Marketing the Products of Self Help Group-A Study of North24 Parganas, West Bengal

Pradipta Dubey Atonu Chatterjee

Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation. - Milan Kundera

Irrespective of the fire and smoke generated by the recent debate on

subsistence level, it is hard to conceal that, a sizable portion of the nation still languishes

in abyss of poverty and that too despite a number of poverty alleviation programmes

remaining in operation. The programmes, right from their inception operated at three

fronts viz. wage employment, self employment and subsidizing the supply of certain

essential commodities to the target group which in its present incarnation assumes the

form of ‘Cash Transfers’. While wage employment programmes as well subsidizing the

supply of essential commodities are more or less straightforward endeavours, where

target group gets the return either in lieu of their work or by virtue (?) of their position in

the economic pyramid, self employment programmes assume additional hue. Apart from

the labour which goes into this component of self employment other three factors namely

the craftsmanship or the acumen, entrepreneurship ability and marketability of the

product or service are absolutely vital for ensuring return, be it perennial or periodical.

_______________________________________________________________________

Pradipta Dubey. is a Research Scholar, Rural Development & Management Department, University of Kalyani,

Nadia, pradipta.dubey@gmail.com

Atonu Chatterjee, is a member of West Bengal Civil Service.

Till date, in West Bengal, Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) is the

single self employment programme for the rural areas. The programme with an accent on

the rural woman segment is handled by ministry of Panchayats and Rural Development

of the state. In this paper we will make a modest attempt to delineate the efforts taken at

different levels for inculcating skill (both craftsmanship and the entrepreneurial ability)

among the rural Self Help Group (SHG) members, operating basically through the SGSY

programme and the efforts of marketing their products.

Incidentally it can be mentioned that in addition to SHGs under SGSY prograpmme-

1) There are SHGs promoted and nurtured by NABARD through their programme of

‘NABARD- bank linkage programme’. Several government departments (viz. Co-

operative Department, Forest Department) and banks also promote SHGs through their

own programmes.

2) A distinct difference, however, is apparent- while SGSY deals with the SHGs

predominantly formed by the Below Poverty Line (BPL) members, groups of NABARD

and other banks cater to members belonging to ‘Above Poverty Line’ (APL) strata.

The area of our study will be the district of North 24 Parganas in the state of West

Bengal. The district enjoys a seminal position owing to its proximity to Kolkata, the state

capital. State’s Human Development Report (WBHDR) published in 2004 ranks the

district third in the composite “Human Development Index” (HDI). It is also in the

epicenter of the recent trend of industrialization in West Bengal as well is undergoing a

rapid spurt of urbanization (54.30per cent of population lives in urban area as per 2001

census; in 1991 it was 51.23per cent). It also cuts a niche in terms of performance of

SGSY programme. All these combine to give the district an edge and hence we go in for

somewhat micro level study of this district in context of the present issue. The

performance statistics and the information about the district’s show, if not otherwise

mentioned, are taken from the ‘Administrative Report’ of DRDC, the monthly progress

report (MPR) of DRDC and that of West Bengal Panchayats and Rural Development

Department.

I

The origin of SHGs

The problem of timely repayment of loans and their best possible

utilization has long plagued the planners in regard to the self-employment programmes in

India. The paradigm of group-based micro-finance which gained considerable currency

during the concluding years of the last century was conceived to be an appropriate tool to

handle this problem. It was now being argued that when finance was provided to a close-

knit group, the internal group dynamics would ensure optimal utilization and better

repayment of the fund. This concept married with the neo-liberal approach of trimming

down the state of some so called unnecessary responsibilities sought to open a different

vista in poverty alleviation programmes. Consequently the idea of SHGs came into being.

Certain developments within the country involving erstwhile failure of the individual

micro-financing under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) coupled

with moderately successful experience with the Development of Women and Child in

Rural Area (DWCRA), groups of nineties rendered it the status of ‘magic potion’ or

panacea to all poverty related problems. Eventually Ministry of Rural development

Government of India embarked upon a scheme called Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar

Yojona (SGSY), on 1/4/99 with an accent on group based micro-finance. The basic

accent of the scheme thus was to organise the rural poor into SHGs through a process of

social mobilization, enhance their capacity in the socio-economic domain and encourage

them to take up some economic activities so that these poor families scale the all decisive

poverty line within three years of inception. Reserve Bank of India in its Master Circular

on SGSY acknowledged the scheme as a ‘holistic Scheme covering all aspects of self

employment’ where assistance to BPL families can be extended to initiate micro-

enterprises in rural areas. Appropriate noise generated on the eve of Dr. Mohammad

