Self-help groups (SHGs) operating in rural Punjab as part of the STEP (strengthening, training and employment programme) project of the Centre are proving to be a step in the right direction for village women.

These groups follow two models of functioning. According to one model, every member of a group deposits Rs 100 per month in a bank account. The SHGs that have been functioning for the last few years in places like Banur, Mohali, Ropar, Noorpur Bedi, Mullanpur now have good cash reserves, and are able to provide loans to members at an interest rate of 2%.

The other model is that members make products like pickles, jams, detergents, phenyls, etc. The products are sold at a small profit, which is distributed among the women.

Milkfed executes the STEP project in Punjab. Jaswinder Kaur, milk procurement assistant with Milkfed, said that women are happy to contribute Rs 100 a month. ?Now the members take loans from the group for various purposes like buying a buffalo or some domestic works. The scheme has proved to be a great enabler, and has made the members economically sound through small savings,? she said.

Kaur said that after depositing money at the bank for six months, members could get loans four times the amount they have deposited from the bank. “The bank gives the loan at an annual interest of 9%. On the other hand, the rate self-help groups charge is 2% per month. This way, the SHGs are benefitted,” Kaur said.

Sarbjit Kaur, pradhan of a self-help group in Khijrabad village, said she makes sure that the loan given to a member is recovered in a year, along with the interest. ?We have 16 members. In our last cycle of functioning, we distributed the interest accumulated on our deposits, and gave Rs 1,800 to each member,? she said.

Darshan Kaur, pradhan of the self-help group at Barodi village, said women face no problem in getting a loan through these self-help groups. ?The whole process is very simple. We conduct a meeting every month to decide which member needs a loan the most, and give her a cheque. She gets the money from the bank, and the process goes on,? she pointed out.

The other model is a success too. In villages near Ludhiana, groups of women have come together to make products like pickles, jams, detergents, etc. They divide the profits from the sale among themselves.

Some of these groups had set up a stall at the Kisan Mela held at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) last week. The Chardi Kalan SHG in Ghumait village near Ludhiana had made 100 kg of mixed fruit jam, of which 80 kg got sold at the mela. ?We got training to make jam and other products at a course conducted at the PAU in June. We now plan to make more of such products and market them regularly,? says Ranjit Kaur, a member of the group.

Members of the Jhande village SHG had made 150 kg of chilli pickle, of which 140 kg got sold. Said Jaswinder Kaur, a member, ?Women in our group have decided to make pickles of mango, ginger, lemon, etc as per the season and sell them accordingly. This is a convenient way for us to come together to earn money, and all the members are very upbeat about it,? she adds. Members of other self-help groups had made detergents, phenyls and candles.

HS Grewal, general manager at the Ludhiana Milk Plant of Milkfed, said there is a proposal of giving these self-help groups a stall at the milk plant to sell these products. Dr Surjit Singh, a deputy manager at Ludhiana Milk Plant, and the nodal officer for some of these SHGs, said a few self-help groups have been given a stall at the PAU where they sell their products. ?We have requested the university to provide space for our groups as well,? Singh said.