shg and marketing their products
DESCRIPTION
Efforts of marketing the products of SHG by a District Rural Development Cell of West BengalTRANSCRIPT
Marketing the Products of Self Help Group-A Study of North24 Parganas, West Bengal
Pradipta Dubey Atonu Chatterjee
Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation. - Milan Kundera
Irrespective of the fire and smoke generated by the recent debate on
subsistence level, it is hard to conceal that, a sizable portion of the nation still languishes
in abyss of poverty and that too despite a number of poverty alleviation programmes
remaining in operation. The programmes, right from their inception operated at three
fronts viz. wage employment, self employment and subsidizing the supply of certain
essential commodities to the target group which in its present incarnation assumes the
form of ‘Cash Transfers’. While wage employment programmes as well subsidizing the
supply of essential commodities are more or less straightforward endeavours, where
target group gets the return either in lieu of their work or by virtue (?) of their position in
the economic pyramid, self employment programmes assume additional hue. Apart from
the labour which goes into this component of self employment other three factors namely
the craftsmanship or the acumen, entrepreneurship ability and marketability of the
product or service are absolutely vital for ensuring return, be it perennial or periodical.
_______________________________________________________________________
Pradipta Dubey. is a Research Scholar, Rural Development & Management Department, University of Kalyani,
Nadia, [email protected]
Atonu Chatterjee, is a member of West Bengal Civil Service.
Till date, in West Bengal, Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) is the
single self employment programme for the rural areas. The programme with an accent on
the rural woman segment is handled by ministry of Panchayats and Rural Development
of the state. In this paper we will make a modest attempt to delineate the efforts taken at
different levels for inculcating skill (both craftsmanship and the entrepreneurial ability)
among the rural Self Help Group (SHG) members, operating basically through the SGSY
programme and the efforts of marketing their products.
Incidentally it can be mentioned that in addition to SHGs under SGSY prograpmme-
1) There are SHGs promoted and nurtured by NABARD through their programme of
‘NABARD- bank linkage programme’. Several government departments (viz. Co-
operative Department, Forest Department) and banks also promote SHGs through their
own programmes.
2) A distinct difference, however, is apparent- while SGSY deals with the SHGs
predominantly formed by the Below Poverty Line (BPL) members, groups of NABARD
and other banks cater to members belonging to ‘Above Poverty Line’ (APL) strata.
The area of our study will be the district of North 24 Parganas in the state of West
Bengal. The district enjoys a seminal position owing to its proximity to Kolkata, the state
capital. State’s Human Development Report (WBHDR) published in 2004 ranks the
district third in the composite “Human Development Index” (HDI). It is also in the
epicenter of the recent trend of industrialization in West Bengal as well is undergoing a
rapid spurt of urbanization (54.30per cent of population lives in urban area as per 2001
census; in 1991 it was 51.23per cent). It also cuts a niche in terms of performance of
SGSY programme. All these combine to give the district an edge and hence we go in for
somewhat micro level study of this district in context of the present issue. The
performance statistics and the information about the district’s show, if not otherwise
mentioned, are taken from the ‘Administrative Report’ of DRDC, the monthly progress
report (MPR) of DRDC and that of West Bengal Panchayats and Rural Development
Department.
I
The origin of SHGs
The problem of timely repayment of loans and their best possible
utilization has long plagued the planners in regard to the self-employment programmes in
India. The paradigm of group-based micro-finance which gained considerable currency
during the concluding years of the last century was conceived to be an appropriate tool to
handle this problem. It was now being argued that when finance was provided to a close-
knit group, the internal group dynamics would ensure optimal utilization and better
repayment of the fund. This concept married with the neo-liberal approach of trimming
down the state of some so called unnecessary responsibilities sought to open a different
vista in poverty alleviation programmes. Consequently the idea of SHGs came into being.
