ANNAPURNA MAHILA MANDAL

AN EXPERIMENT IN GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT FOH WOMEN

VIDEO GUIDE

Video Production by Reflections

Bombay, India and

Randall R. Stith Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, Virginia

Narration: Sakuntala Narasimhan

Video Guide: Susan Hill Gross

"Organizing the Annapurna" by

Mira Savara

Funded by The U.S. Agency for International Development's

Development Education Program

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ANNAPURNA MAHILA MANDAL

AN EXPERIMENT IN GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN

VIDEO GUIDE

Video Production by Reflections

Bombay, India and

Randall R. Stith Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, Virginia

Narration: Sakuntala Narasimhan

Video Guide: Susan Hill Gross

"Organizing the Annapurna" by

Mira Savara

Funded by The U.S. Agency for International Development's

Development Education Program

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Video production by Reflections, Bombay, India

and Randall R. Stith

Video Editor Radio/T.V./Film Manager

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia

Glenhurst Publications, Inc. ©Copyright 1989

6300 Walker Street St. Louis Park, MN 55416

(612) 925-3632

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THE ANNAPURNA MAHILA MANDAL AN EXPERIMENT IN GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN

VIDEO GUIDE NARRATOR

Sakuntala Narasimhan, Indian journalist who specializes in women's issues. (See page 23 for additional information.)

12 Minutes

OBJECTIVES

• To acquaint students with a successful Indian women's grassroots organization.

• To make students aware of the difficulties - both psychological and physical - of organizing women who work in the informal sector of the economy.

• To point up the importance of access to credit for poor women as a critical factor in improving their lives economically.

• To emphasize that for women to be empowered they must organize with other women who have mutual concerns.

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TERMS

• Annapurna - Hindu female god of food.

• Annapurnas - Women who feed male migrant workers for a fee.

• Mandal - Association.

• Mahila- Women.

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Mahila Mandals - Women's associations or women's groups .

Empowennent - The definition of empowerment as it is used in this video and guide was paraphrased from Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Empowerment is to become aware of one's reality and to realize that this reality is not a closed world without an exit over which one has no control, but rather a limiting situation which can be transformed. Empowerment is to become aware of one's reality, to reflect on it, and then to act to change it.

• Infonnal sector - The formal sector of the economy is defined as wage labor, includes returns from investments, and is regulated by labor and business law. The informal sector of the economy includes activities such as trading done by street vendors, selling of home-made food products, subsistence farming, home craft production, flower selling, and other activities generally neither enumerated in national statistics and nor counted in the gross national product. In many Third World countries more than half of the economic activity takes place in the informal sector.

WOMEN IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE IN THE VIDEO

Sakuntafa Narasimhan - Narrator

Prema Purav - Organizer, Annapurna Mandal and Annapurna Mahila Mandal.

Saraswati-bai Jabtev - One of the original fourteen women members. She is now a director of the credit society and President of the Annapurna Mahila Manda!.

Rukimi Shanker Yenpure - She has been with the Annapurna Mahila Mandal for 12 years. Before that she had unpleasant experiences with moneylenders.

Alka - A 24 year old, she is one of the younger members. She is in charge of making and distributing tea.

Arona - Married at 13 and a bum victim, she is now a member.

Parubai Suryavanshi - One of the original members and now a director of the credit society.

Madhavi Puributch - A young woman with a master's degree in business who is a staff member at the Annapurna Mahila Manda!.

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DIRECTIONS FOR THE INSTRUCTOR

Have students read over the "Background" information and reading "Organizing the Annapurna" as a homework or class assignment. Point out the meaning of the terms explained on page 2 before assigning the reading.

Present the video, "Annapurna Mahila Manda!: An Experiment in Grassroots Development for Women."

Select "Points to Consider" appropriate for the class or audience reading the excerpt and viewing the video. Follow the reading and video presentation with a class discussion on the major points covered by the materials.

Have secondary students complete the "Points to Consider" in small groups and compare their answers and ideas in a large group discussion.

The reading "Organizing the Annapurna" may be somewhat difficult for secondary-level students. Instead of assigning the reading as homework, an alternative method would use the reading as the basis of a lecture by the instructor. Depending upon the audience, concepts such as informal sector, self-employed, secured loans, capital-wage labor relationship, extended family, and trade unions should be reviewed before the reading is assigned. If a lecture format is used, a discussion of these concepts can be included in the instructor's lecture.

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BACKGROUND

The following description of the development of the Annapurna Manda! (Association) in Bombay, India, is taken from an article by Indian sociologist Mira Savara.

(Mira Savara, "Organizing the Annapurna," was reprinted from the Bulletin of the Institute of Development Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 1981 p. 48-53. in Hazel Johnson, et al., Third World Lives of Struggle, Heinemann Educational Books, 1982.)

Mira Savara describes how women "Annapurnas," who worked in isolated and often competing home-based businesses, formed a strong organization to support their work both economically and socially. These self-employed women prepared and served meals to male migrant workers living apart from their families in the Bombay area.

The Annapumas' collective organization, Annapurna Manda!, led to the more highly structured and cooperative organization, Annapurna Mahila Mandal, described in the video production, "Annapurna Mahila Manda!: An Experiment in Grassroots Development for Women."

