Study report of women problems & prospects in rural Baliapal,India

1. PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF BACKWARD
RURAL WOMEN SELF-EMPLOYMENT
IN BALIAPAL BLOCK
A SOCIO-ECONOMIC APPRAISAL
Submitted to
NABARD
BALASORE
Prepared by
ALTERNATIVE FOR RURAL MOVEMENT
Baliapal,Balasore,Orissa,INDIA
www.armngo.com
1

2. HUMAN RESOURCE PRIORITY
Development of any region is dependent on effective utilization of the
available resources in general and human resources in particular. An able
and efficient human resource potential can well convert the available
physical, natural and financial resources into productive ventures. Thus
the main factor on which the development of a region depends in its
human capital which in turn objectifies an egalitarian approach based on
gender equity and equality. In the words of Pandit Jawahar Lal Neheru,
“To awaken the people, it is the women who should be awakened, once
she is on the move, the family moves, the nation move”.Thus Women’s
economic independence has been recognized as the critical entry point for
their integration in the mainstream development. ARM’s experiences show
that women’s income has a direct bearing on the improvement of the
quality of life of the family.
GENDER CONCERNS:
Baliapal block is agriculturally dominant and advanced among all the 12
blocks of Balasore district. The participation of women in agriculture and
self employment efforts yet, is that much discouraging. About 10-15% of
women are actively engaged in farm and home production decisions. The
case of backward illiterate, poorer and SC/ST women in the remote rural
pockets is far more miserable due to economic dependence. All this lead
to women illiteracy, sick family, mal nutrition, male dominance, family
disturbance and gender violence resulting in lower socio-economic growth.
While women play an important role in farm and allied activities, than
men, they do most of the invisible work and are paid much lower wages
for the same work in the informal sector. They are devoid of the rights to
land and resources in records due to their indirect involvement in the
family economy so far.
ARM’s APPRAISAL AND EFFORTS:
Time has came; a determined effort is necessary to provide additional
sources for livelihoods of women in difficult circumstances, particularly in
women headed households and income earning skills to adolescent cum
2

3. dropout girls to deal with gender linked deprivation of these especially
vulnerable yet vital part of human population.
Identifying the constraints of suffering rural backward women folks, ARM
has put a lot of efforts till now to organize them into Village Women Self
Help Groups (VWSHGs) in the inaccessible hamlets and arrange them
education, health and empowerment measure, for their permanent
upcoming and mainstreaming. The Self Help Groups to the tune of 325
nos. comprising of 4681 strong member strength are engaged in some
sort of savings, employment and micro enterprise promotion but large
scale of employment and commercial scale of practice necessitates. Large
capital and skill training support towards utilization of the vast opportunity
of agriculture and natural resources base of Baliapal block as the face of
their readiness to do so.
GENDER AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT PROSPECTS:
Once a small functional SHG is formed and established, through repeated
rotations of their own savings, their resource base is converted to mutual
credit. It then necessity external/ large fund for expansion of income
avenues through the process of micro financing. Promotion of micro
enterprises among SHG members emphasis consideration on the
development of entrepreneurial skills and development of entrepreneurial
environment for economic activities to flourish. The human factors like
motivation on the part of SHG members, positive attitude risk taking
abilities interest for hard work, innovativeness, decision making and
problem solving capacity have been well incorporated through imparting
of SHG orientation and awareness programmes in the concerned villages
by ARM volunteers.
The support systems like vocational skill trainings, production systems,
marketing linkage and support services are the real wants to be net
forthwith to augment the already ignited women empowerment
movement reach in its right locus.
Strength of ARM SHG women as entrepreneurs:
 Women are destined to play major role in rural socio economic
improvement which has been overlooked so far
 Micro lending experience in same groups demonstrate women to be
better credit risk bearer and repayers than men and that poor,
entrepreneurs have higher repayment rates than big bank clients.
3

