giving an identily to Rural Women of Uttarakhand

HARC PARVATEEYA
MAHILA BAHUDDESHIYA
SWAYATT SAHKARITA
A Case Study

HARC PARVATEEYA
MAHILA BAHUDDESHIYA
SWAYATT SAHKARITA
Giving an Identity to Rural

A CASE STUDY
Mountain Development Research Centre (MDRC) Himalayan Action Research Centre
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
(HARC)
(A Central University) Srinagar Garhwal,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Uttarakhand, India

Women of Uttarakhand

A Case Study by
Mountain Development Research Centre (MDRC),
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
(A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India
Published By
Himalayan Action Research Centre (HARC)
744, Indira Nagar, Phase II, Dehradun 248006,
Uttarakhand, India
Team Leader
Prof J.P. Pachauri
Study Team
Mrs Chhaya Kunwar
Dr. Kiran Dangwal
Dr. Arvind Darmora

Publication Year: 2010

C O N T E N T S
Preface

04

Acknowledgement

05

1.

Introduction

06

2.

About the Study

09

3.

About HARC and its Approach to Women's Empowerment

10

4.

Socio-economic Profile of Women Associated with the Cooperative

12

5.

Emergence of HARC Parvateeya Mahila Bahuddeshiya Swayatta Sahakarita (HARC Mountain Women Multipurpose Autonomous Cooperative)

15

6.

Economic Empowerment of Women through Women Cooperative

22

7.

Social Empowerment of Women through the Cooperative

28

8.

Changes Occurred in the Life of Women after Getting Associated with the Cooperative

32

9.

Sustainability

34

10. Lessons Learnt

35

References

36

Preface
Since past two decades, the issues of women have attracted the
attention of the whole world. The year of 1975 was a milestone in the
history of women's movement when United Nations Organisation
(UNO) declared 1975-85 as the International Decade for Women.
As a result Women in Development (WID), Women and
Development (WAD), and Gender and Development (GAD)
approaches have been adopted at national and international levels
for women's development and advancement. Recently, gender
mainstreaming and rights-based approaches to women
empowerment have gained momentum. The concept of these
approaches have stemmed from declarations and documents
emerged out of a number of international conventions and
conferences specifically World Conference on Human Rights
(Vienna, 1993); International Conference on Population and
Development (Cairo, 1994); World Summit for Social Development
(Copenhagen, 1995); Fourth World Conference on Women
(Beijing, 1995); Second UN Conference on Human Settlements
(Istanbul, 1996); World Food Summit (Rome, 1996); and the fiveyear reviews of these conferences. The Convention on Elimination
of all Kinds of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has also
been recognized as an international instrument for addressing the
gender-based discrimination prevailing in most of the societies in
the world.
The recommendations in international documents, made by the
international community, coupled with women's movements,
pressurized the nations for taking affirmative actions which
address the centuries-old practices of unequal sharing of rights,
powers, resources and opportunities among men and women and
promote such empowerment processes that enable women to
have control on their life, destiny and actions. As a result, various
efforts have been started at the level of government to foster the
socio-economic and political empowerment of women. In India,
the government took some affirmative actions for empowerment
and advancement of women which led to the establishment of
National and State Women Commissions, Ministry of Women and
Child Development, Social Welfare Board, Human Rights
Commission, Minority Commission, etc. Along with these actions,
reservation for women in panchayats and urban local bodies,
formulation of National Policy for Women, introduction of Gender
Budgeting, Domestic Violence Act 2005, Hindu Succession
Amendment Act 2005, and various development programmes and

04

legal provisions for protection and empowerment of women also

came into force. On the other hand, the civil society organizations
(CSO) continued their grassroot level interventions to bring about a
positive change in the life of the poor, marginalized and excluded
ones. There are a number of examples of successful initiatives
taken by civil society organizations which contributed to a great
extent, in the socio-economic empowerment of women in rural and
urban areas. The empowerment process facilitated by CSOs have
paved way for enabling women to recognize their inherent virtues,
powers and potentials to be an equal partner in development
process and empowered them to take up their development
decision themselves.
The present case study - 'HARC Parvateeya Mahila
Bahuddeshiya Swayatta Sahakarita - (HARC Mountain Women
Multipurpose Autonomous Cooperative) Giving an Identity to
Rural Women of Uttarakhand' is about the rural women of Ranwai
valley in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, who have become a
source of inspiration for many women in other parts of Uttarakhand
and India. This case study has been prepared by a team of experts
from Mountain Development Research Centre of Hemwati Nandan
Bahuguna Garhwal University with the technical support from
Himalayan Action Research Centre (HARC), Dehradun. The main
objective of the study is to learn from the experiences and
challenges of women empowerment initiatives of Himalayan Action
Research Centre in Ranwai valley of Uttarkashi district and capture
the success achieved in the projects for replication in other areas
with similar socio-economic condition. The study analyzes the
efforts of HARC in creating and building a women-controlled and
women-managed institution and its impacts on social and
economic empowerment of rural women.
The analysis is based on intensive discussion with board of
directors, individual members of the women cooperative and
village level meetings with self-help groups associated with the
cooperative. The discussion was also held with the team of
Himalayan Action Research Centre (HARC) that was instrumental
in fostering the empowerment process in the study area.

Acknowledgement
Mountain Development Research Centre (MDRC), of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University is grateful to Himalayan Action
Research Centre (HARC), Dehradun for providing its support to conduct this study in Ranwai valley of Naugaon block of Uttarkashi.
MDRC expresses its deep sense of gratitude to Shri Mahendra Singh Kunwar, Secretary, HARC for his valuable suggestions and
providing access to published and unpublished literature and official records related to the women empowerment programme. The
research team had valuable discussions with Mrs. Anarkali (President), Mrs. Asha Rana (Treasurer), Mrs. Kamini Rana (Secretary)
and Mrs. Jagdamba Parmar (Office Secretary) of HARC Parvateeya Mahila Bahuddeshiya Swayatta Sahakarita during the course of
this study. The tremendous support was provided by Mr. Bharat Bisht , In charge - Naugaon Cetre of HARC and Mrs. Beena
Bandhani, Assistant Programme Coordinator of HARC in organizing village level meetings with members of cooperatives during the
field study. MDRC expresses its sincere thanks to Mrs. Chhaya Kunwar, Dr. Kiran Dangwal, and Dr. Arvind Darmoda, for conducting
the research and extending full support in preparing this case study.
This case study would have not been completed without the technical and secretarial support of Ms. Seema Singh, and Mr. Saurabh
Bishnoi. Last but not the least, MDRC expresses its sincere thanks to all members of the women cooperative and team of HARC for
openly sharing their experiences and views about the programme.
Mountain Development Research Centre (MDRC),
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
(A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India

05

1. Introduction
Women constitute almost half of the population of the world. This fact is increasingly
being recognized at all levels that no nation, no society, no community across the world
can advance without the development and advancement of women. For the last two
decades some affirmative actions have been taken at international and national levels
for the empowerment and advancement of women all over the world. But whatever is
being done by the nations is not enough to fill the prevailing gaps of disparities among
men and women. The current indicators of development and situation prevailing in most
regions clearly point towards low status women in the society. They still constitute
majority of rural poor; have low literacy rates, very limited access to resources and have
experienced least improvement in their quality of life.
A number of development programmes and policies for poverty alleviation, literacy,
health and combating violence against women have been implemented to raise the
socio-economic status of women. Article 14 of the Indian constitution ensures equality
before the law to all persons in India. Article 15 prohibits any kind of discrimination by
the state on the grounds of religion, caste, class, race,
sex and place of birth or any of them. Despite
considerable positive action for advancement of
women in recent decades, the gender disparities still
prevail in a prominent way in all dimensions of life.
Studies have shown that at least 1.3 billion people are
living in absolute poverty and 70% of them are women.
(World Revolution.)
Although women are facing challenges all over the
world, yet there have been many inspiring and groundbreaking efforts by women at community level. Women
are courageously taking initiatives in order to challenge
the existing stereotype rules, gender disparities and are
availing opportunities to break the vicious circle of
poverty. These ground-breaking efforts of women are
rarely highlighted. This case study has tried to explore
the processes, strategies and innovative ways adopted to enable rural women of Ranwai
valley to be an agent of change.