ORGANIZING THE ANNAPURNA - Mira Savara

Introduction

"One of the greatest problems facing workers in the informal sector is their lack of an organization to improve their social and economic status. Given the operating conditions of the informal sector, the traditional form of workers' organization - the trade union - is inappropriate, so different forms of collective organization have to be sought.

"This article describes a recently formed organization of women in Bombay, who, by extending the scope of their traditional domestic chore of cooking, offer eating facilities to male migrant workers whose families remain in the countryside. The organization is called Annapurna Manda! [Association] (Annapurna means 'Goddess of Food') and currently has 5,000 members. The basic function of the organization is raising bank loans on a group guarantee basis for individual Annapumas to run mini-restaurants in their own homes. This frees them from reliance on the traditional money-lenders who charge interest rates of up to 150 percent per annum. The group of women that stands guarantee for the individual loans constitutes the basic building block of the organization."

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Women in the informal sector in India

"Women participate in the production process both by producing goods and services for sale, and also by performing domestic functions with the household, which are an essential part of the economy as a whole. The growth of industrialization usually splits these two types of economic activity - the home becomes the private sphere in which women's work is primarily related to the maintenance of the family members, while in the external or public sphere they work for others for a wage.

"However, in India, the separation between wage work and domestic labor is not so well defined, and a vast and significant sector of the economy exists where the home - the site of household labor - coincides with the site of wage work. The advantage of this is that it allows a woman a more flexible time schedule for the performance of her domestic and wage labor. The disadvantage is that it knits her even more tightly into the relations within the family and home, leaving little opportunity for her to build a wider network of social relations.

"Women who work in their homes fall into two broad categories. First, there are those who talce in work put out by a company or subcontractor - such as assembly work, production of handicrafts, bidi [handrolled cigarettes] making, food processing. Though at first sight these workers may appear to be self-employed, in reality they are involved in a disguised form of the capital-wage labor relationship. In such cases, the organization of workers into trade unions has been difficult but possible.

"The second category of women can more accurately be described as self-employed. The Annapurnas, women who feed workers other than their own family members for payment, provide an example of this.

"Cities in India are, and have been for several decades, overwhc1rningly male, since it is primarily men who migrate there in search of jobs, leaving their families behind in the villages ....

"The migrant male city-dwellers must find alternatives to the functions previously performed by the female member of his family. One of his most basic needs is for cheap and wholesome food, but eating out in conventional restaurants is expensive, so a worker has either to cook for himself or to look for a cheap alternative. Such an alternative has evolved in Bombay where women in working-class areas (either wives of workers needing extra income, or women whose husbands squander most of their income on drink) feed 16-20 workers in their own homes for a fixed amount per month. The men not only share the same social background as the women but in a large number of cases are relatives, or of the same caste, or from the same village as the woman or her husband. The arrangement can therefore be seen as a variant within the working class of the institution of the family, a significant difference being that this variant is extended to those outside the family network, and can thus be commercialized. Traditional relations, which within the family imply duties and obligations, are here replaced by commercial relations of buying and selling. It is precisely this commercialization of relations which introduces conflict into the 'extended family.'

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The Annapumas

"From a survey of 100 Annapurnas lit was found that 76 percent of the women were married, three percent single, three percent separated, and 18 percent widows ....

"Of the women's husbands, 82 percent had some form of employment, while 18 percent were either unemployed or retired.

"The study found it difficult to get accurate estimates on family income. However, the majority of the married men (60 percent) worked in textiles, where in 1979 the lowest paid textile worker earned approximately 450 rupees [about U.S. $22.00] a month. With no separation between the household economy and the enterprise, women found it difficult to estimate their earnings, since the money made from their customers was always spent on buying the ingredients for the next meals, from which the woman's family was also fed. Thus if a woman has a family of five, and she also cooks for 16 workers, the payment received from these is sufficient to feed her family as well.

"The majority of the women were illiterate (73 percent), 17 percent had had four years of education or less, the rest more than four. Thus the Annapurnas did this work because their educational qualifications did not qualify them to aspire to the more oganized factory work, because they were single, or because their husbands did not earn enough to maintain the family.

"The women generally live in one room in the bustees (a multi.roomed slum dwelling). The day starts early, usually by 5 a.m., the first chore being to queue and then bring water from the street standpipe, and store it against the day's needs. Where there is running water in

. the room, it is usually available for only an hour at a time, so it also has to be stored.

"Then there is the daily shopping for vegetables; grains and pulses [peas, beans, lentils, etc.] being bought every two to three days. Women buy retail because their customers, many of whom are temporary workers, pay as and when they get money, so [the women] can rarely put aside enough money to buy in bulk.

"All the work of shopping, preparing the meals, serving and washing up is done by the woman herself. She may be helped by younger daughters or a daughter-in-law. Sometimes a young girl is hired to do one task, usually the washing up, or to help throughout the day. The women usually cook on kerosene stoves, which present considerable difficulties because kerosene is rationed, and buying it involves lengthy queuing. When there is a shortage (a very common situation) they have to cook on wood chulas [stoves], which involves extra work and, worse still, having to tolerate the thick smoke which fills the small room.

"It is commonly assumed that a woman who works at home is the mistress of her own time, and that therefore her pattern of work is more relaxed than that in a factory. However, the Annapurnas worked literally all day, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. at night. Since there was no fixed time during which the men came and ate their two meals, the women had to spend all the time at home, keeping food hot and serving the men, who trickled in at their convenience.

