Self Help Group Movement in Rural Haryana: An Analysis of Trends, Patterns and Schemes

Dr. Vikas Batra1

Assistant Professor, Department of EconomicsIndira Gandhi Post Graduate Regional Centre, Mirpur,Rewari

Maharshi Dayanad University-124001, Haryana (INDIA)E-mail ID- drvikasbatra@gmail.com

Abstract

The paper describes the self help groups experiences of the state of Haryana. The State of Haryana presents a unique picture of rapid economic growth in certain sectors juxtaposed with poor social indicators like low male-female sex ratio, comparatively low female literacy rate, low level of access to resources to women, and gender discrimination. In the state, both the government and NGOs have been promoting SHGs under different programmes and projects by various departments and agencies. Women and Child Development Department has promoted SHGs under the Programme for Advancement of Gender Equity and Swayamsiddha. Women’s Awareness & Management Academy has promoted Swa-shakti project. Forest Department has been promoting SHGs under the Haryana Community Forest Project and Integrated Natural Resource Management and Poverty Reduction. Banks are promoting SHGs under the SHGs-Bank linkage Programme of NABARD; DRDA is promoting SHGs under Swarnjayati Gram Swarajgar Yojana ((Now National Rural Livelihoods Mission, NRLM). Mewat Development Agency is promoting SHGs under IFAD programme in Mewat district. The most wide-spread model of micro-finance in Haryana is Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and NABARD-SHG Linkage. Major problem issues in the state are less effective implementation by various government agencies due to being overburdened with other responsibilities and inadequate manpower, element of subsidy is main attraction, main focus on quantity than quality, highjack the movement by SGSY, less diversify income generation activities, etc. To streamline the system, the paper suggests to phase out subsidies, more emphasis should be on the qualitative aspects of the groups, micro-level planning to identify key livelihood activities, experiment with new livelihoods with group approach and coordinated efforts should be implemented by various agencies.

Keywords: Self Help Groups, Microfinance, SGSY, NABARD

1 This is a revised version of the paper presented by the author in the National Seminar on “Haryana in National Perspectives, originated by Department of Economics, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak during 14-15 March, 2012. While bearing full responsibility for any remaining error and inadequacy, author is very much thankful to Prof. Kavita Chakravarty, Department of Economics, MDU Rohtak for her guidance and vital suggestion on the draft version of paper. The author is also very thankful to the anonymous reviewer for the valuable comments.

Introduction

Haryana is located on the north-western side of the Indian Union adjoining the Delhi. On the

north it is bounded by the States of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, on the east by Delhi and Uttar

Pradesh; and on the south and west by Rajasthan. Most of the region of the State falls under

plains except some hilly areas in the southern part of Mahendragarh district, the south-western

part of Gurgaon district, and the north-eastern part of Panchkula district. The eastern plain is

more fertile than the western plain. Rural Haryana comprises 6,764 inhabited villages spread

across 21 districts1 administered through 74 tehsils and 119 community development blocks.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Haryana’s economy and nearly 60 per cent of the State’s

population earns its livelihood from this sector (Economic Survey, 2011-12). There has been a

remarkable increase in foodgrains production, and wheat and rice played a major role in pushing

up the agricultural production2. The growth in service sector is also very impressive. Haryana is

also emerging as a frontline State moving in industrial growth (CMIE, 2007). The growth rate of

Gross State Domestic Product has been impressive during the last ten years and this growth of

per-capita income has a major role in reducing poverty. Because of high income, the proportion

of people living below the poverty line in the State is quite less. The per-capita income of the

stare was Rs. 109297 at current prices and Rs 63045 at constant prices in 2011-12. Though, As

per Economic Survey, 2011-12, the contribution of the State in the National Gross Domestic

Product at constant price is 3.4 per cent.

Rural Poverty in Haryana: National Sample Survey Organization Estimates

Haryana’s head-count poverty ratio, which has always been one of the lowest in India, also

appears to have been declining continuously over time with an overall head-count ratio of 34.36

per cent in 1973-74 declines to 8.70 per cent in 1999-2000, and the rural head count falling from

34.23 per cent in 1973-74 to 8.27 per cent in 1999-2000 and 13.3 per cent in 2004-05 (Table 1).

District-wise estimates based on the latest NSSO data compiled in Table 2; show that rural

poverty in Haryana is highest in Faridabad (37.6 per cent) and lowest in Kurukshetra (2.2 per

cent). Within social groups the poverty ratio is highest among SCs (26.8 per cent) followed by

OBCs (13.9), and other groups have only a 4.2 per cent poverty ratio.

Identification of the Poor with Below Poverty Line (BPL) Survey

The basic objective of the BPL survey is to identify the families living below the poverty line,

hoping that they could be assisted under various anti-poverty programmes. Different criteria

have been used to identify the BPL population in Haryana3. During the year 1991-92, the total

number of BPL families was 6,30,699. The 1997 BPL survey found that 6,38,777 families (30.34

per cent) out of a total of 21.05 lakh families were living below the poverty line. The latest BPL

survey in the State was conducted during the year 2007-08. Total number of BPL households

was 8,58,389. The district-wise number of BPL families according to the 2007 BPL survey is

given in Table 3. The Table shows that the total number of BPL families was lowest in

Panchkula (13,514), followed by Gurgaon (22,211). The highest number of poor was in District

Bhiwani (70,009) and the second highest in Jind (61,540). The percentage of BPL poor was

lowest in Rohtak (18.64) and second lowest in Faridabad (21.71), while the percentage of BPL

households was highest in Fatehabad (35.51) followed by Jind (33.45). There are great variations

within districts and numbers are changing unevenly across the time period.

