Lok Sabha Question No. 3436 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-18
Subject: Women Empowerment through Self-Help Groups
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: PARVESH SAHIB SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 3436 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2015

## WOMEN EMPOWERMENT THROUGH SELF-HELP GROUPS

## 3436.  SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  schemes  for  empowerment  of  women  through  Self-Help  Groups implemented by the Government;
- (b) the number of women beneficiaries through these Self-Help Groups during the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether any target has been fixed in this regard and if so, the details thereof along with the achievements made thereunder; and
- (d) whether the Government has made any evalutation of the effects of these groups on the empowernment of women and if so, the details and outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT ( MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI)

- (a) This Ministry is implementing schemes for empowerment of women through SelfHelp-Groups (SHGs) through Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) and STEP Scheme of Ministry.  RMK  is  a  registered  Society  under  the  Society  Registration  Act,  1860 under the agies of the Ministry of Women & Child Development. It provides microfinance to poor women in the informal sector all over the Country through NGOs/ Inter-mediary  Organizations  (IMOs)/  Self-Help-Groups(SHGs)  without  collateral security.  The  details  of  various  prevalent  loan  schemes  of  RMK  are  given  at Annexure-1

Besides schemes of RMK, the Ministry has been administering 'Support to Training and  Employment  Programme  for  Women  (STEP)  Scheme'  since  1986-87  as  a 'Central  Sector  Scheme'.  The  STEP  Scheme  aims  to  provide  skills  that  give employability to women and to provide competencies and skill that enable women to  become  self-employed/  entrepreneurs.  The  Scheme  is  intended  to  benefit women who are in the age group of 16 years and above across the country. The grant  under  the  Scheme  is  given  to  an  institution/  organization  including  NGOs directly  and  not  to  the  States/  UTs.  The  assistance  under  STEP  Scheme  is available in any sector for imparting skills related to employability and entrepreneurship,  including  but  not  limited  to  the  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Food

Processing,  Handlooms,  Tailoring,  Stitching,  Embroidery,  Zari  etc,  Handicrafts, Computer & IT enable services along with soft skills and skills for the work place such as spoken English, Gems & Jewellery, Travel & Tourism, Hospitality. In earlier STEP Guidelines, 2009, there was a provision to create Self-Help Groups (SHGs)/ to establish Co-operatives.

- (b)     & (c) The  number  of  women  beneficiaries  through  these  Self-Help  Groups covered druing the past three years and the current year, State/UT-wise are given at Annexure  -2 in  respect  of  RMK  and  at Annexure-3 in  respect  of  STEP Scheme.
- (d) To evaluate the performance of RMK as to whether benefits of RMK have reached to  the  needy  women  of  the  Country,  an  evaluation  study  was  got  conducted through  Indian  Society  for  Agribusiness  Professionals,  (ISAP)  New  Delhi  an independent organization in the year 2012 covering 9 states (A.P. Assam. Delhi, M.P,  Maharashtra,  Odisha,  Rajasthan,  Tamil  Nadu  and  West  Bengal)  to  assess socio-economic impact on women SHGs. The details and outcome of the impact study are given at Annexure -4.

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## 1)  Details of loan schemes of RMK

- i) Loan Promotion Scheme: RMK provides smaller loan, maximum upto Rs10 lakh, to promote the activity of thrift and credit among new and smaller but potentially capable organisations having at-least six months experience in formation of SHGs, thrift, credit and recovery management.
2. ii) Main  Loan  Scheme : IMOs  having  minimum  3  years'  experience  in  thrift  and  credit activities are considered under the scheme for loan uptoRs. 200 lakh per state and a maximum of Rs. 600 Lakhs for multistate operations.
3. iii) Refinance  Scheme: RMK  provides  100%  refinance  assistance  to  Mahila  Urban  Cooperative Bank on finances provides by them to poor women either directly or through SHGs within the norms of the RMK Main Loan Scheme.
4. iv) Franchisee Scheme: Smaller NGOs of the State can avail loan directly from franchisee appointed by RMK for that particular State without sending their proposal to RMK office at New Delhi. RMK gives the Credit Limit uptoRs 500 lakh to the Franchisee who in turn extends loan to smaller & potential NGOs in the State.
- v) Gold Credit  Card  Scheme: This  Scheme  of  providing  hassle  free  finance  has  been designed for medium and large NGOs so as to provide extended moratorium and credit on easier terms by RMK, for 3 years period. Maximum credit limit under this scheme is Rs 500 lakh.
6. vi) Housing Loan Scheme: Through its partner organizations, RMK provides loans upto a maximum Rs 1,00,000/- per beneficiary to SHG members for construction of low cost house and repairs.
7. vii) Working  Capital  Term  Loan  (WCTL): WCTL  is  provided  to  the  organisations  for backward and forward marketing linkages of products of women SHGs/ individuals and group of entrepreneurs, including technology transfer, education for skill up- gradation and infrastructure development. The borrowing organisation should have availed of a minimum loan of Rs 25 lakhs  or  above  under  micro-credit  schemes  of  RMK/  SIDBI / NABARD  /  Commercial  Banks.  The  condition  is  not  applicable  to  Government organisations.  The  maximum  loan that  can  be  sanctioned  under  this  scheme  is Rs 6 crores for multistate operations and Rs 2 crore per State per IMO

Loan limit per beneficiary:-

- (a) first loan - upto Rs. 35,000/-; (b) Repeat loan(s) Rs 50,000/-.