1 Nancy Sherov, "A Study of Bank Loans on Annapumas." Unpublished thesis, College of Social Work, Bombay, India, 1979.

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Problems of the women

"The women complained about the long hours of work, and the fact that they never got any time off during the day to get out of the house, nor any holidays. Their main grievance, however, was the rate of interest charged by local grocers (150 percent annually) on credit for buying daily provisions, which effectively meant that the women were permanently in debt. Very often they did not know the extent of their debt, nor how much interest was being charged, since the majority of them were illiterate. Only the grocer-moneylender kept any records. Having once taken credit from a grocer, the women were bound to buy only from him, which prevented them from shopping around and buying at the cheapest price. The women felt this allowed the grocer to overcharge for items. Sexual harassment was not unknown. In one case a young and good-looking Annapurna woman who was deeply in debt was forced into having sexual relations with a grocer so as to ensure continuance of supplies. According to a woman activist in the area, this practice is probably quite widespread.

"Another problem was that each woman worked alone, and bought food alone so that each woman in a sense fonned her own work universe. She was in no way economically or otherwise related to the thousands of other women who were doing the same work and facing similar problems. There was also little cooperation between the Annapurnas. The clearest example of this was when a customer who had not paid an Annapurna for a month switched to another one: this led to confrontations between the two women rather than with the customer, and to bad feelings between the women, rather than collaboration.

"The third problem area related to the nature of the work. The women wanted the government to give them gas or kerosene on a priority basis and to buy grains and provisions in bulk, which would lower the cost of the food and improve its quality. They also wanted a regular day off so that they could have some social life of their own.

The birth of the Annapurna scheme

"In the Parel-Dadar area of Bombay, the heart of the textile industry in India, trade union activism has had a long history. What was the union's response to the Annapurnas' problems?

"Although they were aware of the existence of this large group of women, they did nothing to organize them for a number of reasons. Firstly, the organization of scattered individuals, as in the case of Annapurnas, poses practical difficulties. Secondly, trade unions, with a predominantly male membership, are rarely sensitive to the problems of women. But most important, in the case of the Annapurnas, trade unionists view the Annapurnas not as workers, but as people who were antagonistic to the workers' interests, as exemplified by this comment by a union member: 'The women charge the workers too much, and don't give them good food. Moreover, they take money off the workers.'

"However, in 1973 an event forced Prema, a woman trade union activist for many years, to re-examine the way she had looked at the Annapurnas. As she said:

I saw the problems of these women for the first time during the 42-day strike in the textile industry in 1973. During the strike I became aware that these women continued to feed the workers despite the fact that the workers had no income and thus could not pay the women for the food they ate. The women were pawning their mangalsutras (a necklace worn by all married women and considered sacred), and their utensils, to raise the money to feed the workers. I came to know the interest rates women were paying to

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buy grain. Till then I had never looked at the problems of these women. The women, quietly, without any fanfare, were enabling the men to continue their struggle, encouraging them to hold out till their demands were met. And yet their own problems were never taken up.

"The main problem was to get the women out of the clutches of the moneylenders. Working through the banks, which had been nationalized, was an obvious first step.

"We decided that we would not try to get loans for individual women. Instead, a group of 15 women had to get together so that a gradual building up of an organization occurred.

"This step was crucial in differentiating this program from the usual loan-giving program, in which a relationship is established between an individual and the loan-giver. Here each woman gets a loan individually, and has to return the loan individually to the bank, but the loan is guaranteed by the group. Thus members of the group are accountable to each other, and if one woman defaults, the entire group is penalized. For the banks it is a means of bringing community pressure to ensure repayment of loans. For the women it means breaking out of an isolated, individualized existence, and relating in a positive way to other women doing the same kind of work. ·

"At first the women were reluctant to form a group despite the fact that the banks charged only four percent interest annually. This was due both to their fears of forming any type of relationship with formal institutions, and to a rumor campaign started by the moneylenders, which suggested that there would be regular government inspections to ensure that the women were not carriers of infectious diseases; that they would have to start paying tax; that family planning would become compulsory. Most of the women were scared off and did not come forward to form the first group.

"Eventually however, a group of 14 women was formed, composed of wives of workers active in the union movement, who were persuaded by their husbands to try the scheme, and women who were at the point of financial desperation, and thus willing to take some risks. Prema's 25 years of union work was of crucial significance, since she was well­known in the area. The women felt that unlike other social workers who came and went, Prema would always be there to look after their problems.

"The first application was prepared after continuous discussions for four days and nights, and submitted in 1975. After six months, the scheme was approved, and each woman received Rs 1,000. Once the scheme was seen in practice, and it was recognized that there were no goverment checks, nor forced family planning, the news spread and in three years the scheme embraced approximately 5,000 women in Parel-Dadar.