Younus winning the noble-prize in 2006 gave it further shot in the arm. The District

Rural Development Cells (DRDC)/ District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA), thus

with the active participation of the Panchayats leapt into the business of organising

groups of women and men from BPL category, nurtured and trained them in group

dynamics as well in some economic activities as per their inherent natural tendency or the

demand of the market, evaluated their performance and linked them up with the

nationalised and other banks so that they get the adequate fund as soft loan to persue their

economic activities. The bank loan consisting of ‘term loan’ and ‘working capital’ was

again backed up by a provision of back-ended subsidy from the government where

normally 0.125 millions is the highest limit a group can get. Therefore the bank loan was

considered an imperative to start the sojourn of the SHGs.

The programme thus was conceived as standardised supply-side solution

addressing the credit and physical infrastructure needs of the ubiquitous Self-Help-

Groups, composed of members drawn from the BPL strata of the society. The groups thus

formed, harped on mutuality and were integrally linked with both the community and the

formal banking system. Here maturity rate of the SHGs, was invariably slow, yet it

yielded a strong edifice. The members of the group imbibed a sense of profound

responsibility. They had to! They were dealing with their own collective coffer.

SGSY-A perceptible departure –

The effort under SGSY was to ensure development of sustainable micro-

enterprises in the rural areas so that the assisted families scale the all important poverty

line within a specific time frame i.e. within three years. To ensure this, the programme

envisages-

a) Adoption of appropriate technologies for the entrepreneurial success.

The crux here is not only espousal of apposite technology but also identifying the

entities responsible for technology management, its transfer, upgradation and monitoring.

The SGSY guideline published by Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development

in 1999 (henceforth programme document) is absolutely pragmatic in this regard. It

emphasizes that the technologies adopted

1) need to guarantee a comfort level for the SHG members. In fact the programme

document warns against indiscriminate adoption of new technologies… ‘Any given

activity there is a certain level of technology (sic). It is possible that introduction of

certain technology may substantially alter the economics of working, in which case such

new technology needs to be introduced. There could be in other cases where the

technology can be upgraded to produce better economic results.’ i

2) need to have a proven track record in terms of ensuring quality along with its

commercial efficacy with a capital C. And finally

3) inappropriate technologies are to be summarily shunned since the target group i.e. the

poor SHG members have scanty capacity to absorb the economic reverses if enterprises

failed. We find that the document is adequately pithy against the rampant and

predominantly urbane techno-bureaucratic tendency of approving all the technologies

present in the market as the basic saviour… ‘In any case the technology introduction/up

gradation should be such as to suit the needs of rural poor for the given key activity’ii.

b) Avenue for proper skill training-

As a necessary precondition for adoption of apt technology the programme

document advocates proper skill training of the SHG members. Recognizing that training

is a specialized acumen and that SHG members should possess ‘Minimum Skill

Requirement’ (it is an imperative for securing loan for starting economic activities) the

programme document prescribes networking with suitable training organizations such as

‘Government institutions like engineering colleges, polytechnics, universities and NGOs

(Non-Government organizations)’ for imparting training to SHG members. A distinct tilt,

thus, is evident in favour of the reputed organizations with proven track record in regard

to skill trainingiii.

c) Marketing Support-

Enlisting marketing support to the SHGs makes SGSY sui generis among

other programmes of identical genre. The programme document is emphatic on this

aspect. Traditionally self-employment programmes have concentrated on backward

linkages rather than outputs and their marketing. This essentially leads to adoption of

production techniques totally divorced from marketing aspects and opportunities. As a

remedy the programme document suggests-

1) SHGs should adopt an income generating activity after proper market survey. This is

an imperative not only because SHGs can hardly absorb business loss emanating out of

lack of demand even if in the short run but also for having a realistic future income

projection.

2) Through a rural market survey the local demand can be assessed and productions can

be suitably lined. However production strategy must take into account locally available

resources so that a reasonable profit margin is ensured. Further it must be kept in mind

that it is neither feasible nor desirable to produce all goods in all places.

3) Finally the existing and emerging markets in urban and peri-urban areas need to be

explored to the hilt. Purchasers here have a test for value-added items. The emerging

urban markets can be a good area for developing clientele for the rural products.