## The State/ UT-wise no. of women beneficiaries* covered is given below :

## a) For the year 2012 - 2013

| S. No.   | State-wise     |   Beneficiaries |
|----------|----------------|-----------------|
| 1        | Bihar          |             240 |
| 2        | Delhi          |             214 |
| 3        | Gujarat        |             450 |
| 4        | Haryana        |             300 |
| 5        | Karnataka      |            1233 |
| 6        | Madhya Pradesh |             840 |
| 7        | Maharashtra    |             550 |
| 8        | Odisha         |            3603 |
| 9        | Rajasthan      |            2425 |
| 10       | Tamil Nadu     |            1855 |
| 11       | West Bengal    |            9755 |
|          | Total          |           21465 |

## b) For the year 2013 - 2014

| S. No.   | State-wise      |   Beneficiaries |
|----------|-----------------|-----------------|
| 1        | Bihar           |             350 |
| 2        | Jammu & Kashmir |             218 |
| 3        | Jharkhand       |             650 |
| 4        | Karnataka       |             303 |
| 5        | Odisha          |             126 |
| 6        | Rajasthan       |             177 |
| 7        | Tamil Nadu      |            3417 |
| 8        | Uttar Pradesh   |             114 |
| 9        | West Bengal     |            2725 |
|          | Total           |            8080 |

The  lending  guidelines  of  RMK  were  under  revision.    Therefore,  no  fresh  loan  has  been sanctioned so far during FY 2014-15 and the current financial year.

## Annexure-3

## STATE-WISE BENEFICIARIES COVERED UNDER STEP SCHEME

| S.   |                   | No. of beneficiaries covered   | No. of beneficiaries covered   | No. of beneficiaries covered   | No. of beneficiaries covered   |
|------|-------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| No.  | States            | 2012-13                        | 2013-14                        | 2014-15                        | 2015-16 (upto 30.11.2015)      |
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh    | 151                            | 2100                           | 800                            | -                              |
| 2    | Arunachal Pradesh | -                              | 50                             | -                              | 200                            |
| 3    | Assam             | 139                            | 754                            | 50                             | -                              |
| 4    | Bihar             | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 5    | Chhattisgarh      | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 6    | Gujarat           | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 7    | Himachal Pradesh  | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 8    | Haryana           | 166                            | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 9    | Jammu & Kashmir   | 922                            | 2800                           | 5500                           | -                              |
| 10   | Kerala            | 2171                           | -                              | 770                            | -                              |
| 11   | Karnataka         | 12769                          | 17076                          | 6666                           | 3334                           |
| 12   | Madhya Pradesh    | 110                            | 1400                           | 520                            | 725                            |
| 13   | Maharashtra       | 641                            | -                              | 3609                           | -                              |
| 14   | Manipur           | 1709                           | 536                            | 1505                           | 600                            |
| 15   | Meghalaya         | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 16   | Mizoram           | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 17   | Nagaland          | 2763                           | 300                            | 563                            | -                              |
| 18   | Orissa            | 500                            | -                              | 250                            | -                              |
| 19   | Punjab            | -                              | 3537                           | 5000                           | -                              |
| 20   | Rajasthan         | -                              | -                              | 250                            | -                              |
| 21   | Sikkim            | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 22   | Tamil Nadu        | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 23   | Tripura           | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
| 24   | Uttaranchal       | 1152                           | 2125                           | 3180                           | -                              |
| 25   | Uttar Pradesh     | 7150                           | 200                            | 1810                           | 760                            |
| 26   | West Bengal       | 138                            | 600                            | 480                            | -                              |
| 27   | Delhi             | -                              | -                              | -                              | -                              |
|      | Total             | 30481                          | 31478                          | 30953                          | 5619                           |

The number of beneficiaries covered against targets set during last 3 years and current year is as under :

| Year                                        |   2012-13 |   2013-14 |   2014-15 | 2015-16                |
|---------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------------------|
| Targets set                                 |     30000 |     30000 |     30000 | 15000                  |
| Achievements (No. of beneficiaries covered) |     30481 |     31478 |     30953 | 5619 (upto 30.11.2015) |

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## The details and outcome of the impact study conducted by Indian Society for Agree-Business Professionals (ISAP):