The banking scheme

"The purpose of the Multiservice Scheme of the Bank of Baroda was to provide investment in the so-far neglected and unsophisticated sectors of the economy by giving unsecured loans, thereby improving the standard of living of the clientele and generating more employment. A loan was available only to those whose family income fell below Rs 3,000 a year. As security, the goods purchased with the loan were mortgaged to the bank, or group guarantees were accepted. As part of the scheme, the bank simplified its procedures. Application forms were shortened and made available in vernacular languages with only one document to be signed. To help the mostly illiterate borrowers to know how much they were repaying, stamps specially printed in different colors for different denominations were used as receipts. Monthly repayments were collected by agents who came to the borrower's home. To avoid the burden of paying the loan installments in one lump sum,

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borrowers were asked to deposit daily, weekly, or fortnightly, a portion of their earnings into a savings account; on fixed days each month the amount accrued was transferred to the borrower's loan account. Not only were these procedures less complex, but the operational cost to the bank was only one third of the regular cost.

How the organization functions

"The Annapurna Mandal has been registered as a Society and a Trust; only recipients of loans are entitled to membership of the Mandal. The 5,000 members elect a 60-woman committee which meets once a month to make decisions regarding the operation of the society. Besides Prema, the originator of the program, only two other committeee members are outsiders. The rest are Annapurnas themselves.

"Members are grouped into 11 local centers each of which has a committee of women members. Since a large number of the Annapurnas are illiterate, a few male volunteers are recruited for filling out forms, writing, and keeping accounts.

"Instead of getting women from outside the area, from the educated middle class to fulfill these functions, the decision was taken to accept the help of men from working-class families, since they are known to the women, and they can help in other ways in community work. Moreover, educated women from outside are often irregular and stand apart from and outside of the community.

"A woman who needs a loan comes to the committee with her request. The committee checks the number of workers she feeds, the economic condition of the family, and whether the woman will be able to pay back regularly. Once the committee is satisfied on these counts, she is asked to wait till another nine women have applied, and a group can be formed. Once she has received the loan she has to follow the savings and repayment plan outlined above. On a fixed day each month, a collector from the bank visits each center for repayments; a worker's home thereby becomes the bank's temporary office, and business is transacted in a relaxed atmosphere.

"Each member of the Mandal pays a monthly contribution of Rs 1 to cover administrative costs and overheads. So far, Prema's house has served as the organization's office. Since efforts to get office space from the government have so far been unsuccessful, the Mandal now proposes to buy its own premises, one third of the money coming from the women's donations and the balance from the bank loans.

Impact of the scheme

"On the economic side the gains are that the women are no longer in debt to grocer­moneylenders, and are able to spend the extra income on basic necessities, or on improving their bustee room.

"Equally important is its social impact, with participation in committee meetings, entertainment programs, and in the bank scheme leading to greater confidence among the women. In the words of Leelatai,_ an Annapurna and also Vice-president of the Mandal:

Ninety-nine percent of the women were illiterate, but now they can sign their names. Earlier they showed no motivation for education - today they are showing a desire to learn to read and write, to count and keep accounts. This is because it is related to their work and the women recognize its necessity and worth. Education is not something external, but something needed in everyday life. We are planning to start night classes soon.

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Women have also started becoming more assertive within the family. Earlier, wife-beating was not uncommon. Now women say 'You can go and drink but you have no right to beat me.' Often they do not let the man back into the house. Before, if a woman behaved in this way to her husband, other women would criticize and ostracize her. Now that the women meet regularly, this sort of criticism has lessened.

"Another interesting side-effect has been the women's response to the family planning program.

"The women are coming forward voluntarily to have sterilizations done. They are beginning to control their own bodies as they begin to gain more control of their lives. Another reason is that previously they could never find the time to go for an operation since it meant a month's rest which they could not afford. Now with a lump sum of money in their hands they can hire help for a month while they recuperate.

"With encouragement from the Mandal and the banks, women have started to save and many have savings (of approximately Rs 200) in their own name for the first time in their lives. Competition between those involved in the same trade has begun to break down. Now, when a worker tries to change his eating place without paying, he is asked where he used to eat. The new Annapurna then checks whether all debts have been cleared. Cases of conflict or confusion are taken to the Mandal to be sorted out."

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Conclusions

"The Annapurna Mandal organization has succeeeded against heavy odds. The nature of the women's work keeps them isolated from each other, and as self-employed workers, organizing within the traditional trade union structure is difficult. The fact that the women often sell services or products to members of the working class introduces an element of conflict between themselves and their worker customers.

"In spite of these constraints, the experience of the Annapurna Mandal shows that it is possible to organize worker-housewives. And considering the tasks and the jobs that the Annapurnas do, an extended form of housework, it is possible that the experience could be the basis for organizing housewives as housewives. It is essential to develop new and different forms of organization amongst women, but these can only sustain themselves on a long-term basis if they materially benefit the women in some clear way.

"From this analysis of the history of the Mandal, it is clear that two things were essential before the organization could be born: first, a woman with both the vision to break away from the accepted way of perceiving the problem and the courage, foresight and dedication to guide the program through its difficulties; second, a small number of women from the community who were prepared to take a bold step.

"The insistence on developing an organization of women was essential in making the scheme more than just a loan-giving program to help individual women with their problems. Essential to developing a sense of community out of the existing isolation was the idea of having groups as intermediaries between the banks and the women, of having women from the area take on all responsibilities, and of gradually expanding the women's own potential.

