Jai Durga Self Help Group

Utilising Free Time to Earn Livelihood

Jai Durga Self Help Group

Surat Pundir

Women are making rapid strides to gain equal status in the society. Say any sector study, job or business, you will find women on top ranks these days. It is all because of hard work and determination to receive equal status that women are scaling new heights of success with each passing day. Women from the Shubhkheda village of Badripur panchayat in Paonta Sahib have shown similar passion and determination by constituting Jai Durga Self Help Group in 2011. The baton of women empowerment and self dependency in this self help group was lead by Kaushalaya Devi, President of Jai Durga Self Help Group. Kaushalaya told Himachal This Week that she was left with plenty of free time after finishing her daily household chores. So she opened a beauty parlour shop in Devinagar area of Paonta Sahib. To run things efficiently, she constituted a self help group with the help of other women of the area. Today, a single step taken by Kaushalaya to make proper utilisation of her spare time has turned lives of numerous women of the area. Kaushalya alone has trained about 35 girls in this profession till yet besides providing employment to three girls working as trainees in her beauty parlour at present.

Women members of this self help group has made a savings of about Rs. 60,000 by contributing Rs. 200 per month per member besides taking a loan of about Rs. 3.3 lakh from bank to run various activities. Today women members of this self help group have become self dependent by associating in activities like cosmetics, beauty parlour, stitching and embroidery and various other means thereby strengthening the financial condition of their family and ensuring a respective place in the society.  The success of this self help group can be gauged from the earning of the members of this group. President of the group Kaushalya earns Rs. 8,000 -Rs. 10,000 per month through her beauty parlour business. Secretary of the group Santosh earns Rs. 4,000-Rs. 5,000 per month through her home run stitching and embroidery business. Similarly other member of the group Babli earns Rs. 300 – Rs. 400 daily through her ‘maniyari’ shop. She has also constructed house after associating with the group. Apart from this Poonam runs a cosmetic shop in Devinagar area of Paonta sahib and earns about Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4000 per month. Similarly Urmila is empowering herself through beauty parlour activities. These women members of Jai Durga self help group have not only improved their financial condition but have shown a path of empowerment to numerous other women through small business activities.  These women members of Jai Durga self help group have not only improved their financial condition but have shown a path of empowerment to numerous other women through their small business activities.

 1013 Women SHGs in Paonta Block

Child Development Project officer Paonta Sahib Madan Chauhan said that self help groups are constituted with the help from anaganwadi workers and surveyors to empower women socially and financially.  He told that there are a total of 1013 women self help groups in Paonta Development Block with three crore savings of these self help groups. Out of these 848 groups are linked with banks and these groups have taken a loan of about Rs. 11 crore to run various employment activities