Establishing marketing infrastructure in these areas can ensure an enabling atmosphere

for the SHGs for marketing their products as well establishing the identity of the

productsiv.

A refreshing departure is imbued in SGSY programme. The departure is evident

basically in the area of drafting a production strategy in sync with the available market

and in the aspect of exploring urban and peri-urban market for the products. In this milieu

of rapid urbanization these programme strategies make SGSY hit the bulls-eye

straightway.

II

As per the data available as on June 30, 2009, in the official website of

Government of West Bengal ‘banglarmukh’

(http://www.banglarmukh.com/portal/banglarMukh/Government/Departments/) total

number of groups enrolled in 'Swarnajayanti Gram Swa-rozgar Yojana' implemented by

the Department of Panchayats and Rural Development is 2,59,615. NABARD handles

roughly 4,13,293 SHGs.. Besides these, there are 1,04,180 groups under the management

of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).However, the total count of

groups including those run by government departments and non-governmental

organizations exceeds 0.9 millions. Women constitute about 90per cent of the total

members of SHGs and as many as 0.56 million groups have received loans in some form

or other to start their economic activities.

Initiatives of the State–

West Bengal Government also took certain initiatives to cater to the growing

number of SHGs.

In the year 2006 a completely separate department was created under a cabinet

minister in the name of ‘Self Help Group and Self Employment’. The mandates of the

department involved-

1. Monitoring and supervising policy formulation and coordination of all activities

pertaining to Self Help Groups & Self Employment Schemes operated by different

Departments of the State Government.

2. Arranging for and supervising skill-up gradation training to ensure functional

improvement of Self Help Groups & Self Employment Schemes.

3. Coordinating delivery of institutional finance to these entities.

4. To consider such other matters relevant or incidental to the aforesaid terms of

reference.

5. To coordinate marketing of products of Self-Help Groups through holding of different

exhibitions and co-ordination with business houses.

6. Coordinating and synchronizing efforts of setting up of infrastructure in the districts

for providing training and creating marketing outlets for the SHGsv.

Initially hiccups were rampant! .Duplication of works and trampling of areas of

operation occurred between SHG & SE department and Panchayats and Rural

Development department, (P&RD incidentally handles majority of SHGs). The matter

sunk in gradually and later SHG &SE Department was successful in cutting its niche in

the entire scenario. The department took significant strides in facilitating the SHGs

nurtured by the banks and was also instrumental in tying up SHGs with fairs outside the

state and with business houses for marketing of their products.

The procurement policy of the government also was given a facelift in favour of

SHGs. Two specific initiatives can be mentioned here-

a) The Audit Branch of Finance Department, Government of West Bengal through its

Notification no 7369-F dated 23/9/2008 amended the West Bengal Financial Rules

whereby the procurement base of stationery articles were enlarged to include the Self

Help Groups.

b) SHGs through orders of Department of SHG &SE were entrusted with the task of

paddy procurement from 2010. To facilitate the procurement, Government of West

Bengal released a sum of forty thousand rupees as rolling fund to each identified SHGs

who will return the sum in the Khariff season. The central government on its part has

granted commission to SHGs @ 2.5per cent on the price of Paddy as incidental charges.

Involving SHGs in the process of paddy procurement was also tried elsewhere. Andhra

Pradesh is practicing this from 2005 and that of maize from 2004vi.

Floccinaucinihilipilification! May be…. one is definitely entitled to ones own

judgment. Yet these small steps score on two counts. In fact these orders spelt a

fundamental change to the essential standing of the SHGs in the total milieu since

1) This is perhaps for the first time the government acknowledged the status of SHG as

viable economic unit akin to wholesale consumers’ cooperative societies/cooperatives

and such similar organizations.

2) A bit of sociology went into the aspect also. These orders are the imprimatur on the

entrepreneurial capacity and business acumen of SHGs, majority of whom are women-

centric. This is a departure from the mere economic role as envisaged in the programme

document.

Interpretations may galore but the point remains that these two orders brought the

SHGs in the mainstream of activities.