Basic Needs and Rural Infrastructure in Haryana

In Haryana, the percentage of rural households having access to safe drinking water has

increased, from 42.9 per cent in 1981 to 67.1 per cent in 1991, and further to 81.1 per cent in

2001. Haryana’s performance is better in this area than the national average, which was 26.5 per

cent in 1981, 55.5 per cent in 1991, and 73.2 per cent in 2001. In 1980-81, the percentage of

villages connected with metalled roads in Haryana was 97.31, and this percentage increased to

98.99 per cent in 2000-01(Statistical Abstract of Haryana, 2006). Table 4 shows the performance

related to the providing of rural basic needs in Haryana. Except for waste water and sanitation

facilities, Haryana’s position is better than the national average. As regards the Rural Basic

Needs Index, with a figure of 0.72, Haryana occupied the second place, after Punjab.

Human Development in Haryana-Sex Ratio, Literacy, Human, Gender and Empowerment

Index

Table 5 shows the trends in the sex ratio and literacy in Haryana. It reveals that the sex ratio has

been continuously on the decline from 867 in 1971 to 877 in 2011. The sex ratio in all the

districts of Haryana was below the national average. The situation of the child sex ratio in the

age group of 0-6 is also very gloomy. According to Census 2011 it was 830 in Haryana which is

below than the national average. Education is a key indicator of human development. Many

desirable social and economic outcomes are linked to rising levels of education, particularly

education of women and of socially vulnerable groups. Education thus has a potentially powerful

role in promoting economic mobility and reducing poverty. Literacy has improved over time in

Haryana but in the case of women, the performance is comparatively slow. Table 5 shows that

male literacy has increased from 38.90 per cent in 1971 to 85.38 per cent in 2011. On the other

hand, female literacy has increased from 10.32 per cent in 1971 to 66.77 per cent in 2011.

During the decade of the Nineties of the 20th century, Human Development Index (HDI) evolved

into a powerful instrument for comparing development levels across the regions. In recent years,

Indian States have started using this index to assess the relative welfare of people. Against this

backdrop, concepts relating to poverty and methodologies and techniques for measuring poverty

have gained a new dimension. Table 6 shows the performance of Haryana in Human

Development. As per the latest estimates, Haryana is placed at 21, which reflects a very dismal

state of affair, indeed. In regard to Gender Development Index, the Table shows that the State’s

ranking is 20 - which again reveal a very discouraging picture. In the case of Gender

Empowerment Index (GEM), the performance is slightly better. The State gained the seventh

position at the all-India level. The GEM rank is not really low but it definitely is relatively low as

compared to Haryana’s per-capita income, the State’s GDP growth rate and low poverty ratio.

Overall, material deprivation is continuously declining in Haryana but in the case of human

development, the performance is not so encouraging.

Self Help Groups: Concept and Status in Haryana

Microfinance services have different delivery methodologies (joint liability groups, individual

banking, Self-Help Groups etc) and channels (apex financial institutions like NABARD, SIDBI

and government owned societies like Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, formal sector financial institutions,

commercial banks, regional rural banks, in addition to member-based institutions like

cooperative, mutually aided cooperative societies, SHG Federations and private sector

companies like specialized NBFCs, NGOs, societies, trusts, etc.). A Self-Help Group is an

informal association of 10-20 persons, who have voluntarily come together for the business of

saving and credit and to enhance the members’ financial security as primary focus and other

common interest of members such as area development, awareness, motivation, leadership,

training and associating in other social intermediation programmes for the benefit of an entire

community (Gangaiah et al. 2006). NABARD defines it as a group of 20 or less people from a

homogenous class who are willing to come together for addressing their common problems.

They make regular savings and use the pooled savings to give interest-bearing loans to their

members. These groups are expected to create a democratic culture with participations in debate

and the decision-making process, which is possible only in small groups.

In Haryana, Self Help Groups are promoted under different programmes/projects by various

departments and agencies. The Women and Child Development Department has promoted SHGs

under the Programme for Advancement of Gender Equity (PAGE) and Swayamsiddha. Women’s

Awareness & Management Academy (WAMA) has promoted the Swashakti project while the

Forest Department has been promoting SHGs under the Haryana Community Forest Project

(HCFP) and Integrated Natural Resource Management and Poverty Reduction. Banks are

promoting SHGs under NABARD’s SHGs-Bank linkage Programme; DRDA is promoting

SHGs under Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (now NRLM) and Mewat Development

Agency (MDA) is promoting SHGs under the IFAD programme in Mewat district. Besides

government departments and agencies and banks, some international, national and regional

NGOs are also involved in this work.

