To give a boost to products manufactured by women’s Self Help Group (SHGs) in Tamil Nadu, the state government plans to give them a unique brand identity with a logo and monogram. It also plans to develop the concept of “one village-one product”, as well as new clusters.
Tamil Nadu was one of the pioneering states to have set up a Corporation for Development of Women in 1983, with the objective of overall empowerment of women. The key strategy that the state adopted was social mobilisation of women by encouraging them to form SHGs and by promoting savings and thrift.
The SHG movement in Tamil Nadu started with the International Fund for Agricultural Development-assisted Women’s Development Project in 1991-92. Over the past 20 years, the SHG movement has spread through the entire length and breadth of the state.
At present, around 8.57 million women have been mobilised into some 556,000 lakh SHGs, under a scheme named Mahalir Thittam. The SHGs have so far availed a credit of Rs 15,633.83 crore from various banks and have a total savings of more than Rs 3,374.60 crore, according to the state’s department of rural development.
The scheme is sponsored by a state government fund and involves formation of new SHGs, capacity building of SHG members and representatives, skill training, enterprise development training, credit assistance to SHGs, setting up a revolving fund, credit linkages through banks, and marketing of SHG products through exhibitions and branding.
K P Munusamy, Tamil Nadu’s minister for municipal administration and rural development, has said that marketing of SHG products is a big challenge, as customers are becoming brand-conscious.
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A policy note drawn up by the department states that product quality is linked to the brand name and attractive packaging. Efforts will be made by the government to standardise the products of SHGs and get the required certification from government-approved agencies.
A brand name with a logo and monogram will be launched this year to provide products with a unique identity to help them compete in the open market, according to the minister.
In 2012-13, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) will be developed for standardising production processes of five commonly produced SHG products in the state that have good market potential.
Women-led SHGs produce a wide range of products such as handicrafts, food products, handlooms and textiles, herbal products and artificial jewellery.
SHGs engaged in the same types of activities in a particular village will be networked with each other and provided with backward and forward linkages to enable them to realise economies of scale, expand their markets and tap the potential for exports.
Clusters of similar groups within the village and across villages will be identified and promoted under the “one village-one product” concept to provide sustainable employment opportunities to non-agricultural labourers and artisans.
In 2012-13, based on the one village-one product concept, five clusters will be promoted in each district. A total of 150 clusters will be developed in the state, according to the department.
Currently, district-level supply and marketing societies alone are engaged in the marketing of SHG products. State-level supply and marketing societies have not been established so far.
The state government now plans to establish a state-level supply and marketing society in 2012-13 and link it with district-level supply and marketing societies for effective promotion of SHG products at the state, national and international level.