The Hindu : Where Dalit women bank on themselves

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 26, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Where Dalit women bank on themselves

By R. Ilangovan

MADURAI FEB. 25. She was a farm worker till five years ago. She toiled on the fields of caste Hindus for the whole day to earn one decent meal for her family. Like other Dalit women workers, 45-year-old Sundaramma also got trapped into the web of moneylenders, a majority of whom are caste Hindus. Her life was nothing but agony.

But today she is the proud owner of a teashop and of a piece of land at Thottapanaickanur, setting a trend unheard of among the Dalits in Usilampatti block, which is a Piramalai Kallar heartland.

This fairy tale transformation in the struggling lives of Sundaramma and a group of other Dalit women in the villages in the block has been made possible, thanks to the formation of a `People's Bank.'

It was a humble beginning for the bank, solely run by Dalit women for Dalit women. The initial common fund of Rs.1.12 lakhs in 1999 has now swelled to Rs.4. 30 lakhs. Each member pays Rs. 50 a month. A non-governmental organisation facilitated capacity building for Sundaramma and other women members in running the bank operations. To make it a women's movement, committees have been formed in the cluster of villages surrounding Usilampatti.

Panels to identify beneficiaries

The committee members are entrusted with identifying loan beneficiaries. They recommend the names to the core advisory committee, which supervises the banking operations. "We have achieved total transparency in the identification of the beneficiaries. The core committee ensures equal opportunity to all members, whose number has now gone up to 259 from 14 villages," claims Sundaramma, president of the bank now.

The beneficiaries and the members of village committees will sit with the president, the secretary and the members of the core committee to discuss their socio-economic background before the loan is sanctioned. The component of repayment, with simple interest, will be vested with the village committee.

No coercion for repayment

The bank has sanctioned 118 loans to Dalit women, mostly farm workers, for housing, setting up shops, educational purposes and cattle rearing. The disbursal stands at a staggering Rs. 6.54 lakhs. The recovery is close to a healthy 75 per cent, which even many nationalised banks could not achieve.

If a beneficiary finds it difficult to repay, the bank will suggest a friendly mode. An element of humanism is inherent in the system.

"We neither pester nor coerce anyone for repayment. As acute drought prevails this year, the bank has deferred repayment for a year. They know their responsibility. After all it is their bank," points out Sundaramma.

With political empowerment of the Dalits still remaining an elusive dream, particularly in the nearby reserved village panchayats of Pappapatti, Keeripatti and Nattamangalam, the silent but revolutionary role played by the People's Bank has set in motion the process of equipping the oppressed with socio-economic empowerment.

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