06

1.1 About the Region

Himalaya, the highest and longest mountain range of the world and the home to natural and cultural diversity, is also known for its tough
topography, remoteness, inaccessibility and fragile ecosystem. People have been living in Himalaya since ages, with their distinct lifestyles. Each and every people living in Himalaya are a living story of adaptation and struggle for survival.
Uttarakhand, the 27th state of the Republic of India, lies in the lap of Greater and Lesser Himalayas, is known for a land of infinite
mountains, floral landscapes, Gangetic plains, diverse climatic conditions, and people's movement. As per census 2001 there are about
9.18 lakh families residing in 13 districts of Uttarakhand. Subsistence agriculture is the prime source of livelihood and employment of
more than 70% of the population of Uttarakhand. Most of the area of this state is under forests and wastelands leaving only 12% of land
suitable for cultivation. Over the last few decades, the Himalayan region has experienced a steady decline in the condition of its natural
resources. Unplanned cultivation, deforestation and overgrazing have led to the scarcity of water, food, fuel and fodder for its inhabitants.
Massive dams and mining contributed further to the scarring of the land and erosion of the soil. With the fewer yields from land and low
economic returns, men began to migrate to the plains in search of livelihood, leaving women with increased burden of work.
Women in Uttarakhand
are well known as the
backbone of hill economy
Table 1: Demographic Profile
and ecology. They have a
very important role in the
S.No Description
India
Uttaranchal*
Uttarkashi District
subsistence economy as
1.
Total population
1,027,015,247
8,489,349
295,013
they are the main
Male
51.73%
50.96% (4,325,924)
152016
subsistence providers in
the hills. Due to their
Female
48.27%
49.04% (4,163,425)
142997
multiple roles in the
2.
Sex ratio/1000 male
933 in 2001
964 in 2001
941 in 2001
household and outdoor
927 in 1991
936 in 1991
activities (almost 14-16
hours daily) they can be
3.
Total literacy
65.38%
71.6%
65.71%
called, "multi-task
Male
75.85%
83.3%
83.60%
managers". Although
Female
54.16%
59.6%
46.69%
women in mountain areas
have got an important
Source census 2001
position due to their
predominant role in the
subsistence economy, but that is secondary to the man. Like other societies in the world, the Uttarakhand society is also marked by an
unequal division of labour, power and property between male and female. Women are economically, socially and emotionally dependent
on male head of their family. Due to the gender-based division of labour, they have been assigned the responsibilities of diverse activities
related to land, water, forest and livestock. They are the main food producers and do almost 90% of agricultural work but have not been
recognized as farmers. In spite of these challenges, the women of Uttarakhand have always played a very active and significant role in
social movements. Their tremendous contribution to the socio-economic development of the family, community and nation at large, is
remarkable. But this contribution remains unrecognized and invisible and hardly counted in policymaking.

07

1.2 The Study Area - The Ranwai Valley

The word 'Ranwai' means ramaneeya or sundar in Hindi (meaning 'beautiful'). The Ranwai valley is truly a beautiful and
scenic location with mountain ranges on either side, picturesque village hamlets perched on them and the river Yamuna
flowing in the valley below. Ranwai on both sides of the Yamuna valley is a part of Naugaon development block of
Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand. The area has a large population comprising scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,
many of whom have migrated from other parts of the state in far-off times of hardship. Livelihood is based on agriculture
and animal husbandry. Over 75% of the farmers are marginal with less than 1 hectare of land.
Ranwai valley is one of the most backward areas in India. Although women in this area play a very significant role in
subsistence economy, their contribution to socio-economic development is not recognized yet. Women have to suffer
from social and cultural barriers, brunt of low economic status and lack of opportunities and options for sustained
livelihood. These problems are the root cause of women's secondary status and gender-based discrimination at
household as well as societal level. Tough geographical conditions and very little exposure to outside world have
aggravated the problems of women. Though women are engaged in agricultural activities but when the time comes for
marketing the produce, it is the man who handles all the monetary matters and transactions. In spite of toiling for 14-16
hours a day, women have no access to cash earning. As a result, this economic dependence on men makes women
socially, economically and politically disempowered.

08

2. About the Study

The case study is about HARC Parvateeya Mahila Bahuddeshiya
Swayatta Sahakarita, a rural women cooperative, formed and
strengthened by Himalayan Action Research Centre, a voluntary
organization working for socio-economic empowerment of
mountain communities in Uttarakhand. This case study
documents the process of socio-economic empowerment of
women of Ranwai valley through self-help promotion system.
This cooperative has been strengthened in such a way that it is
playing a major role in socio-economic empowerment of women
of Ranwai valley.

2.1 Objective of the study

l
To learn

from the empowerment processes, strategies and

approaches adopted for socio-economic empowerment of
women in Ranwaivalley.

l
To assess

the participation of women in income generation

activities and decision making at family and community level.

l
To assess,

how the empowerment process brought the

change in the socio economic status of women.

2.2 Methodology of the study

This case study was compiled following three methods: a
literature survey, village level meetings with women group
associated with the cooperative and interview of 225
founder members of the cooperative. Literature survey
included review of published and unpublished information
in the form of project reports and documents (annual
reports, case studies, folders, and news clippings) of HARC
and women cooperative. 15 village level meetings were
organized with women members of cooperative for
capturing the picture of empowerment process and
learning the lessons. During the village level meeting, it was
kept in mind that women from all socio-economic classes
of people are represented. The reports and documents on
cooperative formed the basis for the selection of samples
and making of interview schedule. Apart from that,
intensive discussion with the team of HARC at Naugaon
and Dehradun were held to get an overview of the
strategies and process adopted for women empowerment.

09

3. About HARC
and its Approach to Women Empowerment
Himalayan Action Research Centre is a civil society organization working with
poor and marginal farming community in Uttarakhand hills for ensuring their
food security, socio-economic security and sustainable livelihood. HARC
promotes people-centered, people-managed and people-controlled
sustainable development process. It strives for empowering the people in
ways such that they can take their development decisions themselves and
build a stable society that is free of social, economic and gender inequality.
With its firm belief on collective approach to socio-economic development,
HARC took initiative to organize farming communities into self help groups,
farmers' self help groups, farmer associations, cooperatives and producer's
company. At present HARC is working with 20,000 farming families and about
70% of them are organized into community-based institutions for their socioeconomic empowerment. Seventeen federations of men and women farmers
are functioning actively in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Tehri and Dehradun districts of
Uttarakhand.
Gender mainstreaming at institutional as well as programmatic level is the
policy of HARC. It believes that women and men should be equally benefited
with the process and from results of any development programme and action.
HARC adopts special strategies and approaches for women to increase their
confidence, leadership, knowledge, skills, their access to financial
opportunities, technology, income generation options, and decision making.

3.1 Concept of Women

Empowerment
Since, last two decades the term
'empowerment', with special reference to
women, has been used extensively by
government and non-government agencies
at national and international levels. Many
poverty alleviation programmes and
strategies have been initiated with central
focus on empowerment of the poor,
marginalized and excluded ones.
The concept of empowerment has been
defined in different ways in the literature on
women empowerment and development
available worldwide. According to the
guidelines of United Nations Population
Information Network (POPIN) and UN
Population Fund (UNFPA) on women
empowerment , "women empowerment has
five components: women sense of selfworth; their right to have and to determine
choices; their right to have access to
opportunities and resources; their right to
have the power to control their own lives,
both within and outside the home; and their
ability to influence the direction of social
change to create a more just social and
economic order, nationally and
internationally".
The UN Millennium Project 2005, Taking
Action: Achieving Gender Equality and
Empowering Women - the Task Force on
Education and Gender Equality states that
"empowered women must not only have
equal capabilities (such as education and
health) and equal access to resources and
opportunities (such as land and
employment), but they must also have the
agency to use those rights, capabilities,
resources, and opportunities to make
strategic choices and decisions".
Srilatha Batliwala defines empowerment as a
process of transforming the relations of
power between individuals and social
groups, shifting social power in three critical
ways:

10

l
by challenging the ideologies that justify

social inequality (such as gender or

caste);
l
by changing prevailing patterns of

access to and control over economic,

natural and intellectual resources; and
l
by transforming the institutions and

structures that reinforce and sustain

existing power structures (such as the
family, state, market, education and
media).
All these concepts and statements on
women empowerment directly and indirectly
refer to breaking the vicious circle of
centuries-old harmful, socially-constructed
discriminatory and gender-biased practices,
traditions, patterns, structures and policies
that perpetuate the low and secondary status
of women in home, society and the country.
HARC's concept of women empowerment
refers to creating and promoting such
environment, opportunities, strategies and
institutions that challenge the stereotyped
notion about women and enable them to
recognize their inherent potential and power
to gain control over their life, to be an agent
of change in the development process and
empower them to take up their development
decision themselves with dignity and without
fear.

