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A Case Study of THE ANDHRA PRADESH RURAL LIVELIHOODS PROJECT”
The women of Aspari Village organisation deserve a lot of respect. Traditionally, the women have been ignored and considered unimportant, but this has changed. It is women who occupy centre stage in the development of Aspari village.
1,311 families live in Aspari village in Aspari Mandal of Kurnool district. Most of them were poor and both husband and wife in most families depended on physical labour for their wages. When they did not get work they migrated to other places for work. In order to get loans the farmers used to make deals with traders during the crop season. As a result they did not get good prices for their produce. Such deals benefited only the trader. Though there were 29 self-help groups in the village, they could not support the members with credit because they did not function well.
The APRLP watershed programme was supported by the NGO, Chaitanya Youth Association. The NGO organised many programmes to communicate the benefits of the watershed programme and the need to form self-help groups and a village organisation. The response was slow. To form the village organisation with the existing 29 groups took more than two months. There was some support from among the elderly members, but the husbands of the younger members did not support their wives.
The active village organisation members, together with the NGO formed 11 more groups and made them eligible for a membership in the village organisation. The livelihood fund allocated for developing livelihoods in the watershed was Rs.7, 19, 000 and it made a profound impact on the livelihoods of poor families. When the lending started, the attendance at the self-help groups and village organisation improved dramatically. This helped in generating awareness among the women on various critical issues such as health, education and livelihoods.
The village organisation discussed the merits and demerits of each application for a loan and then sanctioned it only after there was a collective consensus. After providing the loan, the members of the village organisation supported the member to succeed in her preferred activity. Their efforts were noticed and the entire village supported their initiatives.
Some of the livelihood activities supported were:
Livelihood activities Number of families
• Buffalo rearing 58
• Vegetable vending 6
• Fruit selling 1
• Bangle selling 2
• Kirana store 11
• Soft drink shop 3
• Cloth selling 5
• Leaf plate manufacturing 1
• Upma rawa machine 1
• Small provisions shop 20
• Chappal (foot wear) shop 2
• Grinder 1
• Oil selling 1
• Flower business 2
• Goat rearing 13
• Vermicompost 2
• Hair cutting saloon 5
• Chilli powder making machine 1
• Tailoring 14
• Ladies corner (selling articles for women) 1
• Supermarket 1
• Book stall 1
• Brick making 1
• Goat trading 200
In the last three years the village organisation has given loans to 357 members, contributing towards a better livelihood for their families. As the members advanced financially, they repaid the loans promptly. As a result, the village organisation’s corpus of Rs.12,19,000 increased to Rs.26,50,000.
The village organisation also linked another 60 new members to the bank and got them loans. As the loans were getting repaid without any hindrance, farmers were told by the bank to avail themselves of loans from the village organisation, again reflecting the village organisation’s credibility with the bank.
The village organisation took an active part in addressing social issues. They involved themselves in conducting a drive against polio, procuring pensions for the aged, AIDS campaign, shramadaan, felicitating teachers, organising training for unemployed youth through Dr Reddy’s Foundation, etc. They had prepared an action plan to generate employment opportunities within the village to prevent migration. They purchased a de-seeding machine which employs three persons. Future plans include starting a restaurant which can provide a livelihood to ten people and procuring agricultural produce during the season to be sold later for a better price.
The aim of the village organisation is to drive away poverty from Aspari. Men and women are determined to increase the income of the villagers through imaginative activities, cooperation and support to each other. They aim to provide full employment opportunities to all in the coming three years. Laudable goals and praiseworthy achievements indeed!
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