Introduction

VIDIYAL is a non-governmental organization working in the Theni District, Tamil Nadu, and India.  It was established during 1986 as a social service organization with the objective of mobilizing the poor and marginalized section of the rural communities and strengthening their social, economic and political empowerment process. In order to achieve the objective VIDIYAL focuses on women’s empowerment, community health, environment and legal empowerment through promotion of sustainable Community Based Organizations. The organization is open to learn from the past experiences and utilizes the emerging new opportunities such as ICT to address the issues of new exclusion, digital divide etc in rural development.

Strategy: Economic and Social Capital

	The important strategy of VIDIYAL is helping people help themselves. It has facilitated a community health centre which is being managed by the villagers. It has mobilized the local students and teachers regarding various environmental issues affecting the region. Since 1997, it has enabled the community to manage a free legal aid and conciliation centre.
But the most important strategy is strengthening the self-help group (SHG) and microfinance movement among women in 25 villages primarily depending on dry land farming and back yard animal husbandry.

VIDIYAL firmly believes that when women organize themselves around savings and self-help groups, they will have more say in the decision making and able to evolve their own development strategies for addressing various socio-economic issues affecting them. It results in creating space in the public domain, otherwise traditionally restricted to the domestic domain due to the prevailing rigid patriarchal value system. Awareness and capacity building can help in strengthening the development process. During 2000, various self-help groups facilitated by VIDIYAL came together as a federation called VIDIVELLI. Each SHG has contributed a share of Rs. 1000 as a core fund towards the functioning and management of the VIDIVELLI.

The federation has well defined bye-laws, procedures and norms. There are 250 SHGs with 4000 women as members in VIDIVELLI. During the last eight years, the federation and the SHGs have borrowed and repaid to the tune of Rs.13 Crores. At present the federation and the SGHs have savings of nearly Rs.2 Crores. Banks and financial institutions are actively involved with these groups and appreciate the credibility of the groups. National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) which regularly monitors the SHGs and federation has graded most of the SHGs in VIDIVELLI with high score for credit linkages with banks.

During the last two decades the women members of SGHs supported VIDIYAL financially. Thus VIDIYAL is a self-sustainable organization without depending on funding from external agencies. Each woman member of SHGs contribute through VIDIVELL an amount of Rs. 5 per month and this money is used for maintenance of the staff and the functioning of the NGOs.  According to VIDIVELLI, women contribute for the maintenance of VIDIYAL so that VIDIYAL could help to strengthen their network and reduce their transaction costs with financial institutions. The partnership between the SHG federation and the NGO sustains due the win – win situation created in the micro context.

More Details