"However, there are still many limitations to the program: working conditions have not been improved and the Annapurnas still work day after day in smoky kitchens for long hours, without any day of rest. Once the Mandal has acquired premises, it is hoped to open a cooperative wholesale store so as to provide cheaper and already cleaned grains which would substantially reduce the women's hours of work. The organization has yet to develop welfare schemes such as maternity benefits and health coverage, but a program of regular health check-ups is planned once premises are obtained.

"Regular holidays are still not possible, though occasionally Annapumas do leave their homes to attend meetings, demonstrations, or entertainment programs, but this gives rise to complaints from the customers, who have to serve themselves: having secured fixed hours of work and regular days off for themselves, they fail to recognize the legitimacy of similar claims on the part of those who serve them. The Mandals have not been able to draw out the implication of the worker role of the Annapurnas, and the workers continue to expect them to act as surrogate housewives. An examination of the nature of housework would help to convince them that housework is work like any other (and should have fixed hours) and not a woman's duty."

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POINTS TO CONSIDER

1. Who are Annapurnas? In what ways are Annapurnas viewed by their customers as housewives in an extended family? In what ways are their businesses commercial ventures? How do these contradictory views of their work negatively affect the Annapurnas?

2. What might appear to be advantages for women in becoming Annapurnas? What things appear to be disadvantages?

3. Briefly describe the origin of the Annapurna Mandalas described in the reading (or lecture).

4. Although the Annapurna Mandal was started in an area with a long history of active trade labor unions, the unions were unsympathetic to the needs of the Annapurnas. What reasons are suggested for this lack of interest?

5. What specific problems discussed in the reading did the Annapurna Mandal start out to address for the Annapurnas? In what areas was this original organization the most successful? Where did they have the least success? Explain what you see as the reasons for its successes and failures.

6. The Annapurna Mahila Mandal (as seen in the video) is significantly different from the original organization - the Annapurna Mandal. Point out some differences.

How might this newer cooperative Annapurna Mahila Mandal address some of the problems that Annapurna Mandal felt they were not able to solve with the Annapumas. Give specific examples.

7. How were the loans from the bank to Annapumas secured? Repaid? Who in the video handles the loan payments and savings? How does this appear to be different from what was described in the reading?

8. In what ways did the Annapurna Mandal help women socially as well as economically? How have social benefits for women been enhanced even further by the Annapurna Mahila Mandal?

9. Can you think of women who might be organized in a similar way in your country? Explain your answer.

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10. A major myth about the poor of the world is that they are unemployed. They may not work in the formal wage sector of the economy but to survive the poor must work -women, men, and most children. In fact planners have commented that:

"The poor are poor because they have access to credit only through money-lenders."

Discuss the meaning of this statement. In what ways might this be true? What services besides lending money did the Annapurna Mahila Manda! feel women needed to succeed in business? In your opinion would loans to the poor in the United States help solve the problems of the poverty underclass? Explain.

Alternative question:

Why do you think that it is even more important for the poor to have access to credit than those that have more economic influence? Why have traditional lending agencies such as banks not lent money to the poor? Who lends money to the poor? In what specific ways do moneylenders working against the interests of the poor.

11. Discuss why it is important for women to organize to improve their lives economically. Is it more important for women than for men? Give specific reasons for your answers.

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FOR THE INSTRUCTOR: SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO "POINTS TO CONSIDER"

1. The Annapurnas are women who make a living cooking meals for male migrant workers for a fee. They are expected to feed the men whenever it is convenient for them to eat. The men that the Annapurnas cook for are frequently from the same caste or village and, therefore, are seen as "family." However, since the Annapurnas cook for these men for a fee, they are carrying out a commercial venture. This commercialization of a normally unpaid housewife's duty conflicts with the ideal of the woman's obligation to cook for men in an extended family. This conflict sometimes leads to the Annapurnas having difficulty collecting the fees and the men feeling they can take advantage of the women by demanding to be fed at anytime.

2. The advantages to the women pointed out in the video and reading are that cooking skills are ones learned from childhood and so they do not need to be trained for this work. Because most of the women are illiterate this is an important factor. Women can do the work in their homes and keep up with other domestic chores and childcare.

Disadvantages include the long work hours of the Annapurnas, the fact that the men sometimes take advantage of them by not paying their bills and moving to another place to eat. Although the economic contributions of the Annapurna to her family may be significant, this contribution may be hard to measure. The family members eat with the paying workers and the work is done at home along with other chores. Therefore, the Annapumas may not be given enough credit for their difficult work. A significant complaint was that they never had time off or a holiday. They were often at the mercy of the moneylender-grocer. Once a woman was in debt she was forced to deal with the grocer who lent her money and who then might over charge her for groceries.

3. Prema Purav, a trade union activist, organized the Annapurna Manda! because she noted the plight of the Annapurnas. She felt that they could solve many of their problems if they worked together in a cooperative work setting. She started with fourteen women who were wives of trade union members.

4. The unions did little to organize the Annapumas because they found it difficult to organize individuals who worked in their homes; the unions were made up mostly of men who were unsympathetic to the women's concerns; the union members saw the Annapurna's as being antagonistic to the needs of the working men - even commenting that they charged the working men too much.

5. The major aim was to get the women free of the moneylenders. Annapurna Manda! was successful in getting the women out of debt to grocer-moneylenders. They have been very successful in the social impact on women. The idea of group cooperation, responsibility, and protection have worked very well. Women have become more assertive within their families. The sense of community is very important.

