:: News Plus

Orissa: Slum women build houses of trust

By Akshaya Kumar Sahoo

Three years ago, 35-year-old Bhumi Tandi, a mother of four daughters, was worried a lot about the future of her children. She did not know if she could make her children literate as the daily income of her rickshaw-puller husband was less than Rs 50 a day.

Things have changed in recent times. She now sends her three children — Nitu, Rakshi and Sakshi — to schools. Besides, she has been able to build a house of her own at Sirbatapara, a slum on the outskirts of Orissa’s Titlagarh town.

The turnaround in Bhumi’s fate happened when she joined Trishakti, a 20-member women-self-help group in January 2007 and availed a small income-generating (IG) loan of Rs 5,000 from Adhikar, a leading microfinance organisation of eastern India, to help her husband Satyanarayan Tandi to buy a cycle-rickshaw of his own. This helped the family to save Rs 20 a day they were paying for hiring the rickshaw from a neighbour.

Bhumi repaid her loan in just 10 months. Her credibility as a bona fide debtor doubled; Adhikar issued her the second IG loan of Rs 8,000 which also she paid back successfully within the stipulated period. On September 30, 2008, she availed a housing loan of Rs 15,000 to construct a semi-pucca house.

"My dream has come true. I’m happy to see my children, who had discontinued their studies, back to their schools and my husband not parting with his hard-earned money to pay the hefty rent for hiring a rickshaw. Our annual income has now increased to nearly Rs 36, 000 from Rs 18,000 in 2006-07. My little house is now filled with joy and happiness," a cheerful Bhumi says.

Thirty-four-year-old Mohini Suna, who is also a member of Trishakti, is yet another proud woman in the locality. Like Bhumi, she rebuilt and reshaped her home with a small assistance from Adhikar. With a small income-generating loan of Rs 5,000, she started a vegetable shop. Her move paid off. The business flourished and today she is earning nearly Rs 6,000 per month.

Mohini got Rs 25,000 from Adhikar after she paid back the previous two income-generating loans. With the housing loan, she constructed a pucca house with an attached toilet and pipe-water facility.

"With increase in my income, today I’m in a position to afford education of my three children. My children, Nishamani and Rahul, are pursuing their Class 12 in DAV College, Titlagarh. The youngest one, Laltu Suna, is studying in Class 8," adds Mohini.

Tara Suna, Anjali Suna, Kamalini Suna and other members of the organisation have also made significant contributions to improving the financial conditions of their family.

Tara Suna’s husband, Jagannath, was working as a railway canteen labourer with a daily wage of Rs 80. The couple found it hard to feed their three children, let alone meet their educational expenditure. With the Rs 5,000 assistance Tara got from Adhikar, they opened a tea stall that, on an average, fetches a profit of Rs 200 a day. "My husband is no longer working as a labourer. Nor do my children sit idle at home. They are going to schools and pursuing their education with other children of our colony," says Tara.

Ahalya Chhura, the leader of Trishakti, attributes the success of her team members to their sincerity and hard work.

"Since the very beginning, I tried to inculcate a sense of responsibility and accountability among the members of our group. They repaid the loans, thus winning the trust and confidence of the organisation that helped them at the time of their distress," she observes.

Puspanajali Hota, Sukanti Purohit, Sureswari Joshi, China Putel and Santoshini Patel, all members of Radhakrisha Centre, Indira Nagar, in Bolangir town, have also scripted similar success stories. While some of them have opened betel shops, others are running stationary and grocery shops. Some others have opened stitching units.

A few others, like Sukanti Putel, have bought cows and made good profit. China Putel claims she earns around Rs 300 from her pan shop every day.

Mr Surendra Kumar Das, assistant operations manager of Adhikar, Bolangir zone, says the organisation has provided Rs 3 crores through micro-credit schemes to nearly two thousand deprived women in the region since 2003. The fund has been provided under joint-responsibility scheme for both income generation and housing purposes.

"What is quite heartening to note is that when banks fail to get back their money from big individual and corporate clients, Adhikar has achieved 100 per cent recovery rate. This distinction between banks and us is that while they work on commercial considerations only, we focus on both our social responsibility and financial sustainability," adds Mr Das.

"We believe in the integrity and capability of the people living in slums and villages. They have immense potential to generate income, if provided with expertise and capital to start projects they can handle," says Mahammad Amin, chief of Adhikar.

Mr Amin adds that since micro-credit organisations are delivering door-step services, they are increasingly becoming popular among people at the grassroots.