Make the self-help groups even more stronger
It is a fabulous success in Tamil Nadu. It has been a roaring success in Orissa and reportedly in AP as well. These self-help groups that have some seven to ten women who work together on setting up a business venture, like a small catering establishment, or making pickles, jute bags, fancy items used by ladies and so on. The banks also give them loans and they are sometimes supported by the State Governments as wellIt has been reported that many hundreds of thousands of women have been able to finance the educational needs of their children and many are financially independent of their husbands as well. They are quite smart as they go along and make quite a lot of money when their businesses pick up.
We ought to appreciate that such efforts are highly localised and the Govt of India has nothing to do with such schemes. The particular State Governments should immediately step in and ensure that the self-help groups are multiplied even more and they are given appropriate training,, particularly for products that can be exported.
The Corporate organization's can adopt such self-help groups and help them with marketing support. If they are able to document such efforts, they should be given some concessions by the State Governments and by the Central Government as well.
We need grass-roots approaches to eliminating poverty. Making a few industrialists figure among the richest in the world is the worst approach towards eliminating poverty.