Certain developments within the country involving erstwhile failure of the individual
micro-financing under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) coupled
with moderately successful experience with the Development of Women and Child in
Rural Area (DWCRA), groups of nineties rendered it the status of ‘magic potion’ or
panacea to all poverty related problems. Eventually Ministry of Rural development
Government of India embarked upon a scheme called Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar
Yojona (SGSY), on 1/4/99 with an accent on group based micro-finance. The basic
accent of the scheme thus was to organise the rural poor into SHGs through a process of
social mobilization, enhance their capacity in the socio-economic domain and encourage
them to take up some economic activities so that these poor families scale the all decisive
poverty line within three years of inception. Reserve Bank of India in its Master Circular
on SGSY acknowledged the scheme as a ‘holistic Scheme covering all aspects of self
employment’ where assistance to BPL families can be extended to initiate micro-
enterprises in rural areas. Appropriate noise generated on the eve of Dr. Mohammad
Younus winning the noble-prize in 2006 gave it further shot in the arm. The District
Rural Development Cells (DRDC)/ District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA), thus
with the active participation of the Panchayats leapt into the business of organising
groups of women and men from BPL category, nurtured and trained them in group
dynamics as well in some economic activities as per their inherent natural tendency or the
demand of the market, evaluated their performance and linked them up with the
nationalised and other banks so that they get the adequate fund as soft loan to persue their
economic activities. The bank loan consisting of ‘term loan’ and ‘working capital’ was
again backed up by a provision of back-ended subsidy from the government where
normally 0.125 millions is the highest limit a group can get. Therefore the bank loan was
considered an imperative to start the sojourn of the SHGs.
The programme thus was conceived as standardised supply-side solution
addressing the credit and physical infrastructure needs of the ubiquitous Self-Help-
Groups, composed of members drawn from the BPL strata of the society. The groups thus
formed, harped on mutuality and were integrally linked with both the community and the
formal banking system. Here maturity rate of the SHGs, was invariably slow, yet it
yielded a strong edifice. The members of the group imbibed a sense of profound
responsibility. They had to! They were dealing with their own collective coffer.
SGSY-A perceptible departure –
The effort under SGSY was to ensure development of sustainable micro-
enterprises in the rural areas so that the assisted families scale the all important poverty
line within a specific time frame i.e. within three years. To ensure this, the programme
envisages-
a) Adoption of appropriate technologies for the entrepreneurial success.
The crux here is not only espousal of apposite technology but also identifying the
entities responsible for technology management, its transfer, upgradation and monitoring.
The SGSY guideline published by Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development
in 1999 (henceforth programme document) is absolutely pragmatic in this regard. It
emphasizes that the technologies adopted
1) need to guarantee a comfort level for the SHG members. In fact the programme
document warns against indiscriminate adoption of new technologies… ‘Any given
activity there is a certain level of technology (sic). It is possible that introduction of
certain technology may substantially alter the economics of working, in which case such
new technology needs to be introduced. There could be in other cases where the
technology can be upgraded to produce better economic results.’ i
2) need to have a proven track record in terms of ensuring quality along with its
commercial efficacy with a capital C. And finally
3) inappropriate technologies are to be summarily shunned since the target group i.e. the
poor SHG members have scanty capacity to absorb the economic reverses if enterprises
failed. We find that the document is adequately pithy against the rampant and
predominantly urbane techno-bureaucratic tendency of approving all the technologies
present in the market as the basic saviour… ‘In any case the technology introduction/up
gradation should be such as to suit the needs of rural poor for the given key activity’ii.
b) Avenue for proper skill training-
As a necessary precondition for adoption of apt technology the programme
document advocates proper skill training of the SHG members. Recognizing that training
is a specialized acumen and that SHG members should possess ‘Minimum Skill
Requirement’ (it is an imperative for securing loan for starting economic activities) the
programme document prescribes networking with suitable training organizations such as
‘Government institutions like engineering colleges, polytechnics, universities and NGOs
(Non-Government organizations)’ for imparting training to SHG members. A distinct tilt,
thus, is evident in favour of the reputed organizations with proven track record in regard
to skill trainingiii.
c) Marketing Support-
Enlisting marketing support to the SHGs makes SGSY sui generis among
other programmes of identical genre. The programme document is emphatic on this
aspect. Traditionally self-employment programmes have concentrated on backward
linkages rather than outputs and their marketing. This essentially leads to adoption of
production techniques totally divorced from marketing aspects and opportunities. As a
remedy the programme document suggests-
1) SHGs should adopt an income generating activity after proper market survey. This is
an imperative not only because SHGs can hardly absorb business loss emanating out of
lack of demand even if in the short run but also for having a realistic future income
projection.
2) Through a rural market survey the local demand can be assessed and productions can
be suitably lined. However production strategy must take into account locally available
resources so that a reasonable profit margin is ensured. Further it must be kept in mind
that it is neither feasible nor desirable to produce all goods in all places.
3) Finally the existing and emerging markets in urban and peri-urban areas need to be
explored to the hilt. Purchasers here have a test for value-added items. The emerging
urban markets can be a good area for developing clientele for the rural products.