They have been less successful in solving the problems of poor working conditions and long hours for the Annapurnas. The Annapurna Mahila Mandal has helped to solve this by creating a working place where women work as a team rather than individually.

6. The Annapurna Mahila Mandal is organized at a place of business with regular hours and a division and specialization of tasks. The Annapurna Mandal is a trade union which organizes and assists women Annapurnas in their homes.

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W or.king conditions including regular hours and holidays can be addressed by the Annapurna Mahila Mandal.

7. The loans were secured by having women form groups which then acted as collection agents for the loans. Peer pressure and jointly held insurance payments help to guarantee the repayment of loans. When a woman applies for a loan she must wait for nine others to apply to form a group. The group is part of a "center" and each month a bank collector comes to the "center" and collects the repayments. In the Annapurna Mahila Mandal the organization collects the loans at the Annapurna Mahila Mandal. Some of the members act as agents and then pay the loans.

8. Women were empowered by being given loans and having more influence within their families. They felt they had friends to call on in times of trouble and were part of a successful organization.

9. Individual answers will vary.

10. The poor - particularly poor women - do not have the money to even carry out small income generating activities. Credit is essential for farming or small business operations. Since women frequently do not own property or control land, they cannot get the loans they need to start businesses such as those described here. They must depend on moneylenders who charge them huge amounts of interest and often exploit them in many ways.

Answers will vary. It might help solve some of the problems of the poor. However, the poor usually suffer from being undereducated or other problems which may need to be solved before they can start small enterprises.

11. Groups are more powerful than individuals. These women felt isolated and alone working in their houses and dealing as individuals with the money lenders. As a group they can better stand up for their interests. There are many financial advantages such as buying in bulk and for the best prices. There probably are reasons why women particularly need to organize. The Annapumas worked alone in their individual homes or bustees. Women may feel more intimidated by dealing with the public "male" world. They are expected to be submissive and not stand up for their rights. They may be able to assert themselves more easily in groups.

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN IN SOUTH ASIA

GENERAL

Afshar, Haleh, ed. Women, Work, and Ideology in the Third World. NY: Tavistock Publications, 1985.

Beneria, Lourdes, ed. Women and Development: The Sexual Division of Labor in Rural Societies. NY: Praeger, 1982.

Bernard, Jessie. The Female World from a Global Perspective. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.

Blumberg, Rae Lesser. Stratification: Socioeconomic and Sexual Inequality. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Company, 1978.

Borooah, Romy, Barbara Yates, and Jean Treloggen Peterson. "Women and Development: An Interdisciplinary Seminar," Curriculum Guide No. 7, and Annapurna Shaw, "Women and Agricultural Production in the Third World," Cuniculum Guide No. 1. Available from the Office of Women in International Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 324 Coble Hall, 801 South Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. Other unpublished papers available - list upon request.

Boserup, Ester. Woman's Role in Economic Development. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1970.

Boulding, Elise. Women in the Twentieth Century World. NY: SAGE, 1977.

Bourguignon, Erika, ed. A World of Women. NY: Praeger, 1980.

Buvinic, Mayra, Margaret A. Lycette, and William Paul McGreevey. Women and Poverty in the Third World. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983.

Charlton, Sue Ellen M. Women in Third World Development. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Inc., 1984.

Chipp, Sylvia A. and Justin J. Green, eds. Asian Women in Transition. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1980.

Davies, Miranda, compiler. Third World - Second Sex. Volume I. London: Zed Press, 1983. (Volume 2, Third World - Second Sex, 1987.)

Dixon, Ruth B. Rural Women at Work: Strategies for Development in South Asia. Baltimore, MD: Johns HGpkins University Press, 1978.

Eberstadt, Nick, ed. Fertility Decline in the Less Developed Countries. NY: Praeger, 1981.

Eck, Diana L. and Devaki Jain. Speaking of Faith: Global Perspectives on Women, Religion and Social Change. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers, 1987.

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Etienne, Mona and Eleanor Leacock, eds. Women and Colonization. NY: Praeger, 1980.

Farley, Jennie, ed. Women Workers in Fifteen Countries. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, 1985.

Fawcett, James T., Siew-Ean Khoo, Peter C. Smith. Women in the Cities of Asia. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984.

Gelpi, Barbara et.al., eds. Women and Poverty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Giele, Janet and Audrey Smock. Women -Roles and Status in Eight Countries. NY: John Wiley, 1977.

Huston, Perdita. Message from the Village. NY: The Epoch B Foundation, 1978.

______ Third World Women Speak Out. NY: Praeger, 1979.

Iglitzin, Lynne B. and Ruth Ross, eds. Women in the World. Santa Barbara, CA: Clio Books, 1976.

Jayawardena, Kumari. Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World. London: Zed Books, 1986.

Joekes, Susan. Women in the World Economy -An INSTRAW Study. NY: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Kelly, Gail P. and Carolyn M. Elliott. Women's Education in the Third World: Comparative Perspectives. Albany: State University of NY Press, 1982.

Leacock, Eleanor and Helen Safa. Women's Work: Development and the Division of Labor by Gender. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey, 1986.

Levy, Marion Fennelly. Each in Her Own Way - Five Women Leaders of the Developing World. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1988.