With this concept, the following priorities for

empowerment of women in Ranwai valley
have been identified:
l
Adopting special approaches and

programmes for women empowerment

according to their aspirations, felt needs
and stated priorities.
l
Organizing and strengthening women's

collectives and creating opportunities for

social and economic empowerment.
l
Enhancing women's skills, knowledge,

leadership qualities, and increasing their

access to technology, financial
opportunities and decision making.
l
Sensitizing women about their rights.

With the above priorities, HARC started its

interventions in Ranwai valley with an indepth study on socio-economic status of
people, resource analysis and understanding
the issues affecting the life of women
negatively. The findings of the study and
intensive discussion with men and women
motivated the organisation to adopt special
strategies and approaches to bring women
of Ranwai valley into the main stream of
development. HARC found that mahila
mangal dals (MMDs), and village level
women welfare groups which came into
existence under various government

development schemes, had become inactive

due to lack of proper vision, guidance and
plan of action. Women have very low level of
awareness and have little or no opportunity
to participate in decision making at family
and community levels. Men have control over
the cash, resources and assets and they
dominate all the decision at family and
community level. Gender disparity prevails in
all sphere of life. Gender biased social
norms and cultural practices have relegated
women to secondary status in the society.
Even women themselves do not recognize
their inherent virtues, potential and their
contribution to socio- economic well-being of
the family. They accepted their present status
as an unchangeable part of their lives.
With the given situation, HARC organized
women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and
federated them into a cooperative for their
social and economic empowerment and
advancement. Today forty six SHGs
associated with women cooperative are
engaged in various economic and social
activities.

11

4. Socio-economic Profile of Women Associated with the Cooperative Harc Parvateeya Mahila Bahuddeshiya Swayatt Sahkarita

The socio-economic profile reveals the

social status and economic condition of
women and their families in the study area.
Assessing the socio-economic profile of the
target group is crucial for prioritizing the
needs of the stakeholders which is linked
with the success of any developmental
programme. Therefore, special emphasis
was laid on the analysis of the socioeconomic profile of women associated with
the cooperative, facilitated by HARC. At
present 1123 rural women are associated
with women cooperative and most of them
are involved in farming activities. To study
the present socio-economic profile of the
cooperative members, the study team
selected 225 founder members of the
cooperative. The study reveals that due to
tough geographical situation and climatic
conditions, the livelihood of the people is
difficult and revolves around agriculture
and allied activities. The main occupation
of the people is agriculture, although some
of them work in various government
departments. A few families are running
small shops and other micro-enterprises
like small restaurants, tea stall, vegetable
shops, provisional stores, etc.

12

Table 2
Details of the respondents
(founder members of the cooperative)
No. of women interviewed

225

General* Category

180

SC/OBC Category

45

No. of self help groups

17

Table 3
Details of the village level meetings with
women associated with the cooperative
No of village level meetings

15

No. of women attended meetings =

360

General* Category

240

SC/OBC Category

120

* Note : The whole area of Naugaon block is

declared as backward area by the state
government. So women shown in general category
are also now in backward category.

4.1 Education and Literacy Level

of Women in the Cooperative
Education plays an important role in
human resource development and
provides an opportunity to improve one's
socio-economic condition leading to
betterment of the future generations. In
fact education has been regarded as
very effective tool of human and social
development. Education is considered
as important feature of socio-economic
characteristic because awareness level
and willingness also vary depending on
the educational levels of individuals.
Regarding women's education Mahatma
Gandhi has said, " If you educate a
mother you are educating a family". The
data regarding respondents' education
has been analyzed in the table below.

Table 4

Table 5

Status of literacy among women and men in founder

members' families (No. 225)

Status of children of founder members attending educational

institutions at various levels (No. 225)

Women

Men

Read and Write

39

Primary

41

26

Middle

GENDER

BOYS

GIRLS

Age (years)

6 to 22

6 to 22

Primary

58

50

18

48

Middle

42

45

Secondary

46

Secondary

36

31

Senior Secondary

20

Senior Secondary

12

18

Graduate
Post Graduate
illiterate

10

19

Graduate

69

39

12

Post Graduate

16

97

27

Professional course

The literacy status of Uttarkashi district has been given in Table 1

whereas Table 4 and 5 provide information on educational level of
men, women, and children attending schools at various levels. The
data presented in these tables reveals that the literacy rate among
women and girls is low as compared to men. Ninety-seven women
are illiterate against twenty seven men in the family of founder
members. This is one of the reasons behind women's slow pace of
development. But most of the women interviewed under the study
realized that the primary cause of low level of education among
women was the traditional notion prevailing at that time in the
society that girls would have to take care of the household chores
hence they did not need much education. Although the overall
literacy shows a bias towards males, fortunately now all women,
who were interviewed, are realizing the importance of education and
almost all the children of these women are attending schools. As far
as technical and other professional courses are concerned (B.Tech,
MBA, B. Pharm., B. Ed, etc.) two girls are pursuing technical
education against nine boys belonging to the family of founder
members.

13

4.2 Physical Assets - Land and

Types of House
In an agrarian economy, land is the most
valued productive resource which is wealthcreating and livelihood-sustaining asset for a
significant majority of rural households. The
size of land holding and its productivity
determine the social and economic status of
a farming family. In the study area the
agriculture is the mainstay and accordingly
land is considered as the most important
asset and main basis for assessing social
status of a family.

Land with family

4738.5
5169.5

Land on lease
Total land

262

land used for

agriculture

5431.5

Figure 1
Details of land ( in NALI) held by founder
members associated with the cooperative
50 NALI = One Hectare
The above figure clearly reveals tht the average
land holding, per family is 24 Nali (0.48 hectare).

Kaccha
Traditional
Cemented (pucca)

14%
19%

67%

Figure 2
showing the percentage of founder members of
cooperative living in different types of houses

14

This study assessed socio-economic

condition of a family by determining its
house make . As part of this study, a kutcha
house has been referred to a house which is
composed of wood and mud. A cemented
house has been considered to be a house
whose roof and walls are made of cement. A
traditional house has been referred to a
house whose walls are made of woods with
traditional carving and design on the wood
pillars and the roof is made of wood and/ or
slate. The above data reveals that 67%
founder members of the cooperative are
living in cemented houses. It is clear from
the study that the trend of constructing
cemented houses is increasing in the hills.
Now more people are having cemented
houses than the traditional ones. Some have
replaced their kutcha houses by cemented
houses and some have constructed a
separate house. It is also observed that the
trend of making traditional houses is
declining. The data also shows that only
19% of the total founder members are living
in traditional houses. One of the reasons for
construction of cemented houses is the
availability of loan facility and increased
income of the family due to enhanced
production of agriculture produce. Women
who are members in Self Help Groups are
also getting house loan under bank's
schemes. One positive trend is noticed that
earlier the toilets were not constructed with
the traditional house. But now with the
increasing trend of constructing cemented
house the system of attached bathroom is
being adopted.

4.3 Family Income of the

Founder Members
In agrarian society agriculture and livestock
rearing is the main source of income. So
earning from these sources is always a
family income. The data has been collected
regarding family income of the founder
members and illustrated in the figure below.