Establishing marketing infrastructure in these areas can ensure an enabling atmosphere
for the SHGs for marketing their products as well establishing the identity of the
productsiv.
A refreshing departure is imbued in SGSY programme. The departure is evident
basically in the area of drafting a production strategy in sync with the available market
and in the aspect of exploring urban and peri-urban market for the products. In this milieu
of rapid urbanization these programme strategies make SGSY hit the bulls-eye
straightway.
II
As per the data available as on June 30, 2009, in the official website of
Government of West Bengal ‘banglarmukh’
(http://www.banglarmukh.com/portal/banglarMukh/Government/Departments/) total
number of groups enrolled in 'Swarnajayanti Gram Swa-rozgar Yojana' implemented by
the Department of Panchayats and Rural Development is 2,59,615. NABARD handles
roughly 4,13,293 SHGs.. Besides these, there are 1,04,180 groups under the management
of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).However, the total count of
groups including those run by government departments and non-governmental
organizations exceeds 0.9 millions. Women constitute about 90per cent of the total
members of SHGs and as many as 0.56 million groups have received loans in some form
or other to start their economic activities.
Initiatives of the State–
West Bengal Government also took certain initiatives to cater to the growing
number of SHGs.
In the year 2006 a completely separate department was created under a cabinet
minister in the name of ‘Self Help Group and Self Employment’. The mandates of the
department involved-
1. Monitoring and supervising policy formulation and coordination of all activities
pertaining to Self Help Groups & Self Employment Schemes operated by different
Departments of the State Government.
2. Arranging for and supervising skill-up gradation training to ensure functional
improvement of Self Help Groups & Self Employment Schemes.
3. Coordinating delivery of institutional finance to these entities.
4. To consider such other matters relevant or incidental to the aforesaid terms of
reference.
5. To coordinate marketing of products of Self-Help Groups through holding of different
exhibitions and co-ordination with business houses.
6. Coordinating and synchronizing efforts of setting up of infrastructure in the districts
for providing training and creating marketing outlets for the SHGsv.
Initially hiccups were rampant! .Duplication of works and trampling of areas of
operation occurred between SHG & SE department and Panchayats and Rural
Development department, (P&RD incidentally handles majority of SHGs). The matter
sunk in gradually and later SHG &SE Department was successful in cutting its niche in
the entire scenario. The department took significant strides in facilitating the SHGs
nurtured by the banks and was also instrumental in tying up SHGs with fairs outside the
state and with business houses for marketing of their products.
The procurement policy of the government also was given a facelift in favour of
SHGs. Two specific initiatives can be mentioned here-
a) The Audit Branch of Finance Department, Government of West Bengal through its
Notification no 7369-F dated 23/9/2008 amended the West Bengal Financial Rules
whereby the procurement base of stationery articles were enlarged to include the Self
Help Groups.
b) SHGs through orders of Department of SHG &SE were entrusted with the task of
paddy procurement from 2010. To facilitate the procurement, Government of West
Bengal released a sum of forty thousand rupees as rolling fund to each identified SHGs
who will return the sum in the Khariff season. The central government on its part has
granted commission to SHGs @ 2.5per cent on the price of Paddy as incidental charges.
Involving SHGs in the process of paddy procurement was also tried elsewhere. Andhra
Pradesh is practicing this from 2005 and that of maize from 2004vi.
Floccinaucinihilipilification! May be…. one is definitely entitled to ones own
judgment. Yet these small steps score on two counts. In fact these orders spelt a
fundamental change to the essential standing of the SHGs in the total milieu since
1) This is perhaps for the first time the government acknowledged the status of SHG as
viable economic unit akin to wholesale consumers’ cooperative societies/cooperatives
and such similar organizations.
2) A bit of sociology went into the aspect also. These orders are the imprimatur on the
entrepreneurial capacity and business acumen of SHGs, majority of whom are women-
centric. This is a departure from the mere economic role as envisaged in the programme
document.
Interpretations may galore but the point remains that these two orders brought the
SHGs in the mainstream of activities.
