self-help group
Caution: Reading this will make you crave paani-puri
With no background in making puris for the delectable pani puri or in running a business, a group of women in rural Tamil Nadu become successful micro-entrepreneurs.
Rural entrepreneur empowers other women in UP
Tasting success and financial freedom through her small ventures, a woman encourages the others towards self-reliance which changes the gender and power equations in her village.
A woman’s fight against corruption in Odisha
While trying to earn through her SHG, so as to care for her widowed ill mother and abandoned niece and nephew, Minati Panda came face to face with corruption. Since then she has been working towards eradicating corruption.
Papads and pickles empower women in Maharashtra
A women's self-help group in the quaint village of Peth in Palghar district of Maharashtra has transformed traditional culinary skills into entrepreneurial success.
It’s millets all the way for these women in Odisha
Passionate about farming, a woman revives millet cultivation, prompting other women to follow suit, and together they now run a successful millet-based food business.
The dangerous state of women farmers
Women farmers face discrimination despite their contribution to the agricultural economy and protective laws. Self-help groups and women’s collectives offer them support and hope.
How rural Rajasthani women break social shackles to earn freedom, respect from Africa tours
Rajasthani women - who barely went outside their state - earn respect after travelling to Mali in west Africa to teach women there how to form self-help groups, never mind make rotis and wear saris.
The silent revolution: The DAY of hope and promise
Leading development expert, Sanjiv Phansalkar, is in awe of Deen Dayal Upadhya Antyodaya Yojana - a social programme that’s impacted over 86 million households through over 8 million self-help groups of women.
Plant nurseries bear fruits of success, empowerment for women
By coming together as a group and raising plant nurseries, women who were being exploited by money lenders, earn more to feed and care for their families better
Women farmers leverage collective power to form producer company
Despite carrying out many farming activities, women lacked recognition. Coming together as a self-help group, they have found confidence to progress and use collective bargaining power to their advantage
Villagers save in a deity’s name for rainy day
Village God’s Funds, a traditional practice of pooling money and lending to shareholders with just a social collateral, help villagers save and borrow money for emergencies
How village organizations effect change in rural India
Coming together as a collective helps women shed their inhibitions and realize their potential by working towards personal growth and amplify their voices in confronting disparities
Bank sakhis help villagers get lockdown financial relief
In villages that lack banking facilities, banking correspondents carry out related work as banks’ representatives. They have been instrumental in beneficiaries receiving their lockdown welfare support
Collectives empower women to address community’s challenges
From facing opposition in forming self-help groups to ensuring drinking water and healthcare facilities, village women show the positive impact of collectivization
Women contribute grains to support vulnerable families during lockdown
With no labor work during lockdown, many women in remote villages lacked essentials to feed their family. Fellow women helped them by building a food bank with contributions
Village Organizations pave way for women’s empowerment
Women who came together for better livelihood, have become socially empowered that they use their collective power to resolve community issues and ensure gender justice
Rearing goats empower women in rural Bihar
From just grazing goats, women in rural Muzaffarpur have taken to rearing them and attending to their feed and health needs, empowering themselves with increased incomes in the process
Make lives better for rural people
The new government should act swiftly to take a few measures that would improve the quality of life in rural India significantly without being a big drain on the exchequer
Flowers bring women sweet scent of success
Struggling to make a living from subsistence farming, women farmers in southern Rajasthan have succeeded in breaking the cycle of poverty and doubling household incomes by cultivating marigold and roses
Women’s collectives need to think beyond livelihoods
Agricultural interventions by women have ensured nutritional security in many parts of rural Odisha. Building further capacity will now help them see themselves as change agents who can tackle societal issues