III

Currently employment opportunities in the country are at nadir. Recent report on

unemployment by National Sample Survey (NSS in its 64th round) reveals an overcast

sky. The situation becomes further depressing when the NSS report is juxtaposed with

‘The Challenge of Employment in India: An Informal Economy Perspective’ – a report

by ‘National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector’ (2009). In a nutshell

the employment scenario is-

a) During 2005 and 2008 only 2.4 million employments were created, a mere 0.8

million per year. This is only a miniscule when compared to 12 million employments

created per year between 1999-2000 and 2004-05.

b) Total number of workers increased from 457.9 million in 2004-05 to 460.2 million in

2007-08, a growth rate of just 0.17per cent per year. This is the lowest rate of em-

ployment generation in the last three decades, even lower than the previous spell of

jobless growth of 1993-2000 when employment increased by less than 1per cent per year.

c) Overall, employment of males increased by 5.2 million per year but declined by 4.4

million per year for females.

d) There was a decline in real wage rate and despite high economic growth there was no

improvement in the quality of employment.

e) Formal sector employees in several cases were able to latch on to their jobs only by

accepting informalisation of their formerly secure and respectable labour standards.

f) Informal sector gradually got bereft of their bargaining power whereas their employees

consolidated themselves. The icing of the cake could not be more spectacular!

The district of North 24 Parganas divided into 22 blocks and 200 Gram

Panchayats is no exception to this trend. The situation becomes starker since agriculture

here has failed to absorb the growing work force (DHDR 2010). One of the options

available to this workforce is to migrate and we see that around 33.12per cent of the

families of the district migrated for employment. The District Human Development

Report of the North 24 Parganas further reveals that-

a) migration is basically seasonal and is rampant in riverine and border areas of the

district.

b) and significantly out migration involves only the male members of the household.An

Indian woman, thanks to social obligations and taboo scarcely have equal opportunities to

migrate for wage work. SHGs therefore are the principal plank for women to improve

employment and income opportunities in situ.vii

District Rural Development Cell of North 24 Parganas, presented more sensitive

face to the SHGs and the poor women of the rural areas at large. The sensitivity was

revealed in the following indicators-

1) Total expenditure on SHGs in the district was 97.88per cent and 98.30per cent of the

total allotment made on this count during the financial years, 09-10, and 10-11

respectively. In the financial year 10-11 the district recorded highest expenditure in the

entire state on this count.

2) To ensure marketability of the products skill development trainings were organised. In

the financial year 10-11 total expenditure on this count was Rs 1.257 million whereas in

09-10 it was Rs 3.509 Millions. In the period 08-09 again 7677 skill development training

programmes were organised in the district at a total expenditure of Rs 1.115 millions.

Comparatively low expenditure in the financial years 08-09 and in 10-11 can be

attributed to the seventh panchayat general election and general Legislative Assembly

elections respectively when normal developmental works in the district took a back seat.

3) There is a discernable effort on the part of the district administration to explore new

areas to market the products of SHG along with retaining the older channels. The efforts

basically involved tying up with the government departments for supply of materials.

Thus it is apparent that the district is inclined to harness the full potential of SHGs

as an alternative avenue of offering gainful employment to the BPL families of the

district. DHDR of the district is emphatic on this ‘…there are reasons to believe that

SHGs have come to stay in the life of the ordinary people of the district.’

Marketing the products of SHGs-

‘The aim of marketing is to know and understand customer so well (that) the

product or service fits him and sells itself’- Peter Drucker.

Marketing is about identifying and meeting social needs and that too profitably.

However as Peter Drucker holds selling is only the tip of the marketing iceberg. The crux

is to understand and conceive of the customers’ wants so well that the products and

service impels him to buy. Further there is a need of segregating markets into segments

and identify distinct group of buyers, who may prefer varying types of products and

servicesviii. The aim of marketing therefore boils down to two specific actions; namely

i Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna, 1999,Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development- Guidelines-Para 6.2ii Ibid.iii Ibid Para 6.4.iv Ibid Section VII.v Self Help Group and Self Employment : Policies http://www.banglarmukh.com/portal/banglarMukh/Government/Departments/DepartmentListPortletWindow- Visited 3/1/2012vi Letter from Principal Secretary, Department of SHG&SE addressed to District Magistrate, vide memo no-97/SH/o/2P-132/09, 17/2/2010 & 21(8)/SH/O/2P-132/09-25/1/2010. P. Purushotham,. (2006). In his ‘National Study on SGSY: A Process Study Hyderabad: National Institute of Rural Development’ traced the robust performance of SHGs of Andhra Pradesh regarding their rice and maize procuring activities.

vii District Human Development Report North 24 Parganas, Feb- 2010 Development & Planning Department, , Government of West Bengal.

identifying the customers’ wants and segregating these wants in different tiers and locale

of markets. In a modest way DRDC North 24 Parganas tried to accomplish these tasks

through certain stages.