III
Currently employment opportunities in the country are at nadir. Recent report on
unemployment by National Sample Survey (NSS in its 64th round) reveals an overcast
sky. The situation becomes further depressing when the NSS report is juxtaposed with
‘The Challenge of Employment in India: An Informal Economy Perspective’ – a report
by ‘National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector’ (2009). In a nutshell
the employment scenario is-
a) During 2005 and 2008 only 2.4 million employments were created, a mere 0.8
million per year. This is only a miniscule when compared to 12 million employments
created per year between 1999-2000 and 2004-05.
b) Total number of workers increased from 457.9 million in 2004-05 to 460.2 million in
2007-08, a growth rate of just 0.17per cent per year. This is the lowest rate of em-
ployment generation in the last three decades, even lower than the previous spell of
jobless growth of 1993-2000 when employment increased by less than 1per cent per year.
c) Overall, employment of males increased by 5.2 million per year but declined by 4.4
million per year for females.
d) There was a decline in real wage rate and despite high economic growth there was no
improvement in the quality of employment.
e) Formal sector employees in several cases were able to latch on to their jobs only by
accepting informalisation of their formerly secure and respectable labour standards.
f) Informal sector gradually got bereft of their bargaining power whereas their employees
consolidated themselves. The icing of the cake could not be more spectacular!
The district of North 24 Parganas divided into 22 blocks and 200 Gram
Panchayats is no exception to this trend. The situation becomes starker since agriculture
here has failed to absorb the growing work force (DHDR 2010). One of the options
available to this workforce is to migrate and we see that around 33.12per cent of the
families of the district migrated for employment. The District Human Development
Report of the North 24 Parganas further reveals that-
a) migration is basically seasonal and is rampant in riverine and border areas of the
district.
b) and significantly out migration involves only the male members of the household.An
Indian woman, thanks to social obligations and taboo scarcely have equal opportunities to
migrate for wage work. SHGs therefore are the principal plank for women to improve
employment and income opportunities in situ.vii
District Rural Development Cell of North 24 Parganas, presented more sensitive
face to the SHGs and the poor women of the rural areas at large. The sensitivity was
revealed in the following indicators-
1) Total expenditure on SHGs in the district was 97.88per cent and 98.30per cent of the
total allotment made on this count during the financial years, 09-10, and 10-11
respectively. In the financial year 10-11 the district recorded highest expenditure in the
entire state on this count.
2) To ensure marketability of the products skill development trainings were organised. In
the financial year 10-11 total expenditure on this count was Rs 1.257 million whereas in
09-10 it was Rs 3.509 Millions. In the period 08-09 again 7677 skill development training
programmes were organised in the district at a total expenditure of Rs 1.115 millions.
Comparatively low expenditure in the financial years 08-09 and in 10-11 can be
attributed to the seventh panchayat general election and general Legislative Assembly
elections respectively when normal developmental works in the district took a back seat.
3) There is a discernable effort on the part of the district administration to explore new
areas to market the products of SHG along with retaining the older channels. The efforts
basically involved tying up with the government departments for supply of materials.
Thus it is apparent that the district is inclined to harness the full potential of SHGs
as an alternative avenue of offering gainful employment to the BPL families of the
district. DHDR of the district is emphatic on this ‘…there are reasons to believe that
SHGs have come to stay in the life of the ordinary people of the district.’
Marketing the products of SHGs-
‘The aim of marketing is to know and understand customer so well (that) the
product or service fits him and sells itself’- Peter Drucker.
Marketing is about identifying and meeting social needs and that too profitably.
However as Peter Drucker holds selling is only the tip of the marketing iceberg. The crux
is to understand and conceive of the customers’ wants so well that the products and
service impels him to buy. Further there is a need of segregating markets into segments
and identify distinct group of buyers, who may prefer varying types of products and
servicesviii. The aim of marketing therefore boils down to two specific actions; namely
i Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna, 1999,Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development- Guidelines-Para 6.2ii Ibid.iii Ibid Para 6.4.iv Ibid Section VII.v Self Help Group and Self Employment : Policies http://www.banglarmukh.com/portal/banglarMukh/Government/Departments/DepartmentListPortletWindow- Visited 3/1/2012vi Letter from Principal Secretary, Department of SHG&SE addressed to District Magistrate, vide memo no-97/SH/o/2P-132/09, 17/2/2010 & 21(8)/SH/O/2P-132/09-25/1/2010. P. Purushotham,. (2006). In his ‘National Study on SGSY: A Process Study Hyderabad: National Institute of Rural Development’ traced the robust performance of SHGs of Andhra Pradesh regarding their rice and maize procuring activities.
vii District Human Development Report North 24 Parganas, Feb- 2010 Development & Planning Department, , Government of West Bengal.
identifying the customers’ wants and segregating these wants in different tiers and locale
of markets. In a modest way DRDC North 24 Parganas tried to accomplish these tasks
through certain stages.