10,0003.1
30,000
31,00050,000

17.8

51,0001,00,000
1,00,0002,00,000

55.6

16.9

Above
6.7
2,00,000

10

20

30

40

50

60

Percentage of founder members of

Figure 3 cooperative belonging to different
income group

The data reveals that most of the founder

members (55.6 %) belong to the income
group of Rs. 51,000 - 1,00,000. The
percentage of the founder members having
annual family income Rs. 1,00,000 2,00,000 is 16.9%. In this group most of the
members depend on farming and livestock
rearing as major source of income. 6.7%
founder members fall in the income group of
above Rs.2,00,000. In this income groups
apart from income from farming, at least one
male member (husband or son) is in
government or private job or having small
business.
In sum, the socio-economic analysis clearly
depicts that all the founder members of
cooperatives belong to farming communities
and depend on agriculture and livestock
rearing as a main source of livelihood. The
literacy level is low among women than men
in the families of founder members. As far as
young generation is concerned almost all
children are attending the school. The
analysis of data regarding the land holding
reveals that the average size of land holding,
per family, is less than one hectare. As far as
type of house is concerned, the trend of
constructing cemented houses is increasing
in the area.

5. Emergence of HARC Parvateeya Mahila Bahuddeshiya

Swayatta Sahakarita and its Strengthening

The emergence of HARC Parvateeya

Mahila Bahuddeshiya Swayatt Sakharita
cooperative was not a sudden event but it
involved the whole process of an institution
building and strengthening. HARC, with a
strong belief on equal, active and effective
participation of both men and women in
development process, took special
initiatives for women's empowerment.
Initially, it tried to understand the causes for
these problems including those related to
women's minimal participation and slow
progress in socio-economic fields. The
early efforts were focused on gaining an
understanding of the strength and capacity
of existing village-level organizations such
as mahila mangal dals (MMDs). First of all,
in the series of actions to be taken, some

active women and girls from different

villages were identified and developed as
a cadre of women motivators/facilitators .
These motivators played an important role
in creating an enabling environment in the
villages for starting the process of women
empowerment. They helped in
reorganizing the MMDs and also spread
awareness among women on different
issues related to their social, economic
and political empowerment. These
motivators were strengthened and
promoted in such a way that they could
also act as a pressure group in order to
raise voices for women's rights, social
justice and obliterating the social evils.

5.1 Environment Building and

Group Formation Campaign
Since last two decades, the self-help group
(SHG) movement has gained momentum
and it has been recognized as a very
important tool for women' empowerment.
With the efforts of voluntary development
organizations and government agencies,
thousands of women self-help groups have
come into existence in India which have
contributed a lot to bring about a positive
change in social and economic status of
rural women through their increased access
to saving, credit and income generation

15

activities. Having strong belief in collective

approach to socio-economic development of
people, HARC started building environment
in the villages for formation of self-help
groups with the help of motivators already
developed by HARC in the area.
This was followed by an awareness
campaign, organized in 61 villages of Ranwai

valley to spread awareness among women

about the need and advantages of village
level people`s institution. The main aim of
this awareness campaign was to make
women realize the need and importance of
the self-help group. As a result women
believed that collective approach could only
enhance their socio-economic status and
bring about a qualitative change in their life.
Women motivators took the lead in this
campaign and mobilized women to form a
group by giving examples of successful
groups functioning in other areas of
Uttarakhand.

16

As a result of this awareness generation

campaign, 15 self-help groups of women
came into existence in the first phase. Slowly
this process gained momentum in other
villages also and at the end of second year
more then a hundred (100) SHGs started
their saving and credit activities. Though the
process was not so easy to convince women

for coming together and start saving activity

collectively, but rigorous efforts of the team

regularizing their monthly meetings and

saving activity.
The results of these training programmes
led to starting of saving and inter-loaning
activities in the groups. When the groups
started inter-loaning activity, many
problems cropped up such as nonmaintenance of records of the given loan,
no fixed instalments for repayment, lack of
proper procedure of applying for a loan,
etc. To address these problems, village
level orientation drive was organized to
orient the groups members on the rules
and procedures of inter-loaning. This
helped the groups to run this facility for

Stage-wise interventions done for strengthening women self-help groups

STAGE - 1 (FORMATION)
Giving information regarding importance and advantages of groups.
Orientation on group formation process.
Helping in the preparation of by-laws of the group.
Exposure to successful and well functioning self help groups in other areas.

STAGE - 2 (STRENGTHENING)
Training-cum-exposures on group management, leadership development, account management, inter-loaning,

monthly meetings, documentation, and self- monitoring.

STAGE - 3 (PRODUCTION)
Selection of income generation activity.
Entrepreneurship development and preparing production and business plans.
Skill enhancement on production, quality control, grading, packing, logistics, marketing etc..

STAGE - 4 (STABILITY)
Orientation on federation formation and its strengthening.

Development of various systems and operational strategies.

linkage development with financial , technical and marketing

agencies.

their members smoothly.

17

5.3 Income Generation-Linking

Women Self Help Groups with
Income Generation Activity
Linking women groups to income generation
activities was another important intervention
of HARC that enabled women to have cash
income of their own. A few groups having a
very smooth saving and credit activities,
strong documentation system, active
leadership and having enough capital money
to start income generation programme (IGP),
felt the need of utilizing their savings in some
income generation activity. Before starting
any business activity, these groups were
given entrepreneurship development training
by HARC. In the initial phase 10 women
groups decided to start agro-eco-based
(based on agriculture and eco friendly)
income generation activities. Some groups
were engaged in collective trading of
surplus local pulses, millets, spices and
some were involved in food processing
activities based on locally available raw
material to enhance their income. According
to HARC team there were some strong
reasons behind focusing on agro-eco-based
income generation activities. Since centuries
there has been prevailing biomass-based
subsistence economy in mountain areas.
Women have been playing an important role
in this biomass-based subsistence economy.
Agro-eco-based income generation activities
were cost effective and socially acceptable.
Resources, skills and market were locally
available, so chances of success were more.

5.4 Conceptualization of Women

Federation
Forming a woman federation was the most
challenging task before HARC, as the
concept of federation building was not very
clear to all the members of the groups. At
that time, however, there was no women's
federation existing anywhere in Uttarakhand.
The first attempt of women in income
generation activity was quite encouraging
and it was also a great learning opportunity
for rural women and HARC especially in the
field of marketing. Women have to face the
challenges and problems during the entire
process. The biggest challenge, before
women was to improve and maintain the
quality of the products, as there was tough
competition in the market. These issues were
discussed in the monthly meetings of groups
involved in income generation activities. After
intensive discussion on their past
experiences of income generation activities
they felt the need of combined efforts for
marketing of their raw and value-added
products. Though there was the menfarmer`s federation that was dealing with
production and marketing of fruits and
vegetables but women insisted to have a
separate federation of women groups which
would be a business oriented federation. It
was decided that a women-only federation
should be formed by women collectives
engaged in income generation activities in
order to give women equal opportunity to
manage and control a business, make their
own decision and have control on financial
and marketing dealings without interference
from others.
With the help of the motivators and leaders
of self help group a campaign was started in
each village to make each and every group
member understand the need, concept and
structure of the federation. Intensive

discussions took place on the structure of

the federation. Men folk were also invited to
the meeting so that they would realize the
importance of their support to women. After
the village level campaign 13 groups came
forward to form a federation and they also
selected one representative from each group
for the federation management committee.
Thus women federation was formed without
any objection from the menfolk of the
villages. HARC also organized an exposure
trip for these groups to Himachal Pradesh,
where a women's cooperative was
functioning, to develop their understanding
on the organizational development and
operational processes of a collective
business.
During the campaign and group meetings
the issue of resource mobilization to start a
business through the cooperative came on
priority basis. Building the capital fund was
the most difficult task as some members of
the groups and menfolk of the village were
suspicious about the use of capital fund and
did not allow women to join the federation.
From February 2002 to September 2002, a
number of meetings were organized at group
level to convince each and every member
about the proper use of the capital fund.
Again motivators took the responsibility to
convince all the members and the menfolk of
the village. Finally 13 groups were ready and
each member of 13 groups (160 women)

decided to build a capital fund by contributing a share

of Rs. 500/- to start the business activities collectively.
By this time four more groups joined the cooperative
and membership increased to 230. The federation was
formally established in October 2002. They elected their
office bearers and distributed the responsibilities
among them.

