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New Delhi : Denlang Women Self Help Group (SHG) was formed at H Makhao village in Manipur in 2014 with the help of North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) through ‘Sahei Foundation’. There are 15 members including President, Secretary, and Treasurer in Denlang SHG.
SHG Meeting is held twice in a month where each member’s contribution is a sum of Rs.40 only and in each month they contribute Rs 80. Since its inception, the SHG is progressing well without any constrains. Apart from earning income, many activities like maintaining cleanliness and medical treatment facilities are being conducted through this self-help group at the village by putting small dustbins.
Some of the group income generating activity done in the previous years included Mushroom culture, cultivating leafy vegetables, weaving, and poultry. These activities were voluntarily initiated by the SHG after resolution were passed at meeting. The income generating activity profit goes into their group account, which mean the group activity were meant to benefit individuals through their group. They clearly understood that all these savings were meant for them, according to a PIB release.
Denlang SHG was formed with Zero balance in 2014 but as they progressed, in 2021 they have more than Rs 2.50 lakh as their corpus fund. These amounts were used as revolving fund among the members at 2 percent rate of interest. The revolving fund benefits in economic upliftment, opening of small/ medium business enterprises, and as a security in times of shocks and emergency.
- Mrs Nengneivah, a SHG member, took loan from SHG in 2015. She took Rs 4000 only and used the money for starting small poultry business, her husband doesn’t have a permanent work to support the family but now both of them work together and are successful. They also expanded their business and become financially more independent than before. With those profits, she manages the family needs and start piggery and now she has 4 pigs which can be sold at a good price.
- Mrs Lamneikim, 30, is a member of the SHG. In 2016, her child became severely sick. She didn’t have any money to treat her child, so she took an amount of Rs 20,000 from the SHG and used the money for treating her child. The child was given treatment and after few days, the child regained his health. After 3 months, she repaid the money to the SHG.
- Mrs Nemkhokim, a member of the SHG, and her husband were engaged in manual labour at various construction site. But the manual labour work hardly provided any social security to her family. In 2015, she took loan from the SHG and invested them towards buying the raw materials for weaving.The weaving turned out to be a profit making activity. Moreover, she took a loan again and ventured out in dairy business.Within a span of two years, she was able to expand her business and the livestock has become a valuable asset for them. Her husband is also participating in the business. She took a further loan with which they started ginger plantation. At the end of the season, they sold the harvest at a good profit.
The SHG functions as a valuable bank that supports the customers to promote their daily income based activity. At individual level, the members used the money without any hesitation and initiate ventures that could benefit them. Moreover, at the low interest of 2 per cent, they could repay the loan. The rules and regulation were properly followed in distribution, allocation, interest, repayment, and disbursement of money.
Apart from financial needs and economic support, the SHG also provides more rigid social bonding among the members by sharing their problems and helping each other in times of need. The SHG has become an assets for the village in supporting the existing institutions like the Church, village authority, NaRM-G.