Lindsay, Beverly, ed. Comparative Perspectives of Third World Women: The Impact of Race, Sex, and Class. NY: Praeger, 1980.

March, Kathryn S. and Rachelle Taqqu. Women's Informal Associations in Developing Countries - Catalysts for Change? Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1986.

Mies, Maria. Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale. London: Zed Books, Ltd., 1986.

Momsen, Janet Henshall and Janet G. Townsend, eds. Geography of Gender in the Third World. Albany: State University of NY Press, 1987.

Morgan, Robin, ed. Sisterhood is Global. NY: Anchor Books, 1984.

Nash, June and M. Patricia Fernandez-Kelly. Women, Men and the International Division of Labor. NY: SUNY Press, 1983.

Newland, Kathleen. The Sisterhood of Man. NY: W.W. Norton, 1979.

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Overholt, Catherine, et al., eds. Gender Roles in Development Projects - A Case Book. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1985.

Peats, Susan V., Marianne Schmink, and Anita Spring, eds. Gender Issues in Farming Systems Research and Extension. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988.

Raphael, Dana, ed. Being Female - Reproduction, Power, and Change. The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1975.

Reiter, Rayna R., ed. Toward an Anthropology of Women. NY: Monthly Review Press, 1975.

Rogers, Barbara. The Domestication of Women - Discrimination in Developing Societies. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1979.

Rohrlich-Leavitt, Ruby, ed. Women Cross-Culturally. Change and Challenge. The Hague: Mouton, 1975.

Rosaldo, Michelle Zimbalist and Louise Lamphere, eds. Woman, Culture and Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1974.

Sanday, Peggy Reeves. Female Power and Male Dominance - On the Origins of Sexual Inequality. London: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Schlegel, Alice, ed. Sexual Stratification -A Cross-Cultural View. NY: Columbia University Press, 1977.

Scott, Hilda. Working Your Way to the Bottom: The Feminization of Poverty. NY: Pandora Press, 1984.

Seager, Joni and Ann Olson. Women in the World Atlas. NY: Touchstone Book, 1986.

Sen, Gita and Caren Grown. Development, Crises, and Alternative Visions - Third World Women's Perspectives. NY: Monthly Review Press, 1987.

Staudt, Kathleen. "Women in Development: Courses and Curriculum Integration" Working Paper #77, January 1985. This and many other women and development papers available from: Office of Women in International Development, 202 International Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1035.

Tinker, Irene, and Michele Bo Bramsen, eds. Women and World Development. Overseas Development Council, 1976.

Women and National Development: The Complexities of Change. The Wellesley Editorial Committee. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.

Women, Struggles and Strategies - Third World Perspectives. ISIS International, 1986.

Women Workers, International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 1976. Introduction by Helvi Sipila. (See address in "Resources").

Women Workers in Multinational Enterprises in Developing Countries. International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 1985.

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Women in World Area Studies. Thirteen books and nine sound filmstrips on the history and culture of women in eight cultural areas for secondary level students by Marjorie Wall Bingham and Susan Hill Gross. For information write: Glenhurst Publications, Inc., Central Community Center, 6300 Walker Street, St. Louis Park, MN 55416. (612) 925-3632.

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BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Berrian, Brenda. Bibliography of African Women Writers and Journalists. Washington, D.C: Three Continents Press, 1985.

Byrne, Pamela and Suzanne Ontiveros, eds. Women in the Third World: A Historical Bibliography. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 1986

Dasgupta, Kalpana. Women on the Indian Scene: An Annotated Bibliography. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1976.

Duley, Margot and Mary I. Edwards, eds. The Cross-Cultural Study of Women. NY: Feminist Press, 1986.

Fenton, Thomas P. and Mary J. Heffron. Women in the Third World: A Directory of Resources. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1987.

Rihani, May. Development as if Women Mattered: An Annotated Bibliography With a Third World Focus. Overseas Development Council, 1978.

Sakala, Carol. Women of South Asia: A Guide to Resources. Millwood, NY: Kraus International Publications, 1980.

Saulniers, Suzanne Smith and Cathy A. Rakowski. Women in the Development Process: A Select Bibliography on Women in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1977.

Tinker, Irene, Michele Bo Bramsen, and Mayra Buvinic, eds. Women and World Development: With An Annotated Bibliography. NY: Praeger, 1976.

WOMEN IN SOUTH ASIA

Azad, Nandini. Empowering Women Workers: The W.W.F. Experiment in Indian Cities. Mylapore, Madras: Working Women's Forum, 1986.

Caplan, Patricia. Class and Gender in India: Women and Their Organizations in a South Indian City. London: Tavistock Publications, 1985.

Chen, Martha Alter. A Quiet Revolution: Women in Transition in Rural Bangladesh. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Co_., 1983.

de Souza, Alfred, ed. Women in Contemporary India. New Delhi: Manohar, 1975.

Dhruvarajan, Vanaja. Hindu Women and the Power of Ideology. Grandby, MA: Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc., 1989.

Everett, Jana Matson. Women and Social Change in India. New Delhi: Heritage Publishers, 1979.

Fruzzetti, Lina M. The Gift of a Virgin: Women, Marriage, and Ritual in a Bengali Society. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1982.

Gulati, Leela. Profiles in Female Poverty. New Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Co., 1981.