List of 17 Founder SHGs

1. Raj Rajeshwari Self Help Group, Kotiyal Village
2. Gayatri Self Help Group, Sunara Village

According to Mrs. Jagdamba Parmar "Our federation equipped itself with the skills
and knowledge of federation management, preparing the business plan,
documentation, financial management, market management, and legal procedures
to run a business with the help of the organization. We also learned how to negotiate
with the buyers and marketing agencies."

The federation gained the information on business related government regulations

such as sales tax, income tax, inter-state and out-of-state delivery of the products,
audit of accounts, etc..
In 2003 the federation got registered as Ranwai Mahila Multipurpose Autonomous
Cooperative Society Ltd under the Autonomous Cooperative Society Act of the
Government of Uttarakhand.

3. Raj Rajeshwari Self Help Group, Mungra Village

4. Durga Self Help Group, Devalsari Village
5. Lammi Bai Self Help Group, Muradi Village
6. Bhagwati Self Help Group, Paletha Village
7. Yamuna Self Help Group, Upradi Village

Major Goal of the Cooperative: (Long-Term Objective)

"Economic independence of women farmers of the mountain region by
providing a platform for diversified livelihood options and ensuring
social and economic security."

8. Narsingh Self Help Group, Naugaon Village

9. Krishna Self Help Group, Krishna Village
10. Tees Self Help Group, Sunara Village
11. Surkunda Self Help Group, Kotiyal Village
12. Kamal Self Help Group, Bangasu Village

Mission

13. Bhagirathi Self Help Group, Kotiyal Village

l
Promoting saving and credit activities

14. Meerabai Self Help Group, Muradi Village

among the members of the groups

associated with the cooperative.

15. Dropdi Self Help Group, Kimmi Village

16. Gulab Self Help Group, Bangasu Village
17. Pragati Self Help Group, Barkot

l
Knowledge and skill enhancement of

the members to enable them to get involved

in income generation activities.
l
Providing employment to interested

The women federation, with the facilitation of HARC,

framed its structure, prepared its byelaws and drafted
its constitution. Various internal management
components such as accounting, monthly and annual
general meeting, marketing and communication system
were developed for smooth functioning of the
federation. The business plan and marketing strategy of
the federation was also developed. The federation
formed its various committees (purchasing committee,
grading and packing committee, processing committee
and quality control committee) for the distribution of
work and its smooth functioning.

members through various income

generation interventions of the cooperative.
l
Creating a platform for the members for

marketing their products through the

cooperative.
l
Awareness generation and advocacy on

environmental, social and women's rights

issues.

19

In 2004 the cooperative did a business of Rs.

300,000 (three hundred thousand) and at the
end of the year distributed the dividend
among its members.
In the following years the cooperative
focused on reaching more and more women
in Ranwai valley for their social and
economic empowerment. A membership
drive was conducted by motivators and
office bearers of the cooperative in various
villages and linked women farmers to the
cooperative.

Figure : 4 Number of members in the cooperative

1123

2010

740

2009

223

2007

200

400

400

800

1000

1200

5.6 Governance and Structure of Women Cooperative

The cooperative is a membership-based organization. The membership is given to only those
women or women groups who are associated with community-based groups. Most of the
members are from self-help groups. It has 12 board of directors (BoD) and four professional
and technical experts of various fields. It has a president, a treasurer and a secretary. The BoDs
is elected from the clusters and BoDs elect the president, treasurer and secretary from among
themselves. The BoDs is comprised of women farmers engaged in agricultural and agro-based
activities. All the issues related to the functioning of the cooperative are discussed in the
monthly meeting of the board of directors of the cooperative, which are further disseminated to
the members by BoDs. The annual general assembly meeting is organized by the cooperative
every year for discussing the financial and business-related issues. The BoDs implements the
decisions taken in the meeting.

5.5 HARC Parvateeya Mahila

Bahuddeshiya Swayatta
Sahakarita - A New Name Given
to the Cooperative
In 2007, the board of directors of the
cooperative, in consultation with the general
body, passed a resolution to extend its area
of work form Naugaon to other districts of
Garhwal specially to increase its trading
activities. As the name "Ranwai" represented
only one valley, so the name was changed
as HARC Parvateeya Mahila Bahuddeshiya
Swayatta Sahakarita. Another resolution was
passed to increase the members in the
cooperative with a membership fee of Rs 1/At present the cooperative has 1123
members.

20

Figure : 5 structure of the cooperative

IST STAGE

GROUP

Representative

GROUP
Representative

Representative

FEDERATION
IIIRD STAGE
Representative
GROUP

GROUP

IIND STAGE

Representative
Representative

GROUP

GROUP

5.7 Various Systems and Procedures in the Cooperative

Organizing Quaterly
The cooperative organises quaterly meeting regularly and annual general meeting once in a year to keep all the
and Annual
General Meeting
members informed about the activities, income and expenditure details of the co-operative. In these meetings,
suggestions of all members are invited and future operational strategy and plans are prepared accordingly.

Conducting
Elections after
Every Three Years

System for Office

Management &
Maintenance of
Documents

Fulfilling Legal
Requirement

Provision for Work

Distribution in the
Cooperative

The tenure of the BoDs is three years. So the cooperative conducts its election after every three years to elect its
BoDs. The office bearers are elected from among the BoDs in a general meeting of the cooperative. The present
board got elected in December 2008.

The cooperative has its office in Naugaon. It has maintained the membership register, meeting register, cashbook,
ledger, bank register, production register, stock register, labour register and share register for the systematic
documentation and maintaining transparency. Mrs. Jagdamba parmar, a cooperative member, has been appointed
as full-time staff by the cooperative.

The cooperative has a proper system of internal and external audit. It is registered for sales tax and income tax.

The cooperative has distributed the roles and responsibilities as per the capacities of the members. The cooperative
has formed four committees i.e. fruit processing committee, purchasing committee, marketing committee and
quality control committee. The responsibilities have been distributed according to the capacities of the members.

System for Sale and

Purchase of Products The cooperative has made a system for the sale and purchase of products. The purchase committee is
by the Cooperative
responsible for purchasing of products. The cooperative approves selling price of the finished products.

Strengthening of
Backward Linkages

To enhance the production and strengthening of backward linkages, the cooperative developed a system for making time
to time agreements with its members for production planning. The co-operative and producers groups together finalize the
price of the produce prior to the production.

System for Ensuring

the Quality of the
The members of quality control committee are responsible for ensuring the quality of the finished products.
Product (Grading
There is a fixed standard for grading and packing. The members of the cooperative provide their services on
and Packing)
paid basis for the grading and packing of the products.
Source - Documents of The Women Cooperative

21

6. Economic Empowerment
of Women through the Cooperative

Economic empowerment or making

economically independent is one of the
most important tools for building
confidence, leadership skills and
enhancing negotiation and bargaining
power among women. Susanne Jalbert in
her report on Economic Empowerment for
Women states that "economic literacy is a
tool that equips women to design
appropriate, viable, and sustainable
alternatives for economic survival.
Economic empowerment through income
generation activities, micro-enterprise
development and microcredit activities
strengthens and gives visibility to

22

economic roles of women and their

contribution to family income". The
cooperative provides technical and handholding support to its members for
strengthening their capacities to take up
saving and credit activities as well as
income generation activities. For this, the
cooperative organizes village level capacity
and skill enhancement training and
orientation for its members. The
cooperative also hires the services of
trained women in the production of
processed food items and handicraft
activities.

6.1 Women's Increased Access

to Saving and Credit Facilities
Getting organized into self-help groups and
cooperatives has increased women's access
to saving and credit facilities of banks. These
women are now entitled to get loan from their
respective groups and from the bank
through cash credit limit (CCL) facility
provided by the banks to SHGs and

cooperatives. According to women members

the inter-loaning facility within the group is
like a boon for them as they can get money
at the time of need and emergency to meet
their requirement. On the top of that, it is the
monthly meeting only when women get time
to sit together, share their happiness,
problems, experiences, find ways to solve
their problems and do saving and interloaning. The interaction with the women of
the area reveals that it is not only the issue of
women's access to saving and credit facility
but also the whole process of organizing
women resulted in their increased self
confidence, knowledge about the world
outside their four walls of house and getting
opportunities to learn, show their skills and
talent and improving their socio-economic
life.
The data of 225 members of the cooperative
reveals that 87% women have taken loan
from the group and banks for different
purposes. It is very clear from the study that
being a member of the group enabled
women to have easy access to loan from
their group as well as from the bank. Women
can get loan from the group in their names
without any hassle or much paper work. The
group, where women are saving their money,
has account in the bank so the group is also
entitled to get group loan from the bank after
fulfilling some criteria. Most of the women
prefer to get loan from their group as there is
not much paper work, the access is easy
and it is more convenient than getting loan
from other sources. At the same time when
women need bigger amount of loan, the
groups can approach their bank for the
same. Earlier when women were not
organised into groups it was very difficult for
them to approach banks and apply for the
loan. Now banks are also promoting selfhelp groups and the loan is easily available
to the group members as compared to other
individuals.

