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| ICECD leads village towards ‘Entrepreneurship’ |
| -A Real Story |
| IYAVA VASANA |
A village located 15 kms from Ahmedabad houses a horde of communities and castes– of which the Darbars (old ruling community) are most prominent. Earlier, the Darbars had land and they practiced agriculture growing serials and cotton till land prices soared and tempted them to sell for large sums of money. Unemployment increased and so did alcoholism and gambling. Agricultural activity continued at a micro level. Other economic activities were nearly absent. Till recently, the “Purdah” system (Women covering their face) was very conspicuous. All assets were in the name of fathers, brothers or husbands, while women hardly had any rights or privileges. People suffered from poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and sorrow. General health conditions of the women were poor and at large, poverty prevailed |
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| ICECD’s BREAKTHROUGH – a face lift for Iyava Vasana |
ICECD took up the challenge to change the dismal face of Iyava Vasna, and with great difficulty slowly transformed the village into a model village by involving 90 out of the 130 household women into small and micro enterprises. These women were the poorest of the poor, illiterate, with many children to support and nothing to generate income. They along-with their children lived at the edge of survival with not much hope. When ICECD first went to this village the team was greeted by the village men with utter rigidity who asked their women strictly not to respond to the ICECD staff. It took a number of visits to the village and meeting with the community leaders along with a series of sensitization workshops to help the village folk to understand the need for economic activities in the village. ICECD implemented its specialised Women Entrepreneurship Model in the village and formed 17 Self Help Groups (SHGs) with 233 women joining these groups. With dexterity and perseverance, ICECD developed these women to start their own micro business.
Based on the village infrastructure and resources, about 70 women were developed by ICECD to start a milk-cooperative. They were imparted technical and scientific knowledge and resources for cattle-breeding, milk testing and storage. Business grew and the women started collecting approximately 700 litres of milk every day! ICECD linked them to the Uttam Dairy in Ahmedabad which would collect the milk from them at the village itself. This is the perfect example of bridging the rural-urban divide that exists starkly in our country. Besides Technical training for dairy business, women were also trained and developed to run other businesses like garment making, food processing, spice making, cattle feed, etc.
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For economic empowerment of these women, ICECD implemented micro finance support as these women were not bankable and could not avail credit from commercial financial institution. It was miraculous to see these introvert rural women becoming mainstream economic partners– working commercially with confidence, vision and a future plan of action in place. |
ICECD economic interventions did not automatically lead to social empowerment of these women. Hence, ICECD implemented various social intervention programmes in the village like |
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Health: Health exhibitions, health awareness camps, doctor check-up, immunization of children and facilities for safe motherhood and childcare.
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Education: Functional literacy classes for illiterate women, parents meeting and competition of anganwadi children. |
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Environment : Tree plantation, making soak pits and kitchen garden. |
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Advocacy of human right and social security : Awareness on human rights with emphasis on violence against women and provision of life insurance to cover women and family against calamities. |
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| A TRANSFORMED IYAVA VASANA - UNVEILED |
Today if you visit Iyava Vasna, one can see a group of women working at a measured and contended pace in the tropical heat, also involved in other businesses like manufacturing garments; spices; snack food; rexene bags and boxes in their free time. Gone are the days when women were mere voiceless individuals behind their veils. Gone are the days when women hardly involved themselves in income generation and always despaired, thinking about how to feed their children and how to meet their family economic needs. From no income to going back home with income between Rs. 2000- Rs. 10,000 per month is quite a substantial sum for their financial independence and a significant turning point for them. |
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The Transformation in a Nutshell
Poor Women - have acquired Diversified Skills, Economic Independence, Self Esteem and Improved Social Status.
Community - The village folk have been mainstreamed into the economy through a Gender balanced Development.
Village Economy - has improved with better living conditions, Asset Creation and Employment Generation |
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| REPLICATION AND SUSTAINABILITY |
Iyava Vasna model has been replicated in about 30 villages of Gujarat and also at national level besides other Asian and African countries. The aim is to replicate the model to 50 more villages in Gujarat in coming years. ICECD has been able to implement an irreversible process of development in the society at large whereby it has benefited the disadvantaged women who have been able to overcome the physical, financial, psychological and social sufferings. This is ICECD’s tribute to humanity and the society. |
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| Iyava Vasna – yet another step ahead… |
It is a matter of pride for ICECD that the dairy business which is the key to the turn around the village both socially and economically is taking a further leap. The dairy that up till now was operating at a small rented premise is now going to have a more stable base. The local government has decided to build a special place for them and the foundation has already been laid. The women of the village are now going to operate from a formal official building. They had never ever imagined that their capabilities would not only be appreciated but also recognised in this manner. The size of these women’s operation will change and they now plan to make more members in dairy and have up to 90 women members to increase their strength and work output. It is interested to note that before the ICECD intervention, the men of IYAVA VASANA had started a dairy business, which had failed. The men have expressed their wish to join this dairy business, but the women prefer to keep it women headed and women run business. Mr. Jagdishbhai Vaghela the head of Sanand Taluka Industrial Society says, “We are proud to see these women doing so exceptionally well even within the limitations of the social norms of the village. Couple of years back I could have never imagined that these women could run such a business with such professional precision. Hina Madam’s vision, the ICECD team’s persistence and the women’s ability has to be credited for this.” |
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