Integrated Women’s Empowerment and Development Project (IWEDP)

The Integrated Women’s Empowerment and Development Project (IWEDP) was started in

District Mahendragarh in July1994, and later extended to 70 villages of District Rewari in April

1995. The objective of the IWEDP was to create an enabling social environment by improving

the status of women and the community at large through processes such as group formation,

social mobilization, awareness generation, skill up-gradation and intervention in the areas of

health and education with a focus on women and adolescents. Under this Programme a total of

867 women’s groups, called Jagriti Mandalies (JMs) were formed. The Project area in the second

phase (w.e.f. January, 1999) was extended to include the whole district of Rewari. 

Programme for Advancement of Gender Equality (PAGE)

PAGE was initiated in District Rewari in July 2003.  The main objective of the Project during

was to consolidate the Project outcomes of the past eight years and build capacities of the district

machinery to continue supporting the Jagriti Mandalies (JMs).  A sustainability mechanism was

introduced through convergence with government schemes and integration of social and

economic processes.  In this direction the first step was to transform the JMs into SHGs.   A total

of 253 SHGs were nurtured by the Project in district Rewari.  The major interventions under

PAGE were capacity-building of social organizers (field workers) as master trainers to enable

them to impart training and build the capacities of SHG leaders/members on various aspects of

the SHG concept, and to strengthen SHGs in the district through various trainings. 

Swayamsiddha

The Swayamsiddha scheme was launched in the year 2001 and dedicated to women’s

empowerment. Child Development Project Officers are the Project Implementing Agencies

(PIAs) in Haryana. The main vision of the scheme is to empower women who will demand their

rights from family, community and government, have increased access to, and control over,

material, social and political resources, have enhanced awareness and improved skills and able to

raise issues of common concern through mobilization and networking.

Swayamsiddha is a Self Help Groups-based programme with emphasis on convergence

activities. The objective is to ensure that Self Help Groups’ members avail the benefits of all

schemes and services in an integrated and holistic manner. The scheme is being implemented in

six districts of which thirteen blocks have been sanctioned in Haryana Under the scheme, total

1,300 SHGs have been formed in the 668 villages covering 17,833 members. Under the scheme,

the accumulated saving of the SHGs is Rs. 526.48 lakh. All these groups are conducting inter-

group loaning to the tune of Rs. 442.24 lakh and all of them have also opened bank accounts, of

which 603 groups have even availed bank loans (Table 7). As claimed in the documents of

Government of Haryana, the members of 1,279 groups are also doing Income Generating

Activities4. The field level investigation shows that the performance of the scheme is quite below

average ( Batra, 2012). The Swayamsiddha Scheme has culminated from March, 2008.

Conversion of Mahila Mandals into Self Help Groups

There were 6,713 registered Mahila Mandals in Haryana State in 2008. These Mahila Mandals

were not functioning actively as they should have been. The primary reasons for their slow

progress seemed to be the lack of direction and incapacitation of the women involved. Moreover,

since these groups did not undertake any main economic activity, the binding factor seemed to be

missing. It was suggested that the concept of Mahila Mandal be changed and diverted to SHGs.

1675 SHGs have been formed under the scheme and 1623 SHGs are involved in activities of

saving, and have accumulated saving to the tune of Rs. 2,03,95,519 . 1086 SHGs are inter-group

loaning to the tune of Rs. 72,76,253 and 1064 SHGs have opened bank accounts. Moreover 1288

SHGs are involved in preparation of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (WCD, 2009).

Swa-Shakti Project

Under Haryana Women’s Development Corporation (HWDC), the Rural Women’s Development

& Empowerment (Swa-Shakti) Project was implemented in the State by the Women’s

Development Council, assisted by the World Bank, International Fund for Agriculture

Development (IFAD) and Government of India. This Project for the development and

empowerment of rural women depended on the formation of women’s SHGs and emphasized on

access to credit, promotion of micro-enterprises and encouraging institution-building at the

grassroots. The Project also stressed on processes that would ensure women’s access to and

control over socio-political resources and help resolve issues of common concern. The Project

was undertaken in three districts covering 23 development blocks and 643 villages. A total of

1,550 SHGs were formed, with the membership of 22,009 women.

Micro-Credit Scheme of HWDC

The HWDC implemented a loaning scheme for women to set up their own enterprises which has

been discontinued w.e.f. July 2008 and introduced a new scheme namely Micro Credit Scheme

under which Haryana Women’s Development Corporation (HWDC) gets loan from Rashtriya

Mahila Kosh (RMK) at the rate of eight per cent interest per annum. The Corporation gives loan

to SHGs and individual members at the rate of five per cent interest per annum and balance three

per cent interest is provided by the Corporation. Under this scheme, against a target of covering

40 SHGs, financial assistance of Rs. 57.75 lakh has been provided to 24 SHGs up to December

2008. In another scheme, the State Government has set up Sanitary Napkin Units through

Sakshar Mahila Samoohs/Women’s Self Help Groups in all the districts through Haryana

Women’s Development Corporation.