Figure 6: Percentage of use of loan in different activities by women

Agri -input

15%
30%

Fodder
Fuel/LPG

15%

School Fee
Loan Repayment
15%

10%

Social Activities
Fix Assets

10%

5%

Women's increased access to saving and credit facility has made their economic contribution
visible at the household level. Now they are contributing to different economic activities of the
family such as construction of a house, marriage of children, opening a shop for son or
husband, health care, education of children and also income generation activities. Thus women
are now contributing to the family requirements in terms of cash, which was not possible for
them earlier, when they were not linked with banks through the group. Her access to credit
facility and her cash contribution to the family income have increased her negotiation powers at
home. This is the world where non-cash contribution of women is not recognized.
Many women shared that now they do not have to worry for the availability of money at the time
of need or any emergency. The discussion with women also revealed that there have been
some cases of non-payment or delayed payment in the group, which hampered the saving as
well as inter-loaning activities in the group. At this situation other group members tried to find
out the reasons behind non-payment or delayed payment. If the case was genuine, the group
unanimously granted extra time to the member for repayment. If the group found that the
member is just delaying the payment without any specific reason, in that case they put the
social pressure on the member for timely repayment.

Saving and inter-loaning made it possible for Ms. Roshni to educate

herself and her children
Shrimati Roshni Rawat, Treasurer of Narsing Self-help Group, had always dreamt of giving
good education to her children, but due to limited funds she was not being able to do so.
Joining the Group helped her to realize that by taking loan from the group, she could fulfil
her dream. For the first time Roshni applied for a loan of Rs 1200. This money she spent on
getting her children admitted in a good school. After this, she again took a loan of Rs 1700;
this helped her in buying school uniform, books and in paying the school fees. She paid the
loan by selling milk. At the same time, Roshni herself wished to study further and took a loan
for appearing in senior secondary examination and got qualified. Roshni could give good
education to her children and also make her position strong in the society by furthering her
education.

23

6.2 Various Options of Income Generation for Rural Women

The cooperative, with the support of HARC, has created a number of opportunities for its
members to generate income and getting employment. These members are getting
employment and income mainly in three ways. Firstly, many women are directly engaged in
fruits, vegetables and grains production; floriculture; fruit processing and non-farm-based
micro-enterprise and earning money out of it. Secondly, the cooperative hires the services of its
members for food processing, grading, packing, and labeling of the final products. Thirdly, the
members are selling their surplus produce to the cooperative and getting direct cash in their
hands. The cooperative is providing a platform to rural women to sell their agricultural produce
and value-added products through the cooperative.

l
Income Generation by Value
Addition Techniques
Till now the cooperative has organized more
than 50 training courses on value addition
techniques for its members. As a result 180
women are now engaged in the production
and marketing of garlic pickle, ginger chilli
pickle, mixed vegetable pickle, apple jam,
mixed fruit chutni, anwala candy, etc under
the brand name of Ranwai's Nature Pure.
The food processing activities are very
convenient to women as most of the raw
material is available at local level and women
use the facilities of food processing unit of
HARC, handed over to the cooperative, for
its use, management and maintenance.

24

From an ordinary woman to a

master trainer
Mohini is a resident of Dhari village in
Naugaon block. She is also a member of
Rath Devta Self-help Group. Her group has
taken the membership of the women
cooperative. The cooperative conducted an
orientation programme in Dhari village for
motivating them to start income generation
activity within the group by using their
savings. Mohini was the first woman who
came forward and motivated other
members of the group for starting income
generation activities. The group selected
garlic pickle making as an activity to start a
micro-enterprise. With this initiative each
woman got a net profit of Rs. 500 in the first
round of production of garlic pickle. During
the production Ms. Mohini developed her
expertise in garlic pickle making. She also
prepared the garlic pickle on her own and
the cooperative provided support to her for
marketing of the pickle. She has developed
so much expertise that she now provides
training to other group members on
processing. She regularly comes to the
processing unit and provides her services.
She is now being trained as master trainer
for preparing pickle.

l
Farm Based Economic Activities
More than 500 members of cooperative are engaged in fruit and vegetable cultivation. The
cooperative buys fruits and vegetables from its members for value addition and also facilitate
market linkages for raw produce. Approximately 57 members of the women cooperative are
also engaged in floriculture and earning income out of it.

The cooperative is also engaged in marketing of millets, spices, grains and pulses produced by
its members. The members sell their raw produce to the cooperative. After grading, packing
and labeling, these products are sold in the market or at household level. The cooperative has
been able to reduce the exploitation of growers at the hands of middlemen who used to give a
very low rate to women for their produce. The cooperative fixes a rate for any raw produce,
which is much better than the rate given by the middleman, and buys it from the members on
cash basis.

l
Non-farm-based Economic Activities
As far as non-farm-based economic activities
are concerned, 76 members of the
cooperative have started their microenterprise such as steam noodle making,
satnaja making (flour made of seven grains),
anardana goli making (sweet and sour
tablets made out of pomegranate seeds),
dairy and tent house. HARC has been
instrumental in building the risk taking
capacities and technical skills of women and
facilitating the establishment of micro
enterprises. Most of the women are showing
interest in food processing activities as it can
be done in group easily and less time is
consumed. It is very clear through the
observation and interaction with members of
the women cooperative that the involvement
of women in income generation activities has
increased their confidence level and now
they are taking risk to start income
generation activities by investing their own
money. In this way women's access to cash
income is increasing.

l
Handicraft Activity - A Micro-enterprise Benefiting Rural Women

The handicraft activity of making folders/files and wall pictures with handmade papers and dried
flowers, was introduced by HARC for the first time in the area to increase the employment
opportunities for the members of cooperatives. Now it has become a micro- enterprise totally
managed and handled by the women cooperative. At present 10 women/girls are engaged in
making file/folder and wall pictures and getting regular employment out of this activity. The
marketing of these hand-made products is being done by the cooperative. The major buyers of
these folders are NGOs, banks and government institutions.

25

Figure 7:
Fruit & Vegetable Production

510

Floriculture

57
201

Pulses & Grains

Food Processing Activities

180

Non Farm Microenterprise

Mrs. Madhu (right) and Mrs Uma Joshi

"Madhu, 25, a resident of Salli Village in

Naugaon block, is the mother of four
children. She had no option for income
generation before she heard of the
handicraft activity, i.e. making of files, wall
pictures, etc. initiated by HARC. She came
to the office of the women cooperative and
showed her interest in this activity. The
trainers of HARC and the cooperative
provided her training for almost one month
with other participants. Within one month
she acquired proficiency in this activity. Her
dedication and strong will to be
economically independent inspired her to
enhance her skills within one month. Now
she is earning Rs. 1000 {sometime more
than that} per month by making files and
wall pictures. As she has acquired
expertise in this activity, now she doesn't
have to come to the training centre. She
takes the raw material and prepares files
and wall pictures at home. With this she
can look after her children and also earn
money. Madhu is very happy as she has a
regular source of income now."