4.  Investing in low income women entrepreneur is a highly efficient
means to achieve faster economic and social objectives
 Increasingly, many households are headed by women, relying on
women’s earnings as the main or sole source of family income
 Women tend to be honest, practical and reliable. This results in a
low % of business failures and loan defaults among women
entrepreneur/loanees
 Most of women place a high utility on security paying the way for
large savings mobilisors of the mechanism are women friendly
problems faced by women entrepreneurs as appraised by ARM
study group
Problems/constraint faced by ARM Women SHG entrepreneurs:
1. Family discouragement
2. Social barriers
3. Caste and religion
4. Lack of self confident
5. Psychological factors
6. Lack of practical knowledge and vocations skill
7. Problem of finance
8. Problem of marketing, linkage and liaisioning
9. Problem of middlemen
10. Lack of up to date information
Training modules devised jointly by ARM SHG leaders:
The Women SHG members under ARM guidance identified to require four
types of training modules for effective functioning, enterprises support and
marketing of products which include:
1. Training for leadership development
2. Training for entrepreneurship management
3. Training for techno-economic aspects of enterprise
4. Training for market information
Potential support areas of Women Self Employment:
1. Flow of micro credit and procedure simplification for the
same
2. Extension of repeat loans without much formality
3. Revolving fund assistance to WSHGs through Banks
4

5. 4. Land allotment for collective farm and home activities
5. Improving micro finance and capacity building skills
6. Improve bank linkage for micro enterprises
7. Improve marketing opportunities of rural products
8. Capacity building of mother NGO on sub sectoral basis
9. Skill based vocational and entrepreneurial training
10. Identification and transfer of suitable technology, new
material and designs
11. Evolution of a suitable model for marketing of rural products
12. Special drive for self employment of BPL women groups
13. Coordination with cooperative agricultural credit organization
to evolve a support programme
14. Joint training for convergence of health, education and
Income earning skills
15. Transfer of technology for improving productivity of micro
enterprises
16. Training of Bankers in WSHG finance
17. Training modules and orientation programme for all partners
and potential stake holders
18. Creation and improvement of women resource centres(i.e.
Cooperative society, market interest group) for convergence
and promotion of services for women development
Entrepreneurial opportunities for Rural Women:
Generation of livelihood opportunities for the backward rural women is an
essential ingredient of any strategy for sustainable socio economic
improvement of the deprived societies at large. Livelihood security
depends crucially on the type and quality of employment. Therefore same
of the suggestive employment opportunities for underprivileged rural
women being jointly explored by ARM and its enthusiastic man of WSHG
leaders are the follows:
1. Plant Nursery raising
2. Commercial fruit and vegetable cultivation
3. Vermin composting and vermin culture
4. Mushroom cultivation
5. Cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants and oil extraction
6. Organic vegetable production
5

6. 7. Cultivation of off season vegetables
8. Vegetable seed production
9. Nutrition garden
10. Fertilizer and pesticides retail outlet
11. Diary cow rearing
19. Goatery
20. Broiler poultry and layer poultry
21. Composite pisciculture
22. Shrimp farming
23. Value added to fruit and vegetables
24. Baddi and pappad and curry powder making
25. Bamboo craft/basket making
26. Pottery making
27. Paddy dehusking
28. Bakery
29. Tailoring and embroidery
30. Other enterprises based on locally available resources like
coir and mat making etc.
CONCLUSION:
One single action that will enable the poor and backward rural women to
overcome the lasting poverty and subservience in the streamlining of
credit flow through proper reorientation of financial institutions and credit
policies. We should look at the exasperation of deprived rural mass and
women in particular with renewed outlook and missionary sprit. Credit is
human right and it should be treated in the proper sprit so that all other
right could be easier to establish. Thus micro finance to rural poor women
and capacity building at supporting organization with improvement in the
support services can do wonders to the remotest of rural inhabitants in
6

7. advancing their economic independence social sub servience thus helping
in regional and national development . NABARD’s SHG programme is the
largest effort anywhere in the world for combating poverty and
unemployment towards socio economic empowerment of most vulnerable
social sections through micro enterprise introductive ARM genuinely feels
its submissions would galvanise the esteemed agency to redeem its faith
on the voluntary sector and come forward for a functional/developmental
partnership with it for the gender development mission in Baliapal block of
Balasore district.
RAJENDRA KUMAR RANA
Coordinating Member
ARM,Baliapal
www.armngo.com
7