Haryana Community Forestry Project (HCFP)

With the efforts of Haryana Forest Department, the Haryana Community Forestry Project

(HCFP), with the financial assistance of the European Union (EU) Community, was started in

April 1999 and continued through June 30, 2008. The Project is being implemented in over 338

villages of 37 rural Community Development Blocks in 11 districts. HCFP has encouraged the

development of non-farm activities in Project villages by availing the services of existing

institutions and programmes through the promotion of self-employment opportunities by way of

a number of skill-based activities. These include dairy, vermi-composting, tailoring/embroidery,

wooden beads-making, cultivation of medicinal plants, nurseries and traditional crafts such as

durree-weaving, soap and candle-making, pickle-making etc. The Project constitutes Self Help

Groups (SHG) in the selected villages with the assistance of NGOs and their grassroots

consultants. There are at present 180 Self-Help Groups in 101 villages, all of which are involved

in Income Generation Activities (IGAs) claimed by the Forest Department. Income records for

1600 SHG members show a cumulative income of Rs. 24 million during five years for IGAs

taken up.

Integrated Natural Resource Management and Poverty Reduction

The Haryana Forest Department launched a Project, "Integrated Natural Resource Management

and Poverty Reduction " in 2004 with financial assistance from the Japan Bank of International

Co-operation, The Project aims at afforestation, water and soil conservation, poverty reduction

activities, technical assistance and institutional capacity development in 800 villages in seven

districts. The main objectives of the Project are to create employment, increase income through

the acquisition of income-generating skills, improve the social status of poor people by

supporting self-help groups, supply forest products to the poor, increase production in livestock

farming, and improve nutrition by securing access to water and by improving soil. So far about

1607 Self Help Groups have been constituted and their bank accounts opened. They are being

encouraged to initiate some feasible IGAs for which loans are available through Village Forest

Committee (VFC) from the revolving fund created under the Project. In the first phase (2004-

05), 197 Self Help Groups were formed in these districts. There are 2531 members from 197

SHGs contributing around Rs. 20, 34,953 in total as group savings and the total inter-loaning

amount is Rs. 12,74,410 as of September 2006. In the second phase of the Project (2005-06),

there are 227 Self Help Groups had been formed, and the process is still continuing.

SHGs under SGSY in Haryana

As regard to physical performance of SGSY groups in the state, there were 712 SHGs formed in

the year 1999-00, 1530 in 2002-03, 985 in 2004-05, 2303 in 2005-06 and 4506 in 2008-09. The

number of women SHGs is also increasing. The women SHGs were 442 in 2002-03 which

increased to 2,857 in the year 2008-09 (Table 8). As regards the grading of the SHGs, in 2008-

09, the total number of SHGs that acquired Grade-I was 2,880 and in Grade-II, the number was

1,796. As regards the IGAs, in 1999-2000 total number of 260 SHGs had taken up economic

activities. This number increased to 776 in 2003-04, 1018 in 2004-05 and 2307 in 2008-09

(Table 9). Within these SHGs, the greatest numbers were involved in the primary sector, mainly

in milch cattle. There is less attention paid on the other areas of economic activity such as

handicraft, handloom, irrigation and the tertiary sector. This reflects that there is a lack of

diversification in the SGSY SHGs’ activities in Haryana.

Total Swarozgaries Assisted Under SGSY

Table 10 shows the trends of total swarozgaries assisted under the scheme. The number

increased from 17,348 in 1999-2000 to 25,853 in 2000-01 and then decreased to 5,375 in 2002-

03. In 2004-05 14,132 swarozgaries were assisted. The members covered under the scheme were

2,730 in 1999-2000, 11,037 in 2004-05 and 18,360 in 2008-09. The number of individual

swarozgaries also decreased overtime. The numbers were 14,618 in 1999-00, 6,298 in 2002-03,

3,095 in 2004-05 and 2,279 in 2008-09. Table 10 shows that nearly 50 percent of the total

swarozgaries who were assisted under the scheme belonged to scheduled caste category. This is

in line with the mandate of the scheme. In case of women swarozgaries, the percentage was

54.91 in 1999-2000 and 62.11 in 2003-04 and 74.71 per cent in 2008-09. These trends are very

impressive and should be continued with more participation of women. As regards the number

of disabled swarozgaries assisted, the percentage was 0.78 in 1999-2000, 1.35 in 2004-05 and

1.11 in 2008-09.

Disbursement of Subsidy and total Investment under the Scheme

Table 11 shows the amount of subsidy disbursed to SHGs and individual swarozgaries, and the

total investment under the scheme. The Table reveals the increasing amount of subsidy disbursed

to SHGs, from Rs. 93.59 lakh in 1999-2000 to Rs. 1056.35 lakh in 2004-05 and Rs. 1779.54 lakh

in 2008-09. The subsidy disbursed to individual swarozgaries was Rs. 1056.69 lakh in 1999-

2000 and Rs. 261.76 lakh in 2004-05 and Rs. 207.04 lakh in 2008-09. In the initial years the

amount of subsidy disbursed to SHGs was less, and it increased in the later years. In case of

individual swarozgaries, the trends are just the opposite, i.e. high disbursement in the initial

years and low disbursement in the later years.

National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) SHG-Bank Linkage Programme in Haryana

The cumulative number of SHGs in Haryana as of 31st March, 2009 was recorded to be 17,436.

Haryana accounted for only 0.02 per cent of all SHGs in India. The total bank loans provided to

all these SHGs as of 31st March 2009 was Rs. 6,383.91 lakh (Table 12). An analysis of

distribution of SHGs across districts in Haryana reveals that the southern part of the State

comprising Gurgaon, Mewat, Rewari and Mahendrargarh districts has larger share of SHGs.

