Page 1 of 7
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 11
October 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 63
Livelihood Activities through SHGs: Cases from Tamil Nadu
Dr. N.V. Madhuri
Associate Prof & Head (CGSD)
NIRD&PR, Rajendranagar
Hydyrabad-500030, Telangana, India
Email: <cseremadhuri@gmail.com>
And
Dr. Shankar Chatterjee
Former Prof &Head (CPME)
NIRD &PR, Hyderabad-500 030, Telangana, India
E-mail: <shankarjagu@gmail.com>
ABSTRACT
This article is based on two different SHGs (all women) involved in two innovative activities
like office file making and Dosa-batter making. As is known to all, Dosa is mainly and widely
used in Southern part of India as breakfast and Tiffin food item. So in order to make Dosa easily
many individuals and SHGs prepare batter and sell in the shops and thus earn descend income.
The cases are from Thiruvallur district (office files etc.) and Kancheepuram district (Dosa- batter) of Tamil Nadu. The study reveals that because of backward and forward linkages
members could earn income on sustainable basis. The study was conducted in June 2017 directly
visiting the places and meeting the members of SHGs
Key words: Income, Livelihood, SHG and Tamil Nadu.
Introduction:
This article is based on livelihood
activities of two different SHGs (all women)
- one from Thiruvallur district and another
from Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu.
The SHGs were involved in two innovative
activities - file making and Dosa-batter
making respectively. The study reveals that
both SHGs because of backward and
forward linkages could earn income on
sustainable basis. The study was conducted
in June 2017 directly visiting the places and
also members of SHGs were contacted.
Importance of SHGs to empower women
in rural areas in India was felt from early
1980s when Development of Women and
Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), was
launched. According to the Census of
India’s 2011 data of the 121 crore Indians,
83.3 crore live in rural areas while 37.7
crore stay in urban areas The people of rural
India have been suffering from various
Page 2 of 7
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 11
October 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 64
issues inter alia of which are poverty,
illiteracy, unemployment/under
employment, lack of all weather roads etc.
To tackle these issues of rural people, the
Ministry of Rural Development,
Government of India time to time has been
initiating different programmes for
providing livelihood opportunities to those
including women and other vulnerable
sections with focus on Below Poverty Line
(BPL) households. As self-employment
programme, presently we are having
Deendayal AntyodayaYojana -National
Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY- NRLM)/Aajeevika which was launched by
the Ministry of Rural Development
(MoRD), Government of India in June 2011
as NRLM/Aajeevika and in 2016 renamed as
Deendayal AntyodayaYojana - National
Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY- NRLM)/Aajeevika. DAY-NRLM set out with
an agenda to cover 7 crore rural poor
households, across 600 districts, 6000
blocks, 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats and 6
lakh villages in the country through self- managed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and
federated institutions and support them for
livelihoods collectives in a period of 8-10
years. Prior to DAY-NRLM, the country had
Swaranajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana
(SGSY). The impact of SGSY by uplifting
rural Below Poverty Line (BPL) families to
Above Poverty Line (APL) was not uniform
in all the parts of the country. Some States
could perform well, some could not do. In
view of this a Committee constituted by the
Ministry of Rural Development,
Government of India, under the
chairmanship Prof R. Radhakrishna was
formed by the Ministry of Rural
Development, Government of India, to look
into the credit related issues under SGSY.
The Committee suggested some measures in
this regard and NRLM is the outcome of the
Report. Before SGSY, six self-employment
programmes continued in India. These were
Integrated Rural Development Programme
(IRDP), Development of Women and
Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA),
Training of Rural Youth for Self
Employment (TRYSEM), Supply of
Improved Toolkits for Rural Artisans
(SITRA), Million Wells Scheme (MWS)
and Ganga KalyanYojana (GKY). So with
the launching of SGSY and subsequently
DAY-NRLM, SHGs have been getting
momentum in rural India as Government of
India and respective state Government are
intervening to form and nurture SHG
(Chatterjee 2015).
In this section, two cases from one from
Thiruvallur district and another from
Page 3 of 7
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 11
October 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 65
Kancheepuram district are presented. As
mentioned already the study was conducted
in June 2017.
Case from Thiruvallur district:
Thiruvallur district spreads over to an area
of about, 42,243 hectares of which net sown
area constitutes 35 percent whereas forest
covers 5.8 percent of the total area. The
coastal region of the district is mostly flat
and dreary; but in the other parts it is
undulating and even hilly in some places.
The soil of the district is mostly sandy,
mixed with soda or other alkali or stony.
Rocks found in and near the surface are in
detached masses. Hence, the soil can't be
termed as very fertile. Further, the soil found
nearer to the sea coast is of the inferior
erinaceous type which is most suited for
raising casuarinas plants. No mineral of any
importance is available in the district.
There are not many hills of any considerable
height in this district. A few conical hills or
ridges of small elevation exist like the St.
Thomas Mount. Certain hillocks are found
in Tiruttani. Most of the hills and hillocks
are rocky and no verdant vegetation is seen
in the slopes of these hills. The area under
forests in this district is quite meager
(www.tiruvallur.tn.nic.in).
Livelihood Intervention through
office file making in Thiruvallur
district, Tamil Nadu
In Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu at
Kuttambakam village of Minjur block, a
case of SHG is presented as it pertains to
uncommon manufacturing activity that is
office file manufacturing. The SHG, known
as Nagavalli consisted of 20 women
members, was formed in 2009-10 which was
supported by two agencies namely
Mahalithitam and the Tamil Nadu
Corporation for Development of Women
Limited (TNCDW). It is pertinent to
mention that TNCDW was established
in1983 with the prime objective of bringing
about socio-economic development and
empowerment of women. The TNCDW
implements Mahalir Thittam, IFAD assisted
Post Tsunami Sustainable Livelihoods
Programme, a major anti-poverty
programme meant for self employment of
rural poor. It is based on Self-help Group
(SHG) approach and implements in
partnership with the Non Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) and Community
based organizations
(www.tamilnadumahalir.org)
In order to bring about greater synergy
and better coordination in implementing
