts 

sanctioned, however, went towards livestock activities; 

Small income-generation activities gave women who were 

either landless or had small holdings a daily income; 

Contrary to general belief, women proved that they could 

choose the object of their investment and make a success 

of it; 

It became evident that land-based activities are 

unsuitable when the majority of the target population 

has neither title nor access to land; and 

And finally, the needs, preferences and capabilities of 

the local people must be kept in mind. 

Action that may be taken to improve some areas of weaknesses 

in the Swa-Shakti Project 

Area of weakness 

Lack of Field Identity 

at the level of SHGs 

Possible action 

A cloth or PVC Board could be given to the SHG to 

be used during meetings held outside the village 

Group establishment material to reach the SHGs 

An Address Bank to be maintained and SHGs 

regularly kept informed by Project officials 

DPM to regularly write to the SHGs 

A PVC Board having basic details of the SHG 

operations could be provided at the entry of the 

village 

Members should be provided with identity cards 

Brochures/ leaflets for members on Swa-Shakti 

Brochures/ leaflets for FWs on Swa-Shakti 

Jingles to be commissioned on the Project 

118 

Posters on various issues to be prepared

SWA-SHAKTI 


Lack of Identity at the 

level of field level 

officials 


MD, Area Officers and PD to call on district officers 

during their tour to the districts 

MD to talk to the district officials over phone every 

week 

Solidarity conferences at district level with group 

leaders and district officials 

Regular meetings of DLCC 

Brochure on the role of government agencies in 


Identification of activities under various schemes 

which could be passed on to SHGs 

New Year cards could be sent to key district and 

block officials 

Small but visible gift items: paper weights with the 

Swa-Shakti logo, small telephone books, diaries, 

calendars to be distributed to key offices 

Clarity among staff 

Briefing on latest thinking, future activities, etc. 

of staff by area officers 

Brochure on the Swa-Shakti Project 

DPM meetings at national level 

Delegation 

Delegation order to be implemented in every state 

PD to specifically see that necessary documents 

and copies of latest instructions are available with 

the DPMs 

Training 

TC to update list of key institutions, the 

programmes they offer and prepare a list of persons 

to be sent there 

Additional contract with NGOs to be finalised 

Rigidity 

Full flexibility for type of training in the additional 

contract with NGOs. DPM to approve. 

Innovations at NGO level encouraged under 

additional contracts 

119



Income Generation 

Program 


MC to focus on on-farm activities for the next six 

months 

MC to prepare an action plan for on-farm activities 

in each district. To prepare a list of agencies in the 

state and their training related expertise, 

addresses, names of contact persons and cost of 

each training. An expert in this field could also be 

taken on a short-term contract 

MC to prepare a master list of possible IG activities, 

their training module, implementation costs, 

possible resource agencies and master trainers, 

cost of training, etc 

MC to maintain a group-wise profile of IGP 

presently being undertaken by their members, 

possible training requirements, etc. Discuss future 

plans for these members with NGOs every month 

120

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