Gurgaon district (including Mewat) has the maximum number of SHGs in Haryana. Model-wise

SHG-Bank linkages analysis for the State further brings to the fore that as on 31st March, 2004,

75.18 per cent of SHGs had bank-linked under Model II and the remaining (24.82 per cent) had

been linked under Model I. There was absolutely no presence of Model III SHG bank linkage in

the State.

Agency-wise Distribution of Bank Linkage

All the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), District, Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) and

Commercial Banks in the State took part in the SHG bank linkage programme. Commercial

banks and RRBs are the major players in the SBL programme in the State. During the period

1999-98 to 2008-2009, the share of commercial banks in the SBL programme increased from

18.18 to 65.01 per cent in terms of number of SHGs and from 27.39 to 63.26 per cent in terms of

bank loans disbursed to SHGs. Whereas the share of RRBs came down during the period both in

terms of the number of SHGs (from 81 per cent to 28.25 per cent) and bank loans (72.60 per cent

to 32.33 per cent), the co-operatives increased their share to 6.75 per cent in terms of the number

of SHGs and 4.4 per cent in terms of bank loans (Table 13).

Figure 1: Agency wise Distribution of Linkage in Haryana

Among the public sector commercial banks, Punjab National Bank is leading with a total of

1,123 SHGs formed during 2008-09. Dena Bank and State Bank are also among the top in regard

to SHGs formed . Among the private banks, HDFC has ventured in the SHG Bank Linkage

Programme in Haryana with 107 SHGs. Among the RRBs the Ambala–Kurukshetra Gramin

Bank and Gurgaon Gramin Bank are leading at the top. Ambala-Kurukshetra Gramin Bank

accounted for 23 per cent of SHGs with one-fourth of credit support provided by RRBs in

Haryana under the SHG bank linkage programme, followed by the Gurgaon Gramin Bank. These

two RRBs, accounted for linkage of about 60 per cent of SHGs with 60 per cent of credit support

. District Central Co-operative Banks remained slow in SHG-Bank linkage programme as this

Agency was a party for linking only 11 per cent of the SHGs in the State. The Hisar DCCB leads

the race among the DCCBs, followed by Fatehabad DCCB. These two DCCBs account for 44

per cent of SHGs with 33 per cent of credit support extended by DCCBs under SHG Bank

Linkage Programme. As per the latest data, Fatehabad (87), Jhajhar (67) and Sirsa (61) have

large number of SHGs under DCCBs. There are also various NGOs working with the NABARD

linkage programme in the State5.

Mewat Development Agency (MDA)

To deliver social and economic justice to the backward and under-privileged sections of society,

the Government of Haryana created the Mewat Development Board (MDB) in 1980. Since 1995,

the MDA has been implementing the Mewat Area Development Project (MADP) in

collaboration with International Funds for Agriculture Development (IFAD). MDA started its

operations with the objectives to improve the economic and social well-being of the Meo

community, to promote gender self-reliance on a sustainable basis and to broaden the range of

economic opportunities available to the community.

The initial period of the Project was seven years, effective from 1995-96 to 2002-2003.

However, it was extended upto 31st March, 2005. Having been encouraged with the performance

of SHGs, the project period was extended for another three years. During the period of the

Mewat Area Development Project (MADP-IFAD), the MDA also started a special programme of

empowerment for women through constituting Self Help Groups. Table 14 shows that the MDA

formed 3,467 Self Help Groups comprising 44,727 members. Among these total members, 17.85

per cent of beneficiaries belong to the SC community, 22.73 per cent are from B.C. community

and 42.25 per cent from Meo community.

Problem Areas in SHG Movement in the State

The programme-implementing agencies in the state especially, DRDA and ICDS are facing

problems in effective implementation due to being overburdened with other responsibilities and

inadequate manpower. These agencies also faced problems such as lack of staff trained on

income generation, financial literacy and other social issues. In case of Swayamsiddha, the next

phase of the scheme is in the pipeline, the flows of funds are inappropriate and this also causes

some problems. The DRDA staff has to look after other development scheme and this resulted in

less attention being paid to SGSY.

The element of subsidy in SGSY attracted the poor households to become members of groups.

Livelihood generation, capital building, savings etc. were not in the agenda. The subsidy element

also led to some misappropriation on the part of functionaries, as well as misuse on the part of

borrowers themselves. Creating and sustaining support systems was the main objective of the

subsidy but it was distorted in the field. The progress of SHGs, especially in SGSY was being

measured in terms of number of group formed, number of people covered and amount of credit

disbursed- not in terms of income accruing from various activities. There is specific pressure put

on the administration to achieve group targets within a limited time frame. Over the years, the

emphasis on achievements of quantitative targets has resulted in wrong selection of the projects,

poor quality group formation without real assessment of entrepreneurial potential, under-

financing and instances of willful defaulting.

In the state, it was found that the SGSY scheme created problems for groups running under

different programmes. The non-SGSY groups, especially in Swayamsiddha, subsidy and high

amount of loan are main attraction points and some of them. In taking the opinion of NABARD

groups, it was found in most cases, that they were dissatisfied with the low amount of the loans

disbursed and very keen to join SGSY to secure high loans and subsidies. These components in

SGSY thus adversely affected and discouraged individuals from joining SHGs under different

programmes.