However caveats need to be in place.
a) Income from the economic activities of SHG is considered as an additional
income along with some other source(s) which are the mainstay of the family
income. An interesting example is that when 14.25 per cent of the three tiers
panchayat members of the district are drawn from SHGs only 1.65per cent of
the members have income from SHG sources as the main source of incomeix.
b) Generally the women after completing their household chores indulge into the
economic activities of SHG.
a) Identifying the local acumen
Initially activity specific skills in the women members of relevant SHGs
were identified. This was a task cut out in the scheme itself. “The success of
SGSY will therefore depend, to start with, on the choice of activities. The key
element is that the choice of activity should be based on the local resources, the
aptitude as well as the skill of the people.”(Para1.3 of programme document)
And a cautionary note “The choice of key activities should not be an arbitrary or
an adhoc decision but should be a careful thought out process” (para 1.4 of
programme document). Consequently under the guidance of SGSY committee
and the Zilla Parishad, blockwise key activities were identified, to be modified
after every three years. The exercise, needless to mention, has its own
ix Information on West Bengal Panchayats. August-2010, Web-published by Panchayat s & Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal.viii Kotler, P. and Keller,K.N.2009. Marketing Management, pp 5.Prentice Hall of India.
limitations. Instead of assessing the demand or want of the customers this
exercise emphasised the supply side. The logic was obvious. The scheme aimed
at providing quick economic assistance/ supplements to the family income of
BPL families so that they would scale the poverty line within a specific time
period. Under this mandate assessing the needs of the customers was a bit
problematic. So the approach was in a round about fashion. The effort was to
identify the local existent acumen or expertise, do a market analysis on those
specific products and then hone the members’ skills in regard to those products
so that quality products entice customers.
The DHDR of the district indicates a list of such activities which is given in
Table 1.
b) Skill UpgradationA natural corollary to identification of key activities is, to upgrade the
skills of SHG members in the relevant items. Skill development training in selected
activities were imparted by local level ‘Master Trainers’ approved by DRDC and some
selected organisations. Networking with organisations of repute with proven track record
proved to be of immense help in this regard. Further, effort was taken to conduct
residential training so that the group members inculcate among themselves a sense of
cohesiveness, mutual sharing and exchanges in different aspects. Also interactions with
the trainees and group members revealed that these residential trainings were a whiff of
fresh air as the participants could stay away from their daily chores and related trials and
tribulations. To many group members it became the single case of so called ‘outing’. Of
course, the exercise had its own predicament. Mothers with toddlers and infants as well
as unmarried girls, in most cases could not attend these trainings or sometimes hit by
family crises the members had to rush to their houses, abandoning the training midway.
The process of selection of trainees is done in the following process-
1) In the monthly monitoring meeting held by DRDC the block representatives placed
their demand of training in specific trade/activities. They in turn receive this demand
from the Gram Panchayats who nurtures the SHGs. Alternatively the demands are also
received from SHG cluster members themselves.
2) After culling the demands the District Training Co-ordinator (an official posted in
DRDC) interacts with the Master Trainers and the training organisations to determine the
courses of training, duration and the availability of slots for training. In general the non-
residential courses are handled by DRDC approved Master Trainers and residential
courses are conducted in training organisations.
3) The information is disseminated in the next monitoring meeting of DRDC.
Apart from normal skill enhancement trainings conducted by DRDC approved
local master trainers, specialised trainings on specific activities were conducted by some
important organisations.
1) National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Kolkata, conducted three months’
training at ‘ETC Rajarhat’ West Bengal for two batches of SHG members drawn from the
group members of Deganga block. Sixty participants were trained by the core faculty of
NIFT. The trainees were trained in apparel designing with an accent on choice of fabrics,
the specific cuts of the apparel, embroidery and its nuances as also the aspect of
synchronising and balancing different types of fabrics and their colour. Traditionally the
women folk of the block were conversant with embroidery styles like ‘Parsee stitch’,
‘Gujrati stitch’ and ‘Kantha stitch’ and these skills were further spruced up. Programmes
were launched to generate block level Master Trainers who will be able to train other
group members in their trade. The training was basically for secondary sector.
2) In the primary sector also several training programmes were held. These programmes
were designed more to equip the group members with skills in animal husbandry, poultry
and agri-horticulture. The trainings were held in Bidhan Chandra Krishi
Visdwavidyalaya, Nadia and in West Bengal University of Animal & Fisheries Sciences,
Kolkata.
