WSHG

Women Self-Help Groups

SPADE had initiated its field level activities from Nabadwip in the District of Nadia. SPADE’s intervention in Nabadwip was a consequence of a devastating flood in 2000. In the process, the Project, Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) took shape to promote Community Based Organizations like Self Help Groups, Clusters, Federations to organize the most vulnerable sections of the community.

Hence, SPADE personnel, with the active support of the respective GPs, started promoting Self Help Groups (SHGs) in full swings with a view to organize the village women in small groups in various booth areas.

In November, 2000, SPADE first formed some SHGs in Mohisura GP and later on these activities were replicated at Fokirdanga GP. Through these SHGs, the poor women started to save small amount of money individually and took loan on priority basis without any outside financial help.

From 2000 onwards, SPADE began to consolidate its focus on two major themes: Micro-finance and Disaster Management including Community Based Health Promotion wherein SPADE is now a prominent player in the state and beyond – being a multifaceted organization providing field facilitation, documentation, communication, capacity building, partnerships and advocacy.

Gradually SPADE proliferated its activities from Kolkata to three other districts and now has field offices at Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda.

Based on the felt need in some operational areas SPADE has identified few grassroots level organizations having good rapport with the community and hence operated in those areas through these Self Help Promoting Institutions (SHPIs) So far, SPADE has promoted two Federations – one in Nabadwip and another one at Kandi federating the Self Help Groups of the respective areas. These Federations are not only constituted but also managed and owned by the rural women.

NABARD – SPADE in Purulia

The Project began as “Promotion of 1000 Women SHGs in Left Wing Extremist dominated district – Purulia” in May 2012, sponsored by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, West Bengal Regional Office.

The target community were about 12000 Poor rural women (assuming 12 members in a WSHG on an average) in rural areas of Purulia district.

The major objectives were to provide access to sustainable banking services to the poor households in rural hinterlands by formation and nurturing of women SHGs, to converge other development programmes aimed at poor women / households through these groups to promote and support livelihood development programmes for the poor through SHGs to socio-economically empower the poor women through these initiatives.

Read the complete study papers here.

Our Activities focussed on:

• Capacity Building of the project staff,
• Mapping the potential for formation of WSHGs comprising poor households in the district on the basis of Census Data and number of poor households likely to be under the poverty estimates as suggested by Socio-economic Survey carried by the State Government / Tendulkar Committee 20 Blocks,
• Organizing the poor women to form SHGs, nurture, handhold and guide them to mobilize their thrift / savings 1,000 WSHGs,
• Setting up linkage with identified banks for 1,000 WSHGs,
• Facilitating Credit Linkage and access other financial services including institutional credit for livelihood development of 1000 WSHGs.

The project is continuing and since 2012, SPADE had already formed and Bank Linked about 1,850 WSHGs and credit linked about 1,637 WSHGs. Savings mobilization reached about 2 Crore 80 Lac and Credit mobilization reached about 22 Crore.