In the stare, it is found that the range of activities for which loans were available was quite

narrow and the programmes agencies had not focused on the diversification of income

generation activities. In SGSY, the majority of loans are disbursed for livestock; the groups

under Swayamsiddha had rarely adopted these activities due to lower loan amount and

indifferent attitude of banks. The majority of the groups adopted food preparation for Anganwadi

as directed by ICDS office.

Suggestions

There a is need to phase out subsidies in the SGSY programme and banks should be encouraged

to lend adequate funds to viable projects preferably managed by SHGs- that would ensure

generation of income for the borrowers and repayment of the bank loan. Micro-finance

programmes like NABARD, SIDBI, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, Swashakti and SEWA and other

community based organizations have worked well without subsidies. The resources devoted to

subsidies should be spent on enhancing expenditure on infrastructure and support services such

as on organizing, training and providing handholding support to the groups.

For the actualization of the SHG objectives, more emphasis should be on the qualitative aspects

of these groups. The blind strategy of making more and more groups without any qualitative

inputs will certainly create problems and risks also. Governments should play a facilitating role,

should not be target-oriented and should restrain from enlarging the agenda of the SHGs. The

microfinance programmes should define themselves as quality- and process-oriented

microfinance and micro-enterprise programmes for the poor. There should be no pressure for

achievement of targets or rigid time limits for groups to move on from one stage to the next.

There is a need for micro-level planning to identify key livelihood activities. In order to identify

appropriate livelihood opportunities a Task Force should be set up at the local level by including

all concerned agencies such as District Rural Development Agencies, the National Bank for

Agriculture and Rural Development, participating banks, gram panchayat, line department,

NGOs and the private sector. Village potential mapping with a sub-sectoral analysis would play

a substantial role in the development income generation activities. In order to have a knowledge

base about the availability of resources, panchayat-level surveys can also be conducted under the

auspices of local authorities. To make them operational, the cluster-based local development

approaches should be adopted.

One important point of suggestion is about the microfinance programmes are regarding the

experiment with new livelihoods. This facilitates the group members over a period of time to

diversify from a narrow choice of local skill and trade like livestock rearing and petty trading to

more commercial activities. The future emphasis of the implementation agencies should be on

group based income generation activities. This will enhance the capacities of the group members

as well as social solidarity.

In Haryana, various kinds of agencies such as DRDA, ICDS, NABARD, the forest department

and international and regional NGOs are working in the area of microfinance. Some well-

coordinated efforts should be implemented to prevent the duplication, overlapping and wastage

of funds. For the sake of consistency and administrative expediency and in order to foster a

genuine microfinance movement in the state, there must be uniformity for all microfinance

schemes of different departments such that the subsidy element does not attract and wean away

individuals from other genuine savings and thrift groups.

Conclusion

The SHG movement in rural Haryana is in an early stages and taking many shapes as different

agencies promote micro-finance with a variety of approaches and strategies. At present there is

no adequate and complete database on SHGs in the State as the information is scattered around

with different departments and institution. Among all micro-finance programmes, SGSY is

leading with highest numbers of SHGs and loan amount and also it has special focus on BPL

families. The results of the micro-finance programme of Mewat Development Agency are also

very encouraging. There are smaller numbers of community-based organizations in the state and

small NGOs are in the field but with certain limitations. Given the positive impact of micro-

finance on women, as claimed worldwide, certain innovative practices should be adopted to

streamline the SHG movement in the state.

Table 1: Trends in Rural Poverty in Haryana: NSSO Estimates

Year Rural Head-Count Ratio

1973-74 34.23

1977-78 27.73

1983-84 20.56

1987-88 16.22

1993-94 28.02

1999-00 8.27

2004-05 13.30

Source: Planning Commission, Government of India.

Table 2: District-wise Population Proportion, MPCE, HCR in Rural HaryanaDistrict Proportional

PopulationMPCE (Rs) % Poor

Panchkula 1.5 950 4.3Ambala 5.1 836 3.1Yamuna Nagar 4.6 1,011 7.6Kurukshetra 3.6 1,039 2.4Kaithal 5.4 768 12.4Karnal 6.1 798 5.9Panipat 4.2 839 22.7Sonipat 6.2 718 24.5Jind 6.8 869 14.6Fatehabad 4.2 795 13.2Sirsa 5.2 712 9.4Hisar 7.0 702 15.2Bhiwani 7.3 670 18.3Rohtak 3.9 803 6.0Jhajjar 4.1 791 6.6Mahendragarh 4.0 719 8.4Rewari 4.0 790 16.8Gurgaon 10.2 1,559 6.2Faridabad 6.7 634 37.6Haryana 100.0 863 13.30

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, 2009

Table 3: District Wise Number and Percentage of BPL Families in 2007

District Total no.of rural household

TotalRuralpopulation

Total no.of BPLhouseholds

%age ofBPLHH

BPL households(out of col.5)SC BC Landles

sAmbala 145934 727173 44185 30.28 24912 14043 42868Bhiwani 260951 1259344 70009 26.83 34059 18321 58087Faridabad 160314 766773 34807 21.71 15626 11315 32347Fatehabad 137193 674713 48720 35.51 30168 13670 47753Gurgaon 93130 495178 22211 23.85 10780 4606 19756Hisar 237925 1186618 58737 24.69 37163 14573 56499Jhajjar 130747 679752 29221 22.35 14974 7907 24990Jind 183976 926386 61540 33.45 31551 17122 50691Kaithal 173186 864179 52732 30.45 25498 17136 48301Karnal 195597 920169 52355 26.77 25703 19518 50665Kurukshetra 140532 698186 46491 33.08 22448 19671 45895Mahendragarh