However caveats need to be in place.

a) Income from the economic activities of SHG is considered as an additional

income along with some other source(s) which are the mainstay of the family

income. An interesting example is that when 14.25 per cent of the three tiers

panchayat members of the district are drawn from SHGs only 1.65per cent of

the members have income from SHG sources as the main source of incomeix.

b) Generally the women after completing their household chores indulge into the

economic activities of SHG.

a) Identifying the local acumen

Initially activity specific skills in the women members of relevant SHGs

were identified. This was a task cut out in the scheme itself. “The success of

SGSY will therefore depend, to start with, on the choice of activities. The key

element is that the choice of activity should be based on the local resources, the

aptitude as well as the skill of the people.”(Para1.3 of programme document)

And a cautionary note “The choice of key activities should not be an arbitrary or

an adhoc decision but should be a careful thought out process” (para 1.4 of

programme document). Consequently under the guidance of SGSY committee

and the Zilla Parishad, blockwise key activities were identified, to be modified

after every three years. The exercise, needless to mention, has its own

ix Information on West Bengal Panchayats. August-2010, Web-published by Panchayat s & Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal.viii Kotler, P. and Keller,K.N.2009. Marketing Management, pp 5.Prentice Hall of India.

limitations. Instead of assessing the demand or want of the customers this

exercise emphasised the supply side. The logic was obvious. The scheme aimed

at providing quick economic assistance/ supplements to the family income of

BPL families so that they would scale the poverty line within a specific time

period. Under this mandate assessing the needs of the customers was a bit

problematic. So the approach was in a round about fashion. The effort was to

identify the local existent acumen or expertise, do a market analysis on those

specific products and then hone the members’ skills in regard to those products

so that quality products entice customers.

The DHDR of the district indicates a list of such activities which is given in

Table 1.

b) Skill UpgradationA natural corollary to identification of key activities is, to upgrade the

skills of SHG members in the relevant items. Skill development training in selected

activities were imparted by local level ‘Master Trainers’ approved by DRDC and some

selected organisations. Networking with organisations of repute with proven track record

proved to be of immense help in this regard. Further, effort was taken to conduct

residential training so that the group members inculcate among themselves a sense of

cohesiveness, mutual sharing and exchanges in different aspects. Also interactions with

the trainees and group members revealed that these residential trainings were a whiff of

fresh air as the participants could stay away from their daily chores and related trials and

tribulations. To many group members it became the single case of so called ‘outing’. Of

course, the exercise had its own predicament. Mothers with toddlers and infants as well

as unmarried girls, in most cases could not attend these trainings or sometimes hit by

family crises the members had to rush to their houses, abandoning the training midway.

The process of selection of trainees is done in the following process-

1) In the monthly monitoring meeting held by DRDC the block representatives placed

their demand of training in specific trade/activities. They in turn receive this demand

from the Gram Panchayats who nurtures the SHGs. Alternatively the demands are also

received from SHG cluster members themselves.

2) After culling the demands the District Training Co-ordinator (an official posted in

DRDC) interacts with the Master Trainers and the training organisations to determine the

courses of training, duration and the availability of slots for training. In general the non-

residential courses are handled by DRDC approved Master Trainers and residential

courses are conducted in training organisations.

3) The information is disseminated in the next monitoring meeting of DRDC.

Apart from normal skill enhancement trainings conducted by DRDC approved

local master trainers, specialised trainings on specific activities were conducted by some

important organisations.

1) National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Kolkata, conducted three months’

training at ‘ETC Rajarhat’ West Bengal for two batches of SHG members drawn from the

group members of Deganga block. Sixty participants were trained by the core faculty of

NIFT. The trainees were trained in apparel designing with an accent on choice of fabrics,

the specific cuts of the apparel, embroidery and its nuances as also the aspect of

synchronising and balancing different types of fabrics and their colour. Traditionally the

women folk of the block were conversant with embroidery styles like ‘Parsee stitch’,

‘Gujrati stitch’ and ‘Kantha stitch’ and these skills were further spruced up. Programmes

were launched to generate block level Master Trainers who will be able to train other

group members in their trade. The training was basically for secondary sector.

2) In the primary sector also several training programmes were held. These programmes

were designed more to equip the group members with skills in animal husbandry, poultry

and agri-horticulture. The trainings were held in Bidhan Chandra Krishi

Visdwavidyalaya, Nadia and in West Bengal University of Animal & Fisheries Sciences,

Kolkata.

