Arunaben changed the lives of uneducated women of the village through Self Help Group (SHGs), Journey from zero to become self-reliant today
Steps of women increasing through self help group
Arunaben Parasia, a resident of Bheria village in Gujarat’s Kutch district, leads the Umiya Mahila Mandal Self Help Group. The livelihood of most of the farmers of his village is dependent on the work related to agriculture. More than 90 percent are small farmers. These farmers do not have much land for cultivation. Therefore, the household expenses have to be run on a small scale. Village women are not educated. They have no option of work other than agricultural labour. Arunaben was well aware of these conditions of the farmers of her village.
Formation of 14 women member self help group
In 2011, Arunaben came in contact with Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). Here she had reached a Technology Week Celebration. Here she expressed her desire to form a self-help group with the officials of KVK. Taking cognizance of this, KVK in collaboration with Shri Vivekananda Research and Training Institute (VRTI) and Shri Vivekananda Village Industries Society (VGS) formed a 14-member self-help group. The SHG was named as ‘Shri Umiya Mahila Mandal’ and registered with Aatma. The VRTI in association with Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the district’s Aatma office provide full support to the group.
Women took training of processing
Women of Self Help Groups were given training in value addition and food processing of vegetables and fruits. Along with this, training was also given to make washing powder, soap, hand gloves, masks.
After taking training from the Mundra-based Krishi Vigyan Kendra, VRTI, and VGS, the group started manufacturing various products. In 2010-11, the group started its business by making mango pickles. The group sold 180 kg of pickles in the local market for about Rs 16,000. Women were encouraged by the praise received for the mango pickle. Then started making washing powder. This earned an income of Rs 48,000.
Source of income for uneducated women
The group is making hand gloves and masks for people working in laboratories and factories. Apart from this, during Corona, she also got involved in making of medical masks and gloves. Due to this, the average earning per month of every single woman is about 2500 rupees. Seeing the success of ‘Shri Umiya Mahila Mandal’ Self Help Group, three more SHGs have been formed by other women of the village.
70 lakh self help groups across the country
In self-help groups, 10 to 20 women form groups on their own. This leads to self-employment. Today there are 70 lakh Self Help Groups across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also praised the self-help groups of women for their commendable services during the Corona period from the national platform. He said that there is endless potential for women’s self-help groups in agriculture and agro-based industries.
Last year itself, Prime Minister Modi had announced that the limit for providing unguaranteed loans to SHGs has been doubled to Rs 20 lakh. He said that the condition of linking savings accounts with loan accounts has also been done away with. He further said that in today’s changing India, opportunities are increasing for the sisters and daughters of the country, and the country is moving ahead with them.
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