76

200

in Lakhs

Involvement of the cooperative members in various income generation activities

Source - Documents of the Cooperative

6.3 Financial and Marketing Linkages of the Cooperative

Finance play a major role in running an institution successfully and making it selfsustained. Once the cooperative assumed the legal status, the most important task
was to align its activities. The first priority was to build its financial linkages. HARC and
the cooperative office bearers approached State Bank of India, Naugaon to explore the
possibilities of getting loan form the bank. The Bank sanctioned a Cash Credit Limit
(CCL) worth Rs.5, 00,000 (INR) for its trading activities. This money was used in
expanding the income generation activities by the cooperative.
Figure 8:
CCL Cooperatives

500000

in Lakhs

CCL Groups

1128000

Housing loan

917000

Inter loaning

6198883

2000000

4000000

Figure 7: Showing over all financial linkages of cooperative

CCL - Cash Credit Limit
Source - Records of Cooperative

26

600

400

6000000

8000000

The State Bank of India, Naugaon also gave the house loan to the members of the Cooperative
with the facilitation of HARC. The cooperative motivates its members to continue the saving and
credit activities in the groups to serve its members at the time of their need.

Value and Supply Chain of

Women Cooperative

Marketing of Products by the Women Cooperative

Market promotion is one of the most important tools for ensuring marketing of products of
SHGs. In this area HARC extends its expertise and support to the cooperative. HARC organizes
various promotional activities from time to time for product presentation and penetration in the
market. The product promotion strategy included the marketing of produce at household and
institutional levels. The activity of direct delivery of products to the customer at household levels
is covering more than 300 households in Dehradun. One of the best sold items of the
cooperative is the gift pack, containing four bottles of pickle, jam and chutni. It is marketed on
the occasion of Deepavali festival at the household level, retail shops, and at government and
non-government institutions by organizing promotional activities.

Raw Materials
from SHG

Collection Centre
(Grading & Sorting)

Regional and
National Markets

Local Market

Retail Shop - Sale

Processing and
Value Addition

The products of the cooperative are sold in the local market in Naugaon and also in Dehradun,
Delhi, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh. At local level, the cooperative itself does the marketing
through its outlet in Naugaon market. One outlet is opened in Dehradun, the capital city of
Uttarakhand and a salesman is deployed at Dehradun, to look after the sale and supply to other
states. The cooperative also participates in the state and national level exhibitions at Delhi Haat,
Agri Expo at Pragati Maidan, Uttarakhand trade fair etc to popularize its products. Since the
office of the cooperative is en route to Yamunotri, a religious place which more than 2 lakh
religious tourists from all over the India and foreign countries visit between April to October
every year, the processed items are being sold in this route. Form time-to-time, HARC helps in
organizing buyer seller meet, market promotion events for the products of the cooperative. For
the marketing of the vegetables produced by women in Naugaon, direct farm to consumer
strategy has been adopted.

27

7. Social Empowerment of Women through the Cooperative

Social empowerment and economic
empowerment are integral parts of each
other. If economic empowerment does not
raise the social status of women and social
empowerment interventions do not provide
opportunity for economic empowerment,
the process of empowerment is incomplete
in real term. The women cooperative is not
only working for economic security and
independence of its members but also at
the same time addressing the social
barriers and challenges that hamper the
empowerment processes.

7.1 Awareness of Women's

Rights and Social Issues
Creating awareness of women's rights and
social issues among its members is a major
agenda of the cooperative. At present the
cooperative is focusing on women's rights
to land, property and livelihood. For this,
the women cooperative, in collaboration
with HARC, organizes awareness
programmes for generating awareness
among its members on rights issues and
motivate them for claiming their rights. The
cooperative also provides knowledge and
information on women development
schemes, health and hygiene, violence
against women act, and other legal
provisions for protecting women's rights.

Mrs Anarkali (president) right & Mrs Asha Rana (treasurer) left

Mrs. Anarkali Playing a Leading Role

in the Women Cooperative
Mrs. Anarkali belongs to a poor family and resides in Bagasu village in Ranwai valley.
When a Woman SHG came into existence in the village she was made secretary of
Gulab Self-help Group of Bagasu with the facilitation of HARC. HARC provided her all
the opportunity to develop her leadership qualities. She has been successful in
bringing all the women of Bagasu village under one roof and involves them in income
generation activities. When Gulab Self-help Group joined the membership of the
women cooperative, she was selected as the director of the Women Cooperative.
She very actively participated in all the activities of the cooperative. Due to her active
role, the SHG of Bagasu could get a housing loan of Rs 1,30,000. This money was
utilized by the women to start business ventures and in constructing houses. Anarkali
herself has opened a shop in her village which is being run by her husband and
herself. Anarkali has not only made her position strong in the society but has done
the same for many other women. As a result of increased capacities in the
management of group, she was elected the president of HARC Mountain Women
Multipurpose Autonomous Cooperative in November 2009. Ms Anarkali has

become a source of inspiration for many women of Ranwai Valley.

28

7.2 Capacity Enhancement

Opportunities to Members by
Participation in Exposures and
Trainings Organised by Different
Agencies
Exposures and training are the major tools
for enhancing the knowledge, skills and
capacities of women. This study also looked
into the opportunities women got for
enhancing their capacities through
participation in events organised by different
government and non- government
institutions.
The members of the cooperative participate
in exposure tours, orientation and training
programmes organised by HARC and other
government and non-government agencies.
The exposures and training programmes
were on women's rights, self-help group
management, income generation
programmes, social development issues,
agriculture, animal husbandry, organic
farming, van panchayat, etc. Women were of
the opinion that these capacity enhancement
programmes gave them opportunity to
interact with subject experts, government
officials, policy makers and women of other
states. Most of the members realized that
they would have not got such opportunities if
they were not the members of SHGs and the
cooperative. One of the women named
Roshni Rawat realized the importance of
education in life after the exposure and
orientation on social development issues.

7.3 Changing Gender Relations - Change in Division of Work between

Man and Woman (Household and Farm Related Work)
This data was collected to assess the change in division of work between man and woman.
Table 5 shows the participation of male and female members of the house in different
productive and reproductive activities.
Table : 6 Participation of men and women in different house hold activities in the
family of founder members.
(Total No. respondents 225)
Household and Farm- related Activities

Percentage (%) of men and women

involved in different activities
Women

Men

Preparation of food

100

Bringing drinking water

94

12

Cleaning of house

100

10

Giving food to animals

88

35

Bringing fodder for animals

95

35

Cleaning cow shed

89

17

Giving water to animals

87

45

Milking cow

85

39

Selling of milk in the market

80

12

Spreading manure in the field

85

43

Ploughing of fields

95

Sowing of seeds

35

77

Purchase of seeds

19

77

Harvesting of crops

84

69

Bringing crops from farm to home

79

35

Selling of crops

35

92

Gendered roles and power relations play a very important role in determining the socioeconomic condition of women and enabling their access to decision making. Table 5
clearly indicates that though the participation of women is much higher than that of men in
the household works, but there is a slight improvement in gender relations as men's
participation in household activities is increasing now. Though this change is very slow but
started taking place. One of the interesting facts is that most women belonging to
schedule cast category emphasized that their husbands help them in household chores,
which other women also confirmed during the village level meetings. At the same time
some visible changes are also taking place. For example, previously men never took the

29

responsibility of bringing fodder for

animals from the forest, giving food to
animals, milking cow and cleaning
cowshed, but now the participation level
of men is higher in these activities as
compared to other household activities. It
was noticed that women are reluctant to
influence or ask men for helping them in
their daily household chores especially in
the families belonging to Brahmins and
Rajputs . It was also realized that this is an
area which needs much time and efforts
to bring attitudinal changes among both
men and women.
One of the good things noticed is that the
participation of women 80% in selling of
milk in the market is higher than that of
men 12%. This shows that women are
having access to cash as the money is
coming directly in the hands of women by
selling of milk. Earlier, men used to plough
the field only and rest of the 95 % activities
were performed by women themselves.
But now as the agricultural activities have
become the main source of livelihood and
direct cash income is coming out of the
agricultural produce (especially from fresh
vegetables and fruits), the participation of
men has increased in other agriculture
operations. In most of the cases
marketing of produce is being done by
men through federations. Out of 225
women, 35% told that they are involved in
the selling of produce and getting money
themselves. Though the income from
selling of agriculture produce comes
directly in the hand of male members of
the family or in their bank account, but
income from selling of milk, flowers, dry
spices and from food processing activities
directly comes in the hand of women and
they have control on this money. Most

30

women said that the family income was

spent for meeting the needs of the family
members and buying assets for the family.
Some participants told that the loan they
have taken from the group or bank for
house construction or children education
is being paid by the money, a family gets
out of the sale of agri-produce. It was
interesting to note that increased access
to cash has increased the confidence
level among women.
7.4 Participation of Women in Decision
Making at Family Level
Though some positive changes are
occurring in the social status of women
but the pace of these changes is very
slow. The study has also tried to assess
whether the empowerment process and
association of women with the cooperative
has contributed in increasing women's say
in decision making at family level on
important matters like education of their
children, making investments,
participation in social programme, sale
and purchase of valuable articles,
marriage of the children, and so on .
According to women neither man nor
woman can take independent decision on
these family matters. Most of the women
have told that these decisions are taken
by discussing the matter mutually at family
level. Both men and women have to take
consent of each other for taking decision
on any matter. According to Mrs. Beena
Bandhani, member of cooperative from
Kotiyal village "initially it was my idea and
decision to get my younger son admitted
in Navodaya school. I discussed this
matter with my husband and both of us
agreed to admit our son in a residential
school."