3) Training on Vermi-compost (organic manure) was another important programme
organised by DRDC. The training was conducted by an NGO namely “Consortium for
Training Resource and Development” and DRDC had a buy back arrangement with them
in the sense that the NGO bought back the organic manure produced by the trainees. The
manure though was sold extensively in the peri-urban locality for their use in the private
gardens and orchards and in the city of Kolkata, the trainees themselves also used it in
their own agricultural fields which to a great extent reduced the cost of chemical manure
and fertilisers. The NGO conducted the training in six blocks namely Sandeshkhali-II,
Hasnabad, Hingalgunj, Swarupnagar, Minakhan and Gaighata, in a span of three years.
4) SHGs under SGSY have been federated into clusters on the basis of their activities. In
North 24 Parganas also there are several activity based clusters. Training on "Market
Orientation & Value Enhancement"for these cluster SHG members was organised in the
state in which seven participants from Dharampur Paddy Producers cluster and Sopan
Kantha Stitch cluster of North 24 Parganas participated. The programme was devised to
create ‘District Level Master Trainers’ in ‘Market Orientation’ and the programme was
conducted in collaboration with Best Practices Foundation, an NGO of Karnataka state
having specialization in this area. The participants were trained in skills of retailing,
pricing mechanism, market survey, positioning of the product their distribution etc. The
language barrier was negotiated with the presence of facilitators having knowledge in
English and extensive use of diagrams, pictures and field visits which banked upon
Participatory Market Appraisal (PMA).
c) Marketing of products
A marketer can hardly satisfy everyone in the market. Hence they start
dividing the markets into segments. They identify segment specific profile of distinct
group of buyers preferring varying products basing on the demographic, psychographic
and behaviour differences among buyers.
1) Identifying products for specific markets
Without going into detailed and complex market analysis SHGs of West Bengal
following simple thumb rule and experience, carry embroidered sarees and dress
materials with, jute bags and other knick knacks to the fairs held in metropolis. The
products sold in Delhi Saras Mela held in IITF by the SHGs of West Bengal bear a
testimony to this. In 2009, 23 SHGs of West Bengal participated in the fair and of them
as many as sixteen SHGs carried embroidered sarees, dress materials and different types
of women outfit namely silwar kameez or kurtis and jute ornaments and bags. In that fair
three SHGs of North 24 Parganas participated and two of them carried embroidered
sarees and dress materials. Identical approach was evident in 2010 in Delhi Saras. Out of
29 SHGs who participated from West Bengal 21 carried embroidered sarees, dress
materials and jute products and only one of the four participating SHGs of North 24
Parganas had a different item to offerx.
This trend is evident in the fairs held in other metropolis also. In fact the products
of primary sector are basically sold in village fairs rather than in metropolis. Rice is the
only product which defies this logic and is sold in the fairs of Kolkata.
x A Report on SARAS Mela, 2009 &2010, CAPART.
REFERENCE
1. A Report on SARAS Mela, 2009 &2010, CAPART
2. District Human Development Report North 24 Parganas, Feb- 2010 Development & Planning Department, , Government of West Bengal.
3. Information on West Bengal Panchayats. August-2010, Web-published by Panchayat s & Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal.
4. Kotler, P. and Keller,K.N.2009. Marketing Management,.Prentice Hall of India.
5. Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna, 1999,Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development- Guidelines.
Acknowledgement-
1) Smt Debjani Dutta WBCS(Exe) PD DRDC North 24 Parganas.
2) Smt Sohini Banerjee Sr. L.D.O, DRDC North 24 Parganas3) Dr. Tapati Banerjee D.T.C DRDC, North 24 Parganas4) Sri Somnath Bandopadhyay Comp. Asst. DRDC, North 24 Parganas
In fact this segmenting of the markets allows the SHGs to reap richer benefits in the sense
that the groups which concentrate on the primary sector products target the rural and semi
rural markets while those with handicrafts, sarees and dress materials etc aim the urban
markets.
2) Marketing the products-making it a habit
The main avenue of marketing the products of SHGs are the fairs organised either
by the government or by private initiatives. Apart from that there are some sale counters
in different districts and in North 24 Parganas the sale counters are at Barasat i.e. District
HQ, Deganga block HQ and Swabhumi- The Heritage Plaza at Salt Lake.
