Where is Mandya?

The problem

Income and basic needs in Mandya.

Vikasana and Poverty Alleviation

Existing project: Beedi makers.

Vikasana and Education

Vikasana and Sanitation

What we want to help Vikasana to do for poor rural women in Mandya

Existing project: Beedi makers.

 

A small group of determined workers from Vikasana changed the way the beedi workers live and earn their livelihood in Mandya. Having planned a housing colony for 1,500 of the beedi workers families, they have organised the nearly 10,000 beedi workers and their womenfolk into small self-help groups (SHG) in order to raise the required finances, procured 50 acres of land from the government, planned a layout and working in tandem with several government agencies to translate their dream of giving a better deal to the workers.

Though quite close to Bangalore, Mandya is an obscure district headquarters on the railway line to Mysore. It was only two years ago that social workers led by Mohammad Zabiulla were prodded into forming the Mandya Taluka Beedi Workers Multipurpose Society Limited by then Deputy Commissioner of Mandya district L. K. Atheeq. The Society organised the 5,000 and odd beedi workers, nearly 90 per cent of them Muslims in the town living scattered in several localities, carrying out their vocation in thatched hovels along the open sewage drains amid all round poverty. Though they earned Rs. 40 to 50 a day by making around 1,000 beedis daily, their life was bereft of hope. There was no one to look after their kids’ education,
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health, marriage or fulfil their need for loans. A house of their own was a dream. All that they knew was to collect raw material from the beedi contractors in the morning and deliver the finished product at the end of the day. Normally three to four members of the household roll beedis and the income is considerable.

Two years later, the Society is about to launch the construction of a 1,500-house colony at a 50-acre site in the dried bed of Chikkamandya tank in the outskirts of Mandya town. The land has been allotted to the Society by Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation Limited under a Karnataka government scheme. The land development which includes laying of sewerage, drainage, roads, water supply, electricity, etc will cost the society nearly Rs. 3.70 crore. Of these, the 1500 house allottees have already contributed Rs. 75 lakh. The Government of Karnataka has contributed nearly Rs. 7 lakh for the development under Ashraya housing scheme. Some amount will be raised from local area development funds assigned to the MLA and the MP. Some sites set aside for shops and commercial establishments too would contribute considerable sum towards the development of the layout.

The 1,500-house colony will be organised on the basis of a cluster of four mutually joined houses forming a unit and five such clusters being banded together and separated by neatly laid roads. A 100-bed hospital would come up on a 2-acre plot. Three parks, several playgrounds, a shadi mahal (marriage/convention hall), three schools, a college too would come up on reserved areas.

Each house would cost the beedi worker around Rs. 82,500 as it is worked out by the PWD. Of these, Rs. 20,000 would come as a subsidy by the Central Government Labour Welfare Department under a special scheme meant for beedi worker’s housing. Another Rs. 40,000 would come from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) in the form of a loan to be repaid with 11 per cent interest in 15 years in 180 equal monthly instalments. In monthly terms, a house allottee would need to pay Rs. 460 ($14) a month to own the house.


Sadly, this is about 15% of month’s income for one of our supported string-makers, assuming they continue to earn their increased wages.

Physical facilities like housing and loans are likely to be wasted if the human element is not injected into such schemes. This needs training, education and skill development.
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While the work on housing society for beedi workers is going apace in Mandya, the Vikasana Institute for Rural Development is grooming the beedi workers with its social education programme inculcating into them saving habits, health and hygiene, environment consciousness, nutrition, shramadan (contributing labour for social needs), family counselling etc. Within six months of commencing the work, they have organised nearly 11000 women beedi workers into 55 self-help groups(SHG). The groups collect at a point once in a week and discuss their mutual issues, collect money for their mutual fund and entrust it to a group leader for depositing in the bank.
According to P. M. K. Namoodiri, Project Director for Vikasana Insititute, the SHG groups were formed for the purpose of socio-economic empowerment of beedi rolling women.

Membership of the Self Help Groups has contributed to significant changes in the lives of women in the six towns. The most important has been the escape from the reliance on moneylenders who were charging exorbitant rates of interest. The interests on loans have reduced from 120% per annum to 24%.

Due to exposure to programs of entrepreneurial development and availability of credit facilities, many of the women and their families have now ventured into pursuing income generation activities. This has allowed for an increase in the household income which has resulted in changing the consumption pattern, thereby improving the quality of life. The family is able to address their basic needs better than before.

The participation in the Self Help Group movement itself has been an empowering and liberating experience for many of the poor women. The strongest impact has been in terms of self esteem and increased social mobility as many women of urban slums had never been involved in such a program before. Interactions with other women have resulted in building congenial relationships and have reduced conflicts. It also had the effect of spreading the Self Help Group movement. Since women are exposed to more programs, such as health programs, their level of awareness has increased. Changes in decision-making patterns are setting in, although the program is not a panacea: most women continue to beexcluded from many major decisions that concern the households and their lives.


The common belief was that participation in a Self Help Group would build leadership qualities among women, thereby building their capacities to participate in the larger political bodies such as the local governments. Severe constraints to poor women’s participation in local bodies, however, persist, such as lack of family support.

Five SHG members were recently elected unopposed to local council positions (Gram Panchayat) in the district.