PERFIL GENERAL DE LA POBLACIÓN

The population for the present study is defined as women SHG members in Chennai city. In August 2010 Chennai city had 29 registered NGOs registered under Mahalir Thittam with 25,359 SHGs. Many NGOs under Mahalir Thittam were approached either by telephone or face to face visit. Some passive resistance was felt from some of the NGOs, who appeared to be afraid to share their experiences for the purposes of research. But some

of NGO’s were open and helpful, providing assistance and sharing information. The selected NGO’s in the study were very cooperative for data collection. The research would not have been successful without their assistance and guidance.

Of the 29 registered NGO’s under Mahalir Thittam , 14 NGOs are located in North Chennai, 8 NGO’s in Central Chennai and 7 NGO’s in South Chennai. North Chennai is the industrial epicentre in the city and also this area is adjacent to the sea Bay of Bengal. Central Chennai is the commercial heart of the city and the South Chennai is predominantly hosting a large number of IT and financial companies. The predominance of NGOs (14 NGOs) are more in North Chennai, most of the people resides here are living below poverty line as compared to other areas. From the 14 NGOs located in North Chennai in that 2 NGOs are selected, from 8 NGOs located in Central Chennai and 7 NGOs are located in South Chennai one NGO each is selected. Four NGO’s were selected in the ratio of 2:1:121. However, all the NGO’s in the sampling frame were involved in spreading SHGs throughout Chennai city.

Table 4.1: Details of NGOs selected for sampling

S. No Name of the NGO Region Area

1. Marialyam North Chennai George Town

2. Sorannampal Education Trust

North Chennai Ayanavaram

3. Reedha Central Chennai Royapettah

4. Niveditha South Chennai Thiruvanmiyur

21_{A proportionate of 10 percent is selected from the NGOs located in North Chennai, South Chennai and}

Central Chennai (i.e., 10 percent of 14 NGOs located in North Chennai is 2 NGOs, 10 perc ent of 7 NGOs located in South Chennai is 1 NGO and 10 percent of 8 NGOs located in Central Chennai is 1 NGO), which is 2:1:1 ratio.

The selected NGOs provide services to set up and support the SHG with the help of the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women (TNCDW). The NGOs provided diverse services to the SHGs. All of them did not have prior experience in mobilizing women SHGs, but they had been involved in various social activities for more than ten years and had been involved with SHG activities for the previous five years.

(a) Details of NGOs under the Sampling Framework

Four NGOs were under study. They are Marialaya, SET, REEDHA and Niveditha. Details related to them are given below.

i. Marialaya

Marialaya is an organization established in Chennai by a few Christian missionaries in 1942. It is involved mainly in the field of education. From 1976 the missionaries have concentrated on urban areas and worked for the deprived and oppressed groups in the rural areas and urban slums. From 1990, Marialaya has been offering services for the neglected and uncared girls between 6 to 20 years. They help street children, children who have run away from home, children of commercial sex workers and child labourers. They started the SHG in the year 2001. Its objective was to initiate a process by which the women could empower themselves to work towards their own liberation through participation in community work and development.

ii. Sornammal Educational Trust (SET)

SET was established in the year 1996 by three professionals from Ma Foi Management Consultants Limited. The trust started initially in Sivagasi district where a large child labour force was operating. SET’s main objectives were to abolish child labour and to provide the poor children with some means of education. It helped the victims to continue their schooling. In April 2001, the trust adopted St. Anne’s Primary School and since then

the school has developed drastically. SHGs were formed to help the parents to save and provide stable financial conditions for their children. The ultimate aim of the organisation was to help disadvantaged communities to achieve economic independence by building an integrated support system that provided education, career training and entrepreneurial mentoring.

iii. Rural Education and Economic Development Association (REEDHA)

REEDHA was started by a group of Trustees in the early 1980’s with the aim of educating the rural poor. It has its wings in many parts of Tamil Nadu. It offered vocational training to the rural poor who could get better jobs after completing the course. In this way their socio-economic standard improved. In the late 90’s REEDHA formed SHGs in various parts of southern Tamil Nadu. It initially focused on the districts of Dharmapuri, Ramanathapuram and Nagercoil and gradually established SHGs in the other parts of Tamil Nadu. REEDHA started SHGs in Chennai city in the late 90’s. At present, it has a large number of SHGs operating in Chennai city.

iv. Niveditha

Niveditha was started in the year 2000 by Vijammal, a social worker, as a Mahalirmandram, a women’s welfare organisation. This organisation was established to help the poor and destitute women. Initially it started as the Nivedhitha Mahalir Pothamalar Sangam which was registered under the Society’s Act. It provides free training courses for the poor and needy women in tailoring, typewriting and handicrafts, which will enable them to find a job or to be self-employed. Later, in 2002 it started the SHGs and in the year 2005 they got registered under the Mahalir Thittam .