League for Education and Development
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Our Methodology :

The Formation of Sangams
(Self Help Groups- SHGs)


1. The Need :

LEAD started as a women's initiative for the betterment of women. In the frequent interactions with the women the need for increasing the income of the family and reliable source of credit for meeting their consumption and production requirements became apparent.

Women wanted a reliable mechanism for mobilising their savings. However, the obstacles were many - they were socially backward, lacked access to financial institutions, had to depend on moneylenders, friends and relatives for their financial requirements. They were mostly illiterate and unskilled. Men dominated the household and community, and controlled the resources.

Promoting Self Help Groups of women for mobilising their savings and lending for their needs appeared to be a good solution for addressing the consumption and production needs of the poor women. It was also thought of as a solution to some of the problems/ obstacles listed above.
What is Sangam ?
Sangam is a Tamil name given to a Micro group.
A Sangam(SHG) is a network of members who fulfil locational criteria. They are resident in the area and are homogeneous (Homogeneity can be in terms of caste/occupation/farm size/sex or income level). They have rules/ norms regarding their functioning. Savings first, credit thereafter. Personalised services suiting the requirements of the members are ensured. SHGs hold regular meetings to ensure participation of members in the activities of the group. SHGs maintain accounts. Group leaders are elected by members and rotated periodically. Market rates of interest are charged. Group liability and peer pressure act as substitutes for traditional collateral for loans.

2. Values, Principles and Objectives

The basic values governing the initiative are;

  • Women leadership - Women should be at the center of any effort to improve their lot. Unless they are enabled to take charge of their lives, the programmes would be of little significance.

  • Self-help - People should put in efforts to develop themselves with collective and mutual action to support each other and the community. External efforts result in dependency, which has adverse consequences in the long run.

  • Local initiative - The development process has to be designed and
    implemented based on local initiative, as it would have the best chance of success.

The basic principles guiding the formation and nurturing of the groups are;

· Participatory development.
· Promoting local initiatives.
· Self reliance
· Sustainability.
· Equality among the members.

Objectives and strategies

¨ Economic empowerment of poor and marginalised women.
¨ Forming grassroot level institutions, which are sustainable.
¨ Leveraging savings of women to meet their consumption and production needs.
¨ Creating opportunities for access to Formal Financial Institutions (FFIs).