Dear friends in this group,

I second this question from Shekhar.
Many people involved in movements in Orissa
(& I'm sure in other parts of the world too)
fundamentally question the way SHGs are being promoted
and M.Yunnus has been eulogised for promoting the
idea. In tribal villages we find after an initial
enthusiam that NGOs promoting Self Help Groups tend to
become in effect Moneylenders - at double or more the
commercial interest rates!
Vedanta and other big mining corporations & the NGOs
they set up promoting "Corporate Social
Responsibility" are enthusiastic promoters of SHGs,
which have the effect of enmeshing village people into
loans & debt & depoliticising them. Whether it's the
village level moneylender, the Bank or visacard
company, the World Bank, or the NGO with SHGs, we
should question the promotion everywhere of
indebtedness and its ideology of increased
consumption, and the forms of power & control
exercised through this moneylending role.

Best wishes

Felix



--- mrajshekhar <mrajshekhar@...> wrote:

> dear all,
> this is perhaps something that we need to discuss.
> do the nicobaris need shgs? are shgs relevant given
> that, as per my
> understanding, nicobari society is largely driven on
> communal (as opposed to
> cash economy) lines. nor, i think, are shgs needed
> as a mode for improving
> the lot of nicobari women. they seem to be quite
> emancipated already.
> i am making a couple of assumptions here, about the
> role of women in
> nicobari society, and about the extent of the
> inroads made by the cash
> economy into the traditional community structure. if
> these assumptions are
> valid, i wonder about the impact the shgs might have
> on the traditional way
> of life.
> thoughts would be welcome.
> regds
> shekhar
>
>
>
> On 3/12/07, Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
> >
> > Tribals motivated to form SHGs to uplift their
> economic conditions
> > THE DAILY TELEGRAMS, March 11, 2007
> > Port Blair, Mar 10
> > UNNATI in association with tribal council leaders
> organised motivational
> > camps for Self Help Groups at Kamorta and katchal
> where tribal women
> > attended in large numbers. The meeting was
> addressed by Smti. Ayesha
> > Majeed
> > Chairperson Tribal Council and Coordinator of
> UNNATI for Nancowrie groups
> > of
> > Islands and other tribal leaders i.e. S/S Munir
> Ahmed 1st captain
> > Pilpillow,
> > Francis, 1st captain Kakana and Smti. Nancy 1st
> captain of Japan Tekry,
> > Katchal and others.
> > Shri. C.Mohammed, President UNNATI explained on
> the occasion about
> > empowerment of socioeconomic of women through Self
> Help Groups movement.
> > He
> > also explained micro-finance scheme of Rashtriya
> Mahila Kosh, New Delhi to
> >
> > which UNNATI is a nodal agency. President UNNATI
> in consultation with
> > tribals identified 1st women cooperative society
> promoted by UNNATI in
> > Nicobar for micro-finance through which Self Help
> Groups would be
> > financed.
> > The tribal leaders also pointed out certain
> genuine problems which they
> > requested to take up with authorities. The
> problems were discussed with
> > Assistant Commissioner, Nancowrie and would also
> take it with the
> > Administration.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> m rajshekhar
> www.fracturedearth.org
> (fractured earth. a planet sans equitable or
> sustainable development)
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>




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