145430 767954 38665 26.59 19425 13803 33514

Mewat 192388 1102494 53270 27.69 8956 16718 45271Panchkula 41340 198362 13514 32.69 5216 4708 11526Panipat 135938 649979 33402 24.57 14644 12888 32663Rewari 136008 678259 34729 25.53 19349 10351 30277Rohtak 120308 615965 22426 18.64 13249 5320 20512Sirsa 184637 908329 47640 25.80 31008 12947 46929Sonipat 183373 969673 48405 26.40 21275 18260 44959Yamunanagar 160315 778836 45330 28.28 24901 14690 43359Total 3159222 15868322 858389 27.17 43090

5267567

786862

Source: Department of Rural Development, Government of Haryana.

Table 4: Rural Basic Needs Indicators: Haryana vs India

Indicators Haryana India

Rural Literacy Rate 63.82 59.21

Rural Life Expectancy Rate 62.9 59.4

Rural roads 99.36 78.04

Percentage of Pacca Houses in Rural Areas 72.50 29.20

Percentage of Houses with Electricity in Rural areas 78.50 21.92

Percentage of houses in Rural area with Latrine 28.66 43.52

Percentage of houses in rural areas having

connectivity for waste water

28.28 65.82

Percentage houses with safe drinking water 81.13 73.23

Source: National Human Development Report, 2001, Census of India, 2001.

Table 5: Sex ratio and Literacy Gap in Haryana and India: 1901-2001 Census Year

Sex ratio India

Sex Ratio Haryana

Literacy Rate Total

Male Female Male Female Literacy Gap rate

1901 972 867 - - - -1911 964 835 - - - -1921 955 844 - - - -1931 950 844 - - - -1941 945 869 - - - -1951 946 871 - - - -1961 941 868 - - - -1971 930 867 25.71 38.90 10.30 28.601981 934 870 37.13 51.86 20.04 31.821991 926 865 55.85 69.10 40.47 28.632001 933 861 68.59 79.25 56.31 22.492011 940 877 76.64 85.38 66.77 18.61

Source: Director of Census Operations, Haryana (population results 2011).

Table 6: Human Development Index, Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Index in Haryana- 2006 and 1996Index Haryana IndiaHDI Score 2006 0.643 0.605HDI Score 1996 0.570 0.530Rank HDI 2006 21 ---Rank HDI 1996 21 --GDI Score 2006 0.632 0.590GDI Score 1996 0.555 0.514Rank GDI 2006 20 --Rank GDI 2006 19 --GEM Score 2006 0.532 0.497GEM Score 1996 0.455 0.416GEM Rank 2006 7 --GEM Rank 1996 6 --

Source: Gendering Human Development Indices: Recasting the GDI and GEM for India, Ministry of Women and Child Development, New Delhi, 2009.

Table 7: Progress of the scheme Swayamsiddha

Description Cumulative Progress upto

30.06.2007

No. of surviving IMY SHGs 354

New SHGs formed 946

Total SHGs 1300

No. of villages covered 668

No. of SHG members 17833

No. of SHGs doing savings 1300

Amount saved (in Rs.) 454,95,032

No. of SHGs doing interloaning 1300

Amount loaned (in Rs.) 418,86,161

No. of members received loan 26160

No. of SHGs having bank accounts 1300

Amount deposited in banks (in Rs.) 2,70,02,170

No. of SHGs availing loan from banks/other sources 577

Amount of loan (in Rs.) from banks 17964797

No. of loan beneficiaries 5851

No. of SHGs doing IGA 1242

No. of SHG members doing IGA 9463

Source: Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Haryana

Table 8: Number of SHGs formed under SGSY since 1-4-1999 (In Numbers)

Year No. of SHGs No of Women SHGs

1999-00 712 -

2000-01 1393 -

2001-02 1820 -

2002-03 1530 442

2003-04 1484 468

2004-05 985 642

2005-06 2303 1263

2006-07 1598 897

2007-08 2261 1209

2008-09 4506 2857

Note: - Data not availableSource: Annual Reports of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. (Figures given in parenthesis

indicate percentage).