3) Training on Vermi-compost (organic manure) was another important programme

organised by DRDC. The training was conducted by an NGO namely “Consortium for

Training Resource and Development” and DRDC had a buy back arrangement with them

in the sense that the NGO bought back the organic manure produced by the trainees. The

manure though was sold extensively in the peri-urban locality for their use in the private

gardens and orchards and in the city of Kolkata, the trainees themselves also used it in

their own agricultural fields which to a great extent reduced the cost of chemical manure

and fertilisers. The NGO conducted the training in six blocks namely Sandeshkhali-II,

Hasnabad, Hingalgunj, Swarupnagar, Minakhan and Gaighata, in a span of three years.

4) SHGs under SGSY have been federated into clusters on the basis of their activities. In

North 24 Parganas also there are several activity based clusters. Training on "Market

Orientation & Value Enhancement"for these cluster SHG members was organised in the

state in which seven participants from Dharampur Paddy Producers cluster and Sopan

Kantha Stitch cluster of North 24 Parganas participated. The programme was devised to

create ‘District Level Master Trainers’ in ‘Market Orientation’ and the programme was

conducted in collaboration with Best Practices Foundation, an NGO of Karnataka state

having specialization in this area. The participants were trained in skills of retailing,

pricing mechanism, market survey, positioning of the product their distribution etc. The

language barrier was negotiated with the presence of facilitators having knowledge in

English and extensive use of diagrams, pictures and field visits which banked upon

Participatory Market Appraisal (PMA).

c) Marketing of products

A marketer can hardly satisfy everyone in the market. Hence they start

dividing the markets into segments. They identify segment specific profile of distinct

group of buyers preferring varying products basing on the demographic, psychographic

and behaviour differences among buyers.

1) Identifying products for specific markets

Without going into detailed and complex market analysis SHGs of West Bengal

following simple thumb rule and experience, carry embroidered sarees and dress

materials with, jute bags and other knick knacks to the fairs held in metropolis. The

products sold in Delhi Saras Mela held in IITF by the SHGs of West Bengal bear a

testimony to this. In 2009, 23 SHGs of West Bengal participated in the fair and of them

as many as sixteen SHGs carried embroidered sarees, dress materials and different types

of women outfit namely silwar kameez or kurtis and jute ornaments and bags. In that fair

three SHGs of North 24 Parganas participated and two of them carried embroidered

sarees and dress materials. Identical approach was evident in 2010 in Delhi Saras. Out of

29 SHGs who participated from West Bengal 21 carried embroidered sarees, dress

materials and jute products and only one of the four participating SHGs of North 24

Parganas had a different item to offerx.

This trend is evident in the fairs held in other metropolis also. In fact the products

of primary sector are basically sold in village fairs rather than in metropolis. Rice is the

only product which defies this logic and is sold in the fairs of Kolkata.

x A Report on SARAS Mela, 2009 &2010, CAPART.

                                                            REFERENCE

1. A Report on SARAS Mela, 2009 &2010, CAPART

2. District Human Development Report North 24 Parganas, Feb- 2010 Development & Planning Department, , Government of West Bengal.

3. Information on West Bengal Panchayats. August-2010, Web-published by Panchayat s & Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal.

4. Kotler, P. and Keller,K.N.2009. Marketing Management,.Prentice Hall of India.

5. Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna, 1999,Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development- Guidelines.

Acknowledgement-

1) Smt Debjani Dutta WBCS(Exe) PD DRDC North 24 Parganas.

2) Smt Sohini Banerjee Sr. L.D.O, DRDC North 24 Parganas3) Dr. Tapati Banerjee D.T.C DRDC, North 24 Parganas4) Sri Somnath Bandopadhyay Comp. Asst. DRDC, North 24 Parganas

In fact this segmenting of the markets allows the SHGs to reap richer benefits in the sense

that the groups which concentrate on the primary sector products target the rural and semi

rural markets while those with handicrafts, sarees and dress materials etc aim the urban

markets.

2) Marketing the products-making it a habit

The main avenue of marketing the products of SHGs are the fairs organised either

by the government or by private initiatives. Apart from that there are some sale counters

in different districts and in North 24 Parganas the sale counters are at Barasat i.e. District

HQ, Deganga block HQ and Swabhumi- The Heritage Plaza at Salt Lake.

It is a normal experience that the propensity to buy these SHG products can be

discerned among the urban customers who apart from having disposable income attach

the concept of ‘freshness’ with these products. Further the inevitable romanticism

associated with buying products from rural women hailing from a far flung area who has

either produced it or made it, is an undeniable factor in the psyche of urban customers.