As far as taking decision regarding going

to out of town for attending any training or

31

8. Changes Occurred in the Life of Women after Getting

Associated with the Cooperative

The empowerment of women is a process that enables a woman to

realize her identity and to have control on her life and destiny. This
process provides opportunities for greater access to knowledge,
skills and resources. During the discussion at village level, most of
the women opined that great changes had occurred in their lives
since they are organized in collectives and become the members
of the cooperative. First of all, the major changes, which women
felt, were their increased confidence and self-realization. Earlier,
women were reluctant to go anywhere; neither had they got such
an opportunity. But now in the group they feel secured and are
having a sense of togetherness. Now they can go to the bank, and
to government departments for discussing their issues with the
officials without any hesitation. Some of the women shared that it
was for the first time in their lives they visited the bank after getting
linked with the SHG.

32

Mrs. Bimla Bandhani of Kotiyal village says that "previously

women were reluctant to share their feeling with other women.
But the cooperative provides them a platform for sharing their
views, feeling, problems and experiences freely with others".
Women feel that their saving in the group as well as in the bank
and their increased access to loan facility have given them
recognition at family level and community level at large. Now
their husbands also motivate them to go and attend meeting or
any training programme.

Women have acquired sufficient knowledge

and skills and now participate in social
programmes and also in gram sabha
meetings. Mrs. Purni Devi of Upradi village
shares that "SHG women have raised the
issue of rakid bandhan (community system
for crop protection from animals), formation
of van panchayat (forest management
committee), cleanliness of the village, etc in
gram sabha meetings". Mrs. Jashoda
Nautiyal of Devalsari village shared that "she
learnt a lot by being a member of the
cooperative and this has helped in
developing her personality; as a result she is
the pradhan (Head) of the village presently".
Mrs. Jagdamba Parmar, the former secretary
of the women cooperative, feels more
confident and economically self-reliant since
she has joined the cooperative.
Women's association with the cooperative

provided them with income generation

opportunities which, in turn, helped them to
earn cash income. With increased skills and
capacities of leadership many cooperative
members have been elected in panchayat
bodies.
HARC Parvatiya Mahila Bahuddeshiya
Swayatta Sahakarita (HARC Mountain
Women Multipurpose Autonomous
Cooperative) is the most successful women
federation engaged in socio-economic
empowerment of women in Uttarakhand
state. It has become an inspiration for other
women groups within and outside the state.
A number of women groups, formed under
the big development project of Uttarakhand
Government, funded by World Bank,
International Fund for Agriculture
Development (IFAD), NABARD are visiting
the cooperative to learn from it.

Major Challenges Faced by HARC

l
Social barriers and cultural norms that restrict women's mobility and self-

initiatives.
l
Low level of education of women.
l
Building risk-taking capacities among women takes time. Women have to be

convinced to reserve time for these activities within their busy schedules.
l
Building the confidence of women in a totally new activity (like trading) and

convincing them to adopt collective approach to economic development.

l
Lack of social acceptance and prevailing myths that women cannot do marketing.
l
Tough competition in the market and low level of marketing skills.

33

9. Sustainability
The study reveals that right from the beginning, the matter of sustainability was
addressed by the cooperative. It emerged out of the felt-need of the women and is
based on women's capacities and local resources. There is no interference from any
outside agency and it is legally and socially controlled and managed by the local
women only. The most important aspect is the collective approach to socio-economic
development which is based on the felt need of women. Since beginning the focus
was on building the federation instead of creating it. The vision, mission, objective and
operational strategies were clearly defined and made understandable to the members
from the very beginning. The members of the cooperative made all the financial
investments so they have strong sense of ownership. The cooperative has employed
two full-time staff for day-to-day operations of the business. The members of different
committees also give their time for fulfilling their responsibility. The cooperative is selfsustained now. The members of SHGs invest their own money in income generation
activities. The cooperative buys the products of SHGs and sell them after packing and
labeling with certain percentage of margin as its administrative cost. The handicraft
activity also generates income for the cooperative. The cooperative has become selfsufficient in fulfilling the legal requirements as it deals itself with audit, filing of income
tax, sales tax, etc.

34

10. Lessons Learnt

Some major lessons that
HARC and the women
cooperative have learnt from
the process of women
empowerment are given
below along with its
recommendations for
replication:
It

is important to understand that there

is no single road or approach to
address the gender issues but the need
is to adopt a multi- pronged strategy.
create an enabling environment for
women's active and effective
participation in any process or action,
involvement of men and seeking their
suggestions in joint meetings are
essential.

The

success of any collective approach

to development is based on the
principles, values, behaviour, attitude
and capacities of stakeholders, both
male and female.

To

Social

transformation and behavioural

change especially the mindset and the
attitude of the society towards women
is a time-consuming process.
efforts and voices help
women to articulate their concerns and
negotiate effectively for their rights. This
justifies the need to strengthen and
promote local women's groups and
their coalitions.

To

inculcate the sense of ownership,

rigorous and meaningful participation of
women and men at every level of
project planning, implementation and
monitoring are essential.

Trading

is a male-dominated area.
Promoting women in this field is a great
challenge, but there are ways of getting
around them if there is strong will and
determination.

Collective

is a great scope and potential for

increasing income from agro-ecobased activities by encouraging small
enterprises. Skill development and
training efforts have to be undertaken to
develop the capacity of women to
undertake such activities.

Effective

leadership, skill to resolve

conflicts, strong backward and forward
linkages, a sense of ownership,
knowledge of the market and its trends
are key to the success of a microenterprise.

There

The

development of local level experts

who are able to respond to the needs
and requirements of the community can
contribute to the success of the
mission.

35

References
Commissioner, Census of India (2001)
Government of India.
Ministry of Home Affairs. Office of the
Registrar General and Census
HARC. Annual Report 2008 & 2009
HARC Parvateeya Mahila Bahuddeshiya
Swayatta Sahakarita (HARC Mountain Women Multipurpose
Autonomous Cooperative).
Membership register, production register,
bank register, action plan sheet, business
plan and other documents.
Jalbert, Susane. (1999).
A Private Sector Agenda for Economic
Empowerment of Women: A National Call to
Action. (A Report on the National Association
of Business Women (NABW) Project)
Kunwar Chhaya, (2002)
Himalayan Women's Rights to Land,
Water and Forest - Imagining Rights Based
Development Strategies (unpublished)

36

Kunwar, Chhaya and Uniyal Kuldeep

(2004). Mountain Women Initiative: A
collective Approach to Sustainable
Economic Development, in Gender Main
Streaming in Action-Successful Innovations
from Asia and the Pacific, Inter Action - CAW,
USA and IIRR, Philippines.
UN. Population Division.
Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
United Nations Population Information
Network (Popin). Guidelines on Women's
Empowerment.
UN. The Task Force on Education and
Gender Equality. The UN Millennium Project
2005, Taking Action: Achieving Gender
Equality and Empowering Women World Revolution. "The State of the WorldBrief Introduction to Global Issues" Available
at - www.worldrevolution.org)

Himalayan Action Research Centre

774 Indra Nagar, P. O.New Forest, Dehradun 248006,
Uttarakhand, India, Telefax - 0135-276012
harcindia@gmail.com, info@harcindia.org
Mountain Development Research Centre (MDRC)
Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India

www.harcindia.org