Moo-ving Tales

The Nanhera village has beautiful natural surroundings. The villagers here live a peaceful life breathing fresh air and ingesting all things organic! Pure ghee and milk are available in abundance which all contribute to healthy living. Dairy is one of the most commonly undertaken activity in the surrounding belt. Traditionally in all farm households women take care of the milch animals and are very adept at it. Therefore, it was felt that why not harness their knack and train them for making it more profitable.

Activity

Dairy development by 12 members of Luv Kush SHG in Nanhera village, Panipat District, Haryana

Nature of Intervention

Selection of SHG had been done on the basis of gradual intake of institutional credit by the SHG after gaining trust of Sarv Haryana Grameen Bank and being extended three doses of credit of Rs.0.50 lakh, Rs.4.80 lakh and Rs.10.00 lakh from the Bank which shows the strength of the group. SHG was guided by NABARD and Sarv Haryana Gramin Bank, the SHPI in this case and has been linked to National Dairy Research Institute which is undertaking a project involving SHG members on dairy processing activity. Cattle feed is being procured locally from the block headquarter level. Presently, the milk being produced is mostly sold to local milk collectors, the 'Dudhias' but some of the members having better business acumen are processing milk for making ghee which is also fetching them very good prices.

The Impact

Income - Rs.0.10 lakh to Rs. 0.12 lakh for each group member Each member now has two animals. The processing of milk into ghee has generated additional income and prospects for expanding into more processed milk items in future. It has also given employment to their family members. Small doses of institutional credit create an environment wherein the members attain the confidence to undertake income generating activity and the bank gains the trust to lend further. In this case, just a humble credit linkage of Rs.0.50 lakh in 2010 has developed an environment for the bank to scale up the credit limit to Rs.10.00 lakh in 2018 while sanctioning the third dose. 

Critical Determinants 

• The activity should be close to the heart of the beneficiary as in this case the members were very comfortable in doing dairy as it needs no specific skill/training, etc.
• Availability of raw material and assured sale points
• Regular doses of bank credit

Source : Creating Livelihoods, Changing Lives