This gets further whetted when the customer identifies his rural moorings with the

product. Further somewhat baseless notion that urban customers can squeeze better

price deals from the SHG members also adds to this tendency. All these while shooting

up the sale of products in fairs which are periodic affairs, fails to sustain the demand

since the outlets are scarcely available in urban areas.

DRDC, North 24 Parganas had hit upon certain specific plans to handle this

aspect.

a) In the first regard an outlet was opened in ‘Swabhumi’ a mall- cum- entertainment park in

Kolkata in the vicinity of Salt Lake. The outlet offers handicraft materials, embroidered

sarees and apparels, junk and jute jewellery, jute slippers along with different spices. All

the products are made by SHGs of North 24 parganas operating under the SGSY scheme.

b) Several offices, colleges and universities either hold training programmes or seminars in

which it is customary to give a folder or a bag to the participants. SHGs of the district

under active guidance of the DRDC and drawing upon the memo no-7369F (cited above)

approached different institutions, secured the orders and executed such orders. State

Institute of Panchayats and Rural Development, West Bengal Industrial Development

Corporation, University of Kalyani, CDPO’s offices at different districts, Kolkata office

of UNICEF are some of the customers of the SHGs of the District. It is a fact that these

kinds of involvements are not incessant but they maintain a regularity of sorts. A plus

point is that the organisations which once have placed orders with the SHGs tend to come

back again. Kudos definitely goes to strong perseverance, quality consciousness and

immaculate time sense of the SHG members in executing the orders.

c) The branding of the products was also attempted. All the products of North 24 Parganas

are marketed under the brand name ‘Angana’ (women working in the courtyard) save

spices which is sold under the brand name ‘Sanima’. This branding again, it is conceived

will give a distinct identity to the products of North 24 Parganas.

3) The sale figures –

The sale figures of different fairs in which the SHGs of the district

participated are more or less impressive. The sale figures pertaining to the financial year

08-09 and 09-10 are detailed below in the tables. Further the sale proceeds at the sale

counter at Swabhumi also registered an impressive figure. A novel attempt was made in

supplying the materials to different offices in the district, universities and offices at

Kolkata. The sale figure of the SHGs of the district under SGSY is given in Table-2 and

Table 3 pertaining to the financial year 08-09 and 09-10. The sale figures are categorised

in three distinct heads

a) sales arising out of participation in national level fairs viz. SARAS Mela

conducted in several states.

b) sale figure of the products sold in the fairs within the state viz. Poush

mela at Santiniketan,

c) sale figure arising out of supply to different offices and organisations.

In 2008-09 supply of rice to 16 ICDS project of the district was a major

breakthrough in office supply segment. ‘Essential Commodities Supply Corporation’

failed to execute the supply properly and the SHGs were called to step in. Two SHG

activity clusters of Gaighata block namely Dharampur Paddy Producers Cluster and

Dharmpur Chal Utpadak Swanirbhar Sangha consisting of ten SHGs each

executed the supply. DRDC provided the clusters with a Tata Ace vehicle to carry rice to

different ICDS centres under infrastructure fund of DRDC.

There are some exclusive sale counters of SHG products initiated by DRDC. The

counter at Swabhumi – The Heritage Plaza (a mall come entertainment park) is a

prestigious outlet where different wares of SHGs are displayed for sale. It was started on

15/4/2008 and its sale proceeds for the last three years are given in Table 4. The entire

sale proceeds are taken by the SHGs who have supplied the materials at the counter.

In lieu of conclusion-

So far so good. Yet the flutter in the dovecot of SHG occurs when-

1) SHGs loose the battle of presence in market in face of stiff challenges posed by the

branded and attractively packaged materials. Ideal example is that of honey, whose

branded and packaged variety entice the customer more than the local one processed by

SHGs

2) As a corollary to this market presence, SHG products have to develop immaculate

supply chains so that the products continuously occupy the shelves. To guarantee this, the

flow of credit to the groups needs to be ensured which, unfortunately, is a sore spot

throughout India. Alongside enabling environment has to be created by the people in

power.

3) State should understand, that the metropolis and newly emerging urban areas are prone

to buying value added items and secondary sector products of SHGs. Consequently more

exclusive outlets for the SHG products in the metropolis backed up by a system of

regular supply should be in place rather than setting up separate marketing outlets in the

blocks.