It is a normal experience that the propensity to buy these SHG products can be
discerned among the urban customers who apart from having disposable income attach
the concept of ‘freshness’ with these products. Further the inevitable romanticism
associated with buying products from rural women hailing from a far flung area who has
either produced it or made it, is an undeniable factor in the psyche of urban customers.
This gets further whetted when the customer identifies his rural moorings with the
product. Further somewhat baseless notion that urban customers can squeeze better
price deals from the SHG members also adds to this tendency. All these while shooting
up the sale of products in fairs which are periodic affairs, fails to sustain the demand
since the outlets are scarcely available in urban areas.
DRDC, North 24 Parganas had hit upon certain specific plans to handle this
aspect.
a) In the first regard an outlet was opened in ‘Swabhumi’ a mall- cum- entertainment park in
Kolkata in the vicinity of Salt Lake. The outlet offers handicraft materials, embroidered
sarees and apparels, junk and jute jewellery, jute slippers along with different spices. All
the products are made by SHGs of North 24 parganas operating under the SGSY scheme.
b) Several offices, colleges and universities either hold training programmes or seminars in
which it is customary to give a folder or a bag to the participants. SHGs of the district
under active guidance of the DRDC and drawing upon the memo no-7369F (cited above)
approached different institutions, secured the orders and executed such orders. State
Institute of Panchayats and Rural Development, West Bengal Industrial Development
Corporation, University of Kalyani, CDPO’s offices at different districts, Kolkata office
of UNICEF are some of the customers of the SHGs of the District. It is a fact that these
kinds of involvements are not incessant but they maintain a regularity of sorts. A plus
point is that the organisations which once have placed orders with the SHGs tend to come
back again. Kudos definitely goes to strong perseverance, quality consciousness and
immaculate time sense of the SHG members in executing the orders.
c) The branding of the products was also attempted. All the products of North 24 Parganas
are marketed under the brand name ‘Angana’ (women working in the courtyard) save
spices which is sold under the brand name ‘Sanima’. This branding again, it is conceived
will give a distinct identity to the products of North 24 Parganas.
3) The sale figures –
The sale figures of different fairs in which the SHGs of the district
participated are more or less impressive. The sale figures pertaining to the financial year
08-09 and 09-10 are detailed below in the tables. Further the sale proceeds at the sale
counter at Swabhumi also registered an impressive figure. A novel attempt was made in
supplying the materials to different offices in the district, universities and offices at
Kolkata. The sale figure of the SHGs of the district under SGSY is given in Table-2 and
Table 3 pertaining to the financial year 08-09 and 09-10. The sale figures are categorised
in three distinct heads
a) sales arising out of participation in national level fairs viz. SARAS Mela
conducted in several states.
b) sale figure of the products sold in the fairs within the state viz. Poush
mela at Santiniketan,
c) sale figure arising out of supply to different offices and organisations.
In 2008-09 supply of rice to 16 ICDS project of the district was a major
breakthrough in office supply segment. ‘Essential Commodities Supply Corporation’
failed to execute the supply properly and the SHGs were called to step in. Two SHG
activity clusters of Gaighata block namely Dharampur Paddy Producers Cluster and
Dharmpur Chal Utpadak Swanirbhar Sangha consisting of ten SHGs each
executed the supply. DRDC provided the clusters with a Tata Ace vehicle to carry rice to
different ICDS centres under infrastructure fund of DRDC.
There are some exclusive sale counters of SHG products initiated by DRDC. The
counter at Swabhumi – The Heritage Plaza (a mall come entertainment park) is a
prestigious outlet where different wares of SHGs are displayed for sale. It was started on
15/4/2008 and its sale proceeds for the last three years are given in Table 4. The entire
sale proceeds are taken by the SHGs who have supplied the materials at the counter.
In lieu of conclusion-
So far so good. Yet the flutter in the dovecot of SHG occurs when-
1) SHGs loose the battle of presence in market in face of stiff challenges posed by the
branded and attractively packaged materials. Ideal example is that of honey, whose
branded and packaged variety entice the customer more than the local one processed by
SHGs
2) As a corollary to this market presence, SHG products have to develop immaculate
supply chains so that the products continuously occupy the shelves. To guarantee this, the
flow of credit to the groups needs to be ensured which, unfortunately, is a sore spot
throughout India. Alongside enabling environment has to be created by the people in
power.
3) State should understand, that the metropolis and newly emerging urban areas are prone
to buying value added items and secondary sector products of SHGs. Consequently more
exclusive outlets for the SHG products in the metropolis backed up by a system of
regular supply should be in place rather than setting up separate marketing outlets in the
blocks.
