first SHG meeting

We visited a self-help group meeting in a nearby village. We got out of a truck and entered a dimly lit temple, where about ten or so women were seated against a wall. Without warning, they burst into a religious song. Looking over at the windows, we saw that a crowd of men and children had gathered in either of the square glassless windows at the temple. Doug and I were told that it was because we were visiting, that such a crowd had gathered. The group we were visiting has been together for sixteen years.

The members each introduced themselves and any relevant title. We learned earlier that day that the leader(s) of the group are only known as representative and do not have titles like “president” etc., so that there is no contention amongst the group. We also introduced ourselves, and where we were from. (It's really interesting they always introduce me as "Veena Madame.")

The meeting progressed, as each woman came forward with her loan repayment and savings contribution. One woman explained how they always seat themselves in order of their passbook number. They also explained how the elected chairperson of the meeting is the one who collects the money and mediates the meeting. They use their passbook numbers as an indication of who will be each week’s chairperson. They also mentioned that 2-3 people are trained to write the books and keep records to ensure that if there are absences, that records are accurately recorded.

There are fees associated with not contributing a savings or loan payment; 20 rupees for loans, 5 rupees for savings. The interest rate on loans is 24 percent. This, we were told is common for most mature SHG groups. Including a loan from Sanghamithra (Myrada’s MFI group-lending arm) the group has taken nearly 4 lakhs.

We also came to know that they had some small business ventures as a group. First, they purchased large cooking vessels by taking a bank loan of 13,000 rupees. Now, they are able to rent out the vessels to anyone in their village for special occasions like weddings. The group member who maintains these vessels also receives 20 rupees a month. The group also purchased 10 rams that was raised by one member, who received 25% of the cost after the rams were raised and sold to other people. The group got the other 75%. I felt that this group was really enterprising and seemed to be very cohesive.

In addition, they have contributed to the building of a temple and

We then talked with the women about their loan usage. The pattern of loan usage seems to generally follow a pattern of “consumption, production and asset creation,” according to Myrada officials. Loans were taken out for "bore wells, petty shops, house repairs, fencing, horticulture, mangos, seeds/fertilizer, sewing machines, cows, bullocks, flower businesses and irrigation." Most of the dropouts from the group are due to migration and marriage, not the reasons that we had initially expected like bad group dynamic etc.

Finally, the women managed to band together to get rid of an arekka (alcohol) shop in the village. They banded together to contribute the 7000 rupees that the alcohol shop was paying for the funding of a local temple.

Okay more on this stuff later.