## General Statistics:

-  Members of the groups were mostly (57 per cent) women from BPL families.
-  Majority (72 per cent) of the beneficiaries falls in the age group of 26 to 35 Yr. & 36  to  45  Yr  which  revealed  that  RMK  loan  has  covered  vigorously young workforce.
-  RMK  micro  financing  in  the  rural  areas  under  study  had  a  positive  impact  on backward  classes  of  the  society  as  46  per  cent  of  the  OBC,  22  per  cent  of scheduled caste & 11 per cent of Scheduled tribe population had been covered under RMK loan.
-  As far as the educational background of the beneficiaries were concerned, 35 per cent  of the beneficiaries were found to be illiterate and 26 per cent were reported to  have  primary education  which further revealed that RMK had given loan to less  educated  population  who  otherwise  would  not  have  got  government  or private job.
-  The percentage of literacy of the children of the beneficiaries has increased which was  one  of  the  clear  indicators  of  the  positive  impact  of  RMK  loan  on  the livelihood of the women.
-  Almost all beneficiaries (SHG members) were involved in the thrift activities of the group to further lend the collected money or saving to other members at the time of urgent need of the money. However, this activity is less popular in Rajasthan

## Employment impact:

-  The survey indicated active involvement of beneficiaries in different kinds of selfemployment  generating  microenterprise activities such as Dairying, Animal Husbandry,  petty  shop,  flower  business,  teashop,  tailoring, beauty  parlour, weaving, knitting, basket making etc.
-  56 per cent of the beneficiaries were employed in dairy activities while 14 per of beneficiaries  were  involved  in  agriculture  &  allied  activities.  20  per  cent  of beneficiaries were involved in various small trade activities like flower business, bangle shop, tailoring, shop keeping etc. followed by 8 per cent of beneficiaries being  involved  in  handloom/handicraft  activities.  Some  of  the  beneficiaries  had taken loan for house construction, consumption purpose like education, marriage & other religious events and also for group activities like thatch making, agarwati making etc.
-  The average net income per member before taking RMK loan worked out to Rs 1847 while it has increased to Rs 2978 in Post-RMK period. There was a shift in the distribution of members from the lower income slab to a higher income slab after taking RMK loan.

## Social impact:

-  The  average  savings  per  member  per  annum  before  joining  the  SHG  was  Rs 1961, which has increased to Rs2993 after becoming the members of the SHGs. Prior to RMK loan most of the savings was done in banks. However, after taking RMK loan, 82 per cent of the total savings are being done with the SHGs.
-  Only 11.78 per cent of the beneficiaries could able to save between Rs 1000 to 3000  before  taking  RMK  loan.    After  taking  RMK  loan  72.78  per  cent  of  the beneficiaries could able to save between Rs 1000 to 3000.
-  Women members  association  with  the  SHGs  significantly  improved  their  asset creation. There has been an increase in the assets of sample members by 94 per cent after becoming members of the SHGs. The frequency distribution of sample members shows that there was a shift in the pattern of holding of assets after they became members of the SHGs
-  95  per  cent  of  the  beneficiaries  agreed  that  their  personal  capacities  have improved as they have earned self-respect and they have active participation in imparting  suggestion  in  household  matters  after  availing  RMK  loan.  They  were able to take decisions in business matters, children's education & family matters.
-  84 per cent of the beneficiaries admitted that there was no domestic violence in the households.
-  An  analysis  of  the  data  indicates  that  alcoholism/drug  addiction  (mentioned  by 40.2  per  cent  of  the  beneficiaries),  poverty  (mentioned  by  31.9  per  cent),  and generation gap with in-laws (18.5 per cent) were some of the important reasons for the occurrence of domestic violence in the families.
-  The incidences of domestic violence drastically  reduced to 16 per cent in postRMK period as against 64 per cent in pre-RMK period.
-  Violence by husband as well as in-laws/relatives also came down drastically after availing  loan  through  RMK.  .  The  collected  data  shows  that  in  the  pre-RMK period,  violence  by  husband  was  reported  by  50  per  cent  of  the  beneficiaries which came down to 10 per cent  in the post-RMK period
-  71 per cent of the beneficiaries admitted that their relationship in the family has improved  after  joining  SHG.  5  per  cent  of  them  admitted  that  sometimes improvement  was  experienced  while  24  per  cent  admitted  that  there  was  no improvement in their relationship in the family after availing RMK loan.
-  Awareness about protective laws against domestic violence increased from 19 per cent in pre-RMK period to 23 per cent after availing RMK loan.

## Consumption impact:

-  Consumption  expenditure  per  month  per  member  was  Rs  2345  before  taking RMK loan, increased to Rs. 4097 after taking RMK loan.  The expenditure on food accounted for Rs.1102 before taking RMK loan has increased to Rs. 1597 after taking RMK loan. The proportion, of expenditure on clothing (from Rs. 351 to Rs. 655),  education  (from  Rs.  375  to  Rs.  942)  and  health  (Rs.  351  to  Rs.532)  has increased after taking RMK loan.
-  There was a noticeable change in the consumption pattern and better household nutrition through SHG activities. Food items were purchased once in a week or once in a month collectively rather than on daily consumption basis. The financial mobility due to participation in the SHG has led to the improvement in the quality of life.
-  Majority  (95  per  cent)  of  the  beneficiaries  had  improved  their  usage  of  medical facility after seeking RMK loan.
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