A poverty alleviation programme, as J.S.Mill conceived way back, is basically a
balancing act. It is a delicate balance between extending greatest amount of needful help
to the deserving populace and at the same time discouraging them to be over reliant on
this. SGSY, thus, as a poverty alleviation programme renders the initial ‘push’ to the
entrepreneurial capacity of the rural populace, especially women, so that they come out
of their proverbial morass. In this paper we have seen that the concerned administering
authorities have also tried to do their bit. The second part i.e. to make the target group
self reliant is trickier and here one cannot establish a simplistic linear relationship
between the demands of the beneficiaries and the nuances of the programme. A lamppost,
it is ordinarily believed, precisely has two usages; a reveller uses it for support while
sober understands it as a component of illumination! SGSY or for that matter all similar
kind of programmes are akin to lampposts…it will be interesting to subsequently trace
their usages.
_____________________________x_______________________________
Table-1
Sl.No Name of the Blocks
Major activities done by the groups
1Amdanga Tie& dye, Paddy processing, Mushroom cultivation, Tailoring, Block-
Printing, Paper-bag production, Goat rearing, Fishing. 2 Barasat-I Hand-embroidery, goat rearing, fruit jam & pickles, tie-dye Jute
Ornaments /Bags/Shoes and Chappals, Paddy processing,Home decoratives/idols like Laxmi Ganesh ,Shiv Durga etc /Dia/Cup-
plate/Ornaments Flower vase/Pen stand/ Terracotta tiles/Home decorative items
3 Barasat-II Poultry, hand-embroidery, Paddy processing tailoring, Ari & jari work, nursing & attendant service, wood furniture making.
4 Barrackpore-I Animal husbandry, Tailoring, sola-work, poultry.5 Barrackpore-II Paper bag making, tailoring, house dairy, goat rearing, jute ornaments
& jute products, ready-made garments Paddy processing,6 Bashirhat-I Poultry, goat rearing, fishery & prawn culture, gauge bandage
production, Paddy processing 7 Bashirhat-II Goat rearing, fishery, tailoring, Paddy processing Jari work.8 Bongon Tailoring, poultry, animal husbandry, Paddy processing wool knitting,
nursing & attendant service.9 Bagdah Poultry, animal-husbandry, machine-embroidery, Paddy processing
tailoring.10 Gaighata Vermi-compost production, Paddy processing, Paper bag making,
House Dairy, Poultry, Goat rearing.11 Swarupnagar Animal husbandry, mat-making, Paddy processing Tailoring.12 Habra-I Spices, Fruits & vegetable processing, Mushroom production, crystal
bag making, Ready-made garments, Paddy Processing, Ready food supply, Fishing, Floriculture.
13 Habra-II Poultry, Tailoring, Paddy Processing14 Haroa Animal husbandry, fishery, goat rearing , ari & jari work, 15 Deganga Kantha-stitch, Hand embroidery, Vegetable-dye, Paper bag making, 16 Hasnabad Honey production, Piggery, Horticulture-nursery, Hand embroidery,
Jute works, Mat making, Vermi-compost production 17 Hingalganj Fishing, Poultry, Paddy Processing, Vermi-compost production18 Minakhan Fishing, Goat rearing, Tailoring Paddy Processing, Ready food supply 19 Rajarhat Ari work, tailoring, Catering service.20 Baduria Bamboo works, Tailoring, Poultry, Goat rearing, house Dairy, Paddy
Processing, Pig rearing 21 Sandeshkhali-I Fishery & prawn culture, Goat rearing, Paddy Processing Poultry.22 Sandeshkhali-
IIFishery & Prawn culture, Goat rearing , Poultry, Paddy Processing, Vermi-compost production
Table 2
Sl.no Financial year Organisation or office where supply has been made
Money value of the supply
1 08-09 National level fairs Rs 1237455
2 08-09 State and district level fairs
Rs 724300
3 08-09 Office supplies Rs 23022850Total Rs 24984605
Table 3
Sl.no Financial year Organisation or office where supply has been made
Money value of the supply
1 09-10 National level fairs Rs 2597339
2 09-10 State and district level fairs
Rs 418335
3 09-10 Office supplies Rs 511428Total Rs 3690102
Table 4
Sl.no Financial year Money value of the Sale
1 15/4/2008-March 2009 Rs 85,8872 09-10 Rs 2,170003 10-Oct 2010 Rs 169000Total Rs 4,71887
Notes-
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