Table 9: Self Help Groups with Grades and Economic Activities in Haryana since 1-4-1999

(In Numbers)

Year No of SHGs

Passed Grade-1

No of SHGs

Passed Grade-2

No of SHGs Taken up

Economic Activities

1999-00 229 92 260

2000-01 642 181 171

2001-02 836 387 236

2002-03 1310 606 495

2003-04 1158 844 776

2004-05 1223 1050 1018

2005-06 1359 1197 1148

2006-07 1169 536 504

2007-08 1959 1619 2140

2008-09 2880 1796 2307

Source: Same as Table 1

Total 10: Swarozgaries Assisted and Coverage of SC, Women and Disabled under SGSY in Haryana (In Numbers and Percentage)

Year Members

covered

under

SHGs

Number of

individual

Swarozgaries

Assisted

Total No of

Scheduled

Caste

Swarozgaries

No of Women

Swarozgaries

No of Disabled

Swarozgaries

1999-00 2730 14618 17348 8262(47.63) 9527(54.91) 136(0.78)

2000-01 1697 24156 25853 11746(45.43) 13130(50.79) 173(0.67)

2001-02 2440 12407 14847 6959(46.85) 7614(51.28) 108(0.18)

2002-03 5375 6298 11673 5575(47.76) 6431(55.09) 104(0.89)

2003-04 10545 3644 14189 7450(47.30) 9763(62.11) 58(0.37)

2004-05 11037 3095 14132 6343(44.88) 8543(60.43) 146(1.03)

2005-06 12026 2929 14955 7356 (49.19) 9865 (65.96) 229 (1.53)

2006-07 5253 653 5906 3017 (51.08) 4356 (73.76) 109 (1.85)

2007-08 16559 2001 18560 10745 (54.02) 14104 (70.91) 372 (1.87)

2008-09 18360 2279 20639 10775 (52.21) 15419 (74.71) 230 (1.11)

Source: Same as Table 1

Table 11: Disbursement of Subsidy under the Scheme in Haryana (In Lakhs)

Year Subsidy disbursed to SHGs

Subsidy disbursed to individual swarozgaries

Total

1999-00 93.59 1056.69 1150.28

2000-01 194.33 1814.34 2008.67

2001-02 291.89 977.00 1268.89

2002-03 545.77 507.11 1152.88

2003-04 820.81 303.59 1124.40

2004-05 1056.35 261.76 1318.11

2005-06 1180.46 246.80 1427.26

2006-07 511.67 54.07 565.75

2007-08 1591.37 451.25 2042.62

2008-09 1779.54 207.04 1986.57

Source: Same as Table 1

Table 12 : SHG-Bank Linkage: Numbers, Loan disbursement and Refinance under NABARD in Haryana

(Number Cumulative, disbursement in Rs. 10 lakh and Refinance in lakh)Year SHGs Loan Amount Refinance

1996-97 7 -- --

1997-98 10 0.25 --

2000-01 537 15.57 90

2001-02 970 37.29 181

2002-03 1524 69.44 176

2003-04 2344 146.43 105

2004-05 3351 200.63 224

2005-06 2--

Source: SHG-Bank Linkage Report, Various Years

Table 13: SHG – Bank Linkage Agency-Wise Cumulative Participation Spread in Haryana(Amount in Rs. lakh)Years Commercial Bank

(Rs)Regional Rural Banks

Co-operative Banks Total

No. of SHG Bank Loan No. of SHG

Bank Loan

No. of SHG

Bank Loan

No of SHG

Bank Loan

2000 22 1.80 99 4.77 -- -- 121 6.57

2001 35 3.42 420 12.15 -- -- 455 15.57

2002 267 19.98 703 17.31 -- -- 970 37.29

2003 359 26.56 1,165 42.88 -- -- 1,524 69.44

2004 744 78.69 1,563 66.61 37 1.13 2,344 146.43

2006 2300 164.55 2,510 149.71 57 1.75 4867 316.02

2008 1118 1640.20 1251 842.54 213 131.15 2582 2613.89

2009 2973 4038.15 1292 2064.79 309 280.97 4573 6383.91

Note: - Data not available Source: Same as Table 6

Table 14: Physical Performance of SHG under Mewat Development Agency (As on 31December 2009)

Block Total No. of Villages

Total No. of SHGs

Total MemberSC BC Meo Gen. Total

Firozpur

Jhirka

80 638 923 1370 3963 1486 7742

Punhana 83 653 1130 2599 3585 731 8045

Nuh 108 527 1078 1103 2894 1751 6826

Tauru 81 517 1972 1602 2078 749 6401

Nagina 67 521 1200 1553 3799 262 6814

Hathin 81 611 1681 1942 2582 2694 8899

Total 500 3467 7984 10169 18901 7673 44727

Note: In each block, the SHGs have been formed under Mahila Vikas Samiti Source: Mewat Development Agency, http://mda.nic.in./consolidated%20data%20shg.pdf

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1 These 21 districts are Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Jind, Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Faridabad, Palwal, Gurgaon, Mewat, Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa.2 The foodgrains production in the State was 172.05 lakh tonnes during 2011-12 as compared to 25.92 lakh tonnes during 1966-67, registering a more than six-fold increase.

3 For the eighth Five-Year Plan, families with annual income below Rs. 11,000 were taken as BPL families. In 1997, expenditure was the main criterion to identify the people living below the poverty line. For the Ninth Plan, a rural family having per-capita per-month expenditure up to Rs. 289.31 was considered to be living below the poverty line in Haryana. The last survey in 2007-08 used five indicators to estimate the BPL population - size of land holding, house, assets, level of education and standard of living. Scores were to be given by the surveyors according to these five indicators. On the basis of total scores achieved by the household and on the basis of cut off scores, the number of poor people was decided in the State.

4 These IGAs are food preservation, dairy farming, vermi compost, tye and dye, cutting and tailoring, embroidery, kichen gardening, beautician, dari-making, gur patti-making and petty shops etc.

5 See, State of Microfinance in India, 2009, NABARD