A poverty alleviation programme, as J.S.Mill conceived way back, is basically a

balancing act. It is a delicate balance between extending greatest amount of needful help

to the deserving populace and at the same time discouraging them to be over reliant on

this. SGSY, thus, as a poverty alleviation programme renders the initial ‘push’ to the

entrepreneurial capacity of the rural populace, especially women, so that they come out

of their proverbial morass. In this paper we have seen that the concerned administering

authorities have also tried to do their bit. The second part i.e. to make the target group

self reliant is trickier and here one cannot establish a simplistic linear relationship

between the demands of the beneficiaries and the nuances of the programme. A lamppost,

it is ordinarily believed, precisely has two usages; a reveller uses it for support while

sober understands it as a component of illumination! SGSY or for that matter all similar

kind of programmes are akin to lampposts…it will be interesting to subsequently trace

their usages.

_____________________________x_______________________________

Table-1

Sl.No Name of the Blocks

Major activities done by the groups

1Amdanga Tie& dye, Paddy processing, Mushroom cultivation, Tailoring, Block-

Printing, Paper-bag production, Goat rearing, Fishing.  2 Barasat-I Hand-embroidery, goat rearing, fruit jam & pickles, tie-dye Jute

Ornaments /Bags/Shoes and Chappals, Paddy processing,Home decoratives/idols like Laxmi Ganesh ,Shiv Durga etc /Dia/Cup-

plate/Ornaments Flower vase/Pen stand/ Terracotta tiles/Home decorative items

3 Barasat-II Poultry, hand-embroidery, Paddy processing tailoring, Ari & jari work, nursing & attendant service, wood furniture making.

4 Barrackpore-I Animal husbandry, Tailoring, sola-work, poultry.5 Barrackpore-II Paper bag making, tailoring, house dairy, goat rearing, jute ornaments

& jute products, ready-made garments Paddy processing,6 Bashirhat-I Poultry, goat rearing, fishery & prawn culture, gauge bandage

production, Paddy processing 7 Bashirhat-II Goat rearing, fishery, tailoring, Paddy processing Jari work.8 Bongon Tailoring, poultry, animal husbandry, Paddy processing wool knitting,

nursing & attendant service.9 Bagdah Poultry, animal-husbandry, machine-embroidery, Paddy processing

tailoring.10 Gaighata Vermi-compost production, Paddy processing, Paper bag making,

House Dairy, Poultry, Goat rearing.11 Swarupnagar Animal husbandry, mat-making, Paddy processing Tailoring.12 Habra-I Spices, Fruits & vegetable processing, Mushroom production, crystal

bag making, Ready-made garments, Paddy Processing, Ready food supply, Fishing, Floriculture.

13 Habra-II Poultry, Tailoring, Paddy Processing14 Haroa Animal husbandry, fishery, goat rearing , ari & jari work, 15 Deganga Kantha-stitch, Hand embroidery, Vegetable-dye, Paper bag making, 16 Hasnabad Honey production, Piggery, Horticulture-nursery, Hand embroidery,

Jute works, Mat making, Vermi-compost production  17 Hingalganj Fishing, Poultry, Paddy Processing, Vermi-compost production18 Minakhan Fishing, Goat rearing, Tailoring Paddy Processing, Ready food supply 19 Rajarhat Ari work, tailoring, Catering service.20 Baduria Bamboo works, Tailoring, Poultry, Goat rearing, house Dairy, Paddy

Processing, Pig rearing 21 Sandeshkhali-I Fishery & prawn culture, Goat rearing, Paddy Processing Poultry.22 Sandeshkhali-

IIFishery & Prawn culture, Goat rearing , Poultry, Paddy Processing, Vermi-compost production

Table 2

Sl.no Financial year Organisation or office where supply has been made

Money value of the supply

1 08-09 National level fairs Rs 1237455

2 08-09 State and district level fairs

Rs 724300

3 08-09 Office supplies Rs 23022850Total Rs 24984605

Table 3

Sl.no Financial year Organisation or office where supply has been made

Money value of the supply

1 09-10 National level fairs Rs 2597339

2 09-10 State and district level fairs

Rs 418335

3 09-10 Office supplies Rs 511428Total Rs 3690102

Table 4

Sl.no Financial year Money value of the Sale

1 15/4/2008-March 2009 Rs 85,8872 09-10 Rs 2,170003 10-Oct 2010 Rs 169000Total Rs 4,71887

Notes-

27