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Hartmann, Betsy and James Boyce. A Quiet Violence: View from a Bangladesh Village. London: Zed Press, 1983.

Jacobson, Doranne. "The Women of North and Central India: Goddesses and Wives," in, Carolyn J. Matthiasson, ed., Many Sisters: Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective. NY: The Free Press, 197 4.

Jacobson, Doranne and Susan S. Wadley. Women in India: Two Perspectives. New Delhi: Manohar, 1977.

Jahan, Rounaq and Hanna Papanek, eds. Women and Development: Perspectives from South and Southeast Asia. Dacca: The Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs, 1979.

Kapur, Promilla. The Life and World of Call-girls in India. New Delhi: Vikas, 1978.

______ . The Changing Status of Working Women in India . Delhi: Vikas, 1974.

Kaur, Inderjeet. Status of Hindu Women in India. Allahabad: Chugh Publications, 1983.

Kaur, Manmohan. Women in India's Freedom Struggle. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1985.

Kishwar, Madhu and Ruth.Vanita, eds. In Search of Answers: Indian Women's Voices from Manushi. London: Zed Books, Ltd., 1984.

Lebra, Joyce, Joy Paulson, and Jana Everett, eds. Women and Work in India: Continuity and Change. New Delhi: Promilla and Co., 1984.

Mandelbaum, David G. Women's Seclusion and Men's Honor: Sex Roles in North India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1988.

Mathew, P. M., and M. S. Nair. Women's Organisations and Women's Interests. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1986.

Mehta, Rama. Divorced Hindu Woman. Delhi: Vikas, 1975.

_____ . Western Educated Woman. Delhi: Vikas, 1970.

Mencher, Joan P. "Women and Agriculture," in, C. Mann and B. Huddelstan, eds., Strengthening National Food Policy Capability. NY: Rockefeller Foundation, 1988.

Mies, Maria. Indian Women and Patriarchy. New Delhi: Concept Publishing, 1980.

------· Indian Women in Subsistence and Agricultural Labour. Geneva: International Labour Office, 198q.

------· The Lace Makers of Narsapur: Indian Housewives Produce for the World Market. London: Zed Books, Ltd., 1982.

Miller, Barbara D. The Endangered Sex. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1981.

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Mukhopadhyay, Maitrayee. Silver Shackles: Women and Development in India. Oxford: Oxfam, 1985.

Mumtaz, Khawar and Farida Shaheed, eds. Women of Pakistan: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back? London: Zed Books Ltd., 1987.

Omvedt, Gail. We Will Smash This Prison! Indian Women in Struggle. London: Zed Press, Ltd., 1980.

Papanek, Hanna. "Development Planning for Women," in Wellesley Editorial Committee, eds., Women and National Development: The Complexities of Change. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977.

Raghuvanshi, Kalpana. Rural Women in Rajasthan. Jaipur: Kanchenjunga Publications, 1983.

Shah, Kalpana. Women's Liberation and Voluntary Action. Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1984.

Sharma, Radha Krishna. Nationalism, Social Reform and Indian Women. Delhi: Ram Brit Singh, 1981.

Sharma, Ursula. Women, Work, and Property in North-West India. London: Tavistock Publications, 1980.

Shashi, S.S. The Tribal Women of India. Delhi: Sundeep Prakashan, 1978.

Sinha, Rammesh P. Women's Rights: Myth and Reality. Jaipur, Printwell Publishers, 1984.

Skjonsberg, Else. A Special Caste? Tamil Women of Sri Lanka. London: Zed Books, Ltd., 1982.

Towards Equality: Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India. Government of India, Department of Social Welfare, December, 1974.

Vinze, Medha Dubhashi. Women Entrepreneurs in India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 1987.

Wallace, Ben J., et. al. The Invisible Resource: Women and Work in Rural Bangladesh. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987.

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SHAKUNT ALA NARASIMHAN

The following description is taken from an article in the Hyderabad City Time, September 13, 1985.

"The byline of Shakuntala Narasimhan will be familiar to readers of Femina who have been enlightened, informed and educated by her thought-provoking features. Today, she is not associated with Femina anymore but the reactions to her features written in various other publications continue pouring in. She left the magazine last year after spending seven years there, five of them as Assistant Editor ....

"Today Shakuntala is a free-lancer writing for various publications. No mean achievement this, for someone who never set out to be a journalist. With an MA in economics and studying for a PhD, she had planned to be an economist. But marriage and motherhood put an end to all that. [The 15 years while she raised her children] saw over 300 of her pieces ... appear in all the prestigious publications ... .In 1983 she was the runner-up in the 'Women journalist of the year' award by 'Eve's Weekly' and last year she won the Media Foundation award for outstanding woman journalist of 1984 .... She is currently working on two more books, one on music and another on women's issues .... "

This video production, "Annapurna Mahila Mandal - An Experiment in Grassroots Development for Women" is part of a series of instructional units on the contributions and concerns of women in the Third World. The series, called Women and Development Issues in Three World Areas, is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development's Development Education Program (Biden/Pell).

For information on other instructional materials in the series Women and Development Issues in Three World Areas write or call:

Susan Hill Gross The Upper Midwest Women's History Center

Central Community Center 6300 Walker Street

St. Louis Park, Minnesota 55416

(612) 925-3632

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