KARNATAKA - of Planning Commission

Gender and Human DevelopmentIt is undeniable thatschemes that attackpoverty, through creditto women, augment theincome of the household,impacting householdconsumption directly.But how far do theseinterventions go inaltering intra-householdpower dynamics – roles,dependencies, andauthority?and (iv) women from families with alcoholics, drugaddicts or physically disabled persons. As of March2004, DWCD has formed 1,00,000 groups with atotal of 14,79,794 members, of whom 3,10,358 areScheduled Castes, 1,18,359 are Scheduled Tribes,and 99,779 are from the minority communities.The DWCD is also responsible for Swayam Sidha, acentrally sponsored scheme (formerly Indira MahilaYojana) to form SHGs through the facilitation of theanganwadi workers. The Karnataka State Women’sDevelopment Corporation (KSWDC) promotesincome generation, giving priority to single womenand households eligible for Swarna Jayanthi ShahariRozgar Yojana loans. KSWDC provides support byidentifying entrepreneurs, providing technical help toidentify viable projects, facilitating credit, promotingmarketing, training, and strengthening women’scooperatives. The KSWDC is responsible for differentstate sponsored schemes such as Udyogini (forcredit to women entrepreneurs), the urbanStree Shakti scheme, and a devadasi rehabilitationprogramme (economic and social programmes innine northern districts). In addition, KSWDC hasalso run the World Bank-IFAD sponsored Swashaktischeme to form SHGs through NGOs in 7 districts– Kolar, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Bellary, Koppal,Raichur and Gulbarga. Thirty-six NGOs have beencontracted to work in 979 project villages, andhave formed 2,100 SHGs with 38,508 members.Almost 50 per cent of these women are illiterate,60 per cent are landless or have less than one acre,and about 59 per cent are SC/STs.It is clear that the current approaches seek to linkgender with poverty, using development deliveryas a platform for targeting women as benefi ciariesand mobilising them for social empowerment.Swashakti, for instance, conceives of the self-helpgroup strategy as a means to build women’s ‘selfreliance and self confi dence, to provide greateraccess to and control over resources, sensitiseand strengthen the institutional capacity ofsupport agencies to proactively address women’sneeds, increase incomes of poor women throughinvolvement in income-generating activities,develop linkages between SHGs and lendinginstitutions to ensure access to credit fi nancing,and improve access to better healthcare,education and drudgery reduction facilities. ’ Thisis also true for micro-enterprise-oriented schemeslike Mane Belaku and Udyogini. Similarly, aregional emphasis is discernible in programmeslike Swashakti that unequivocally targetbackward districts. An explicit strategy underlyingprogramme delivery is the promotion of linkages.Stree Shakti has established convergence with theSGSY of the Rural Development and PanchayatRaj department, the National Backward ClassDevelopment Corporation, the department ofAnimal Husbandry, and the Ashraya and Ambedkarhousing schemes. (For an analysis of Stree Shaktiand Swashakti groups, see Box 8.5).It is undeniable that schemes that attack poverty,through credit to women, augment the income ofthe household, impacting household consumptiondirectly. But how far do these interventions go inaltering intra-household power dynamics – roles,dependencies, and authority? The evaluation ofUdyogini and Mane Belaku throws up interestinginsights. The income from the activity pursuedfrom the Mane Belaku loan has been spent on foodexpenses of the household in 70 per cent of cases,implying the direct relevance of these to householdconsumption. But the loan and subsidy have notalways contributed to supporting or building theentrepreneurial potential of women. In many cases,the money is channelled to an existing enterpriserun by the men of the household. While this maybode well for the woman’s value to the household,it falls short of the goal of women’s economicempowerment. The survey (DES: 2004B) ofStree Shakti and Swashakti groups howeverreveals that about 45 per cent of the loans weretaken for economic activities and the remaining forhouse construction, festivals/functions, healthcareand children’s education.In other instances, the mobilisation of womeninto SHGs for micro-credit has also led to theirsocial empowerment. Stree Shakti groups as alsoother SHGs have demonstrated their capacitiesto use women’s agency in tackling genderissues by protesting against arrack, gutka, childmarriage and other social issues. The domainof the home however, remains an impregnablebastion and poor women who may acquire anability to contest gender issues in the public188