Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Jun 21, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Events National workshop on SHGs Our Bureau
HYDERABAD, June 20 WILL the self-help groups (SHGs) that have mushroomed across the country in the last 10 years need federations? This question came to the fore at the inaugural session of the on-going national workshop on SHGs Federations here on Friday. The participants in the two-day workshop are expected to not only focus on this question but also, if they want federations, come out with recommendations to promote sustainable member-designed, member-owned and member-managed SHG Federations. The workshop is being organised by the Mahila Abhivridhi Society of Andhra Pradesh (APMAS) in collaboration with Andhra Bank, CARE-India, Nabard, Society for Eliminating Rural Poverty (SERP) and the Andhra Pradesh Government. Federations of SHGs are being promoted by various self help promoting institutions to enhance the sustainability of the micro-credit organisations and to ensure value-added support services to them. Andhra Pradesh with 4.5 lakh SHGs is in the forefront in this regard. However, there are several variations in the SHG federation model. Some are maturing while a large number of them are still at a nascent stage. According to APMAS, the quality of both SHGs and SHG federations need significant improvements. In this context, the speakers at the inaugural session felt that the workshop was being held at the right time. They expressed the hope that participants would develop a "best practice" document on SHG federations. The APMAS Chairman, Dr P. Kotaiah, said that federations were useful additions for micro finance organisations. On the other hand, Ms C. S. Ramalakshmi, AP Commissioner of Women Empowerment and Self Employment, wondered whether federations were a commercial approach to the concept of SHGs. Mr S. Ray, AP Special Chief Secretary, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development asked whether we need federations or not. Over 120 participants drawn from a wide spectrum of NGOs, donors, promoters, academicians, bankers, Government officials, training institutions and representatives of women SHGs are taking part in the workshop.
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