2000-2019 Women Empowerment
The primary objective of this project is to organize the rural women towards utilising their human and community resources collectively with the goal of attaining individual and community development.
More specifically, the goals are as follows:
- To organize the entire rural women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) to act collectively on community activities.
- To train the SHGs on optimum utilization of individual as well as community resources towards attaining sustainable development.
- To establish links between the SHGs and various government, banking, and co-operative society resources.
So far, the organization established and developed around 700 SHGs and is supporting them. These groups have been successfully linked with banks in Tenkasi, Shencottah, Kadayanallur, and Keelapavoor. With the help and motivation of the organization’s staff, the SHGs have successfully rotated around INR 25 crores so far through savings, internal lending, and bank loans.
Sri Ramakrishna Seva Nilayam has been recognized by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Chennai through its Tirunelveli branch. Through NABARD, the organization has provided Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP) and Micro Enterprises Development Programme (MEDP) trainings to women on the production and marketing of readymade garments making.
The organization has conducted REDP, and skills development, as well as skills upgradation, training to Animators, Representatives and SHG members. The organization conducts tailoring classes to women who are involved in the “beedi” rolling to enable them to move away from that profession. It also runs a vocational training centre that assists unskilled women to become skilled entrepreneurs.
In addition, the organization conducts awareness programmes such as healthy living, child labour eradication, chemical hazards in the environment and work place, firefighting, food adulteration, increased consumer rights, and de-addiction.
Some of the women who have grown up with the aid of SHGs have been employed by Sri Ramakrishna Seva Nilayam's various departments.