Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission Society
Testimonies
Name: Mrs. Nijora Saikia
Age: 30 years
Village & Block: Jagduar Na-pamuwa, Kaliapani Devlopment Block
District: Jorhat
Way back in 2003, the concept of SHG was very new in our area. I saw some officials from the
block visiting our village talking about getting few women together and forming a group. They
mentioned that through this way the women could leverage some funds to help them grow
economically. I got interested but the idea was still unclear in my head. I started speaking to
few women in the village to see if they were interested. They also seemed unsure. Hoping that
may be something good might turn up someday, 15 of us formed a group and named it Nehru
Atma Sahayak Gut. The women appointed me as the secretary of our group and we started
with a monthly saving of Rs. 20. We used the savings for inter lending among ourselves with an
interest rate of 3%. During this time I visited our block office and met the Gram Sevak who
informed us that after 6 months of formation of our SHG, we could be eligible to receive
Revolving Fund that could help us add to our group corpus. Soon we applied for it and we
cleared the process and received Rs. 10,000 as revolving fund. As per each member’s
requirement, the amount was disbursed as loan again at 3%. Since we are traditional weavers,
few members invested the money in their individual weaving business and started making
gamocha and sador. I too started weaving and initially we sold our products in the local market.
With support from the block officials we also participated in district melas. With the income
from weaving I have now bought two cows and also 4 bighas of land where I do potato
cultivation.
I am a 10th pass unmarried 30 year old women. I stay with my brother’s family. I had no source
of income and was completely dependent on my brother. I was more like a burden to them. But
I no longer think of myself that way and neither do they. I have my own assets from where I can
earn my living and also contribute towards the education of my nephew and other expenses of
the house. Seeing the benefits of coming together in a group and the benefits we can get from
it, I took an initiative to motivate other women too to form SHGs. I helped them get the right
information from the block office so that they too can avail the benefits like we did. I have also
been selected as an Active Women (CRP) of my block and have learned a lot in these few
months. I share my experiences with the women and motivate them to come together as a
group so that they can also earn a better living for themselves and their family, like I have.
Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission Society
Name: Mrs. Mithinga Daimary
Village and Block: Rowmari, Sidli Tribal Development Block
District: Chirang
My father and mother were agricultural labourers who worked in other villagers’ fields. They
worked hard to feed our family of five. I had a younger brother and one younger sister. I was
the eldest and had to eventually dropout from school to look after my brother and sister while
my parents went to the field to work. In 2011, I got married at the age of 20 years and moved
to my husband’s house in Rowmari, about 20 kms from my maternal house in Besorbari. My
husband had a small piece of land where he did seasonal vegetable cultivation and incomes
from this were neither sustainable nor sufficient. And we thus struggled to meet both ends
meet.
One day (year 2012) as I was collecting water from the village hand-pump, I saw some new
faces – a young boy and a woman. They had gathered a crowd and very animatedly were
talking something about women, groups. That is all I could gather from a distance. Though I
wanted to know more about it, I was too shy to join the gathering. I stood there for some time
and tried to identify who were present in the meeting so that I could ask them the details later.
That evening I went to Nirila’s house, my neighbor and asked her about the meeting. She
explained that the woman was an Active Women (CRP) and the boy was a Block Coordinator
from ASRLMS, Sidli Block. They had come to inform the villagers about the new initiative called
NRLM that has started and the various activities that are included under it. Out of all that she
told me I was more eager to know about the concept of women SHGs of poor rural women. To
my delight, the same people came to our village again the following day. I gathered some
courage and spoke to them and expressed my eagerness to part of such a group. In the
following weeks, the Active Women (CRP) helped 12 of us form a group and taught us the
norms and other requirements to run our SHG. We also received training on maintain books of
accounts, meeting process, etc. we continued the group as per the assistance and advise from
ASRLMS and within a period of 6 months we received Rs. 15,000 as revolving fund. This amount
has helped us in many ways. It has added up to our group fund and we have also been able to
take loans as per our requirement. I have taken a loan of Rs. 2000 to buy a pig and within a
period of 8 months I am hoping to get Rs. 10,000-12,000 after selling it. I think my journey has
just started and I am glad to be part of such a programme that has helped me and my family in
more ways than one.
Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission Society
Name: Mrs. Nirala Patar
Village and Block: Garapar, Laharighat Development Block
District: Morigaon
I am Nirala Patar. Here, I am telling you the story of my life.
I was born in a poor family. My father was a poor farmer. I read up-to class IX. At the age of 17
years I married a boy from my village who also belonged to a poor family. It was a love
marriage. He was a daily wage earner. As his income did not suffice, I too stepped out to make
some money and work as a daily wage earner to contribute our family income. After few years
we become parents of two children. I took responsibility of taking care of home and our
children while my husband worked hard to feed us. Nevertheless, we were living a happy life.
But gradually my husband became ill and his health was deteriorating. He was diagnosed with
tuberculosis and could no longer go to work. During that time, people did not know much about
tuberculosis and stayed away from us. Thus I did not get much help from my neighbours as
well. We also lost all our savings and other assets in my husband’s medical treatment. Alas, he
left us for his heaven abode leaving me with our two year old and one year old children. I was
suddenly holding the burden of single handedly caring of me and my children. My children were
very young and I could not leave them and go out to work and I had to starve for 3 days after
his demise. Finally, I managed to leave my children with my neighbours and go out work as a
daily wage earner. During this time, I felt very depressed. I could hardly find a way to feed two
meals to my children. I had recurring thoughts of poisoning my children and myself and escape
from these hardships. Then I used to feel that these two innocent children had done nothing
wrong and it would inhuman to treat them in such a manner. I decided to live and give a life to
my children no matter how hard the times may be. I started to work as a daily wage earner in
other people’s house and also partly did some tailoring assignments and took care of my
children. It was becoming seemingly difficult to single handedly manage the children and every
little thing in the house. I decided to move in with my parents. I begged them for shelter and
they gave me a small space in their backyard to build a house of my own. I am currently living
there in a small thatched house. As it always happens in our society, a single mother, a
widowed woman and a girl coming back to stay with their parents has to deal with a lot of
difficulties, I too had to face the same.
It has been 10 years now that my husband passed away. Now the time seems to be gradually
changing and I would like to share some of it here. One day as I was going for my daily wage
work, I saw a woman from the nearby village talking to some of the women in our village. I
went near to take a closer look. She was a Community Resource Person and she was explaining
about Self Help Groups and how it can benefit poor women like me. I was not very sure but I
still wanted to give it a try. I had nothing to lose, but in case I gained any, it would be a blessing
Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission Society
in disguise. There was a hustle in the village about being a part of a SHG and I too joined one.
The women selected me as the President of the group and that came to be as a pleasant
surprise. I started to go for the weekly meetings and felt glad to have found a place to share my
thoughts and feelings. I also received a three-day training on SHG management and five-day
training on book keeping. Our SHG also received Rs. 15,000 as Revolving Fund from which I took
a small loan to buy thread do some weaving work. Our SHG become a member of the Village
Organization through which we received an amount of Rs. 50,000 as Community Investment
Fund. As mentioned in our Micro Credit Plan, I took a loan of Rs. 4,000 and have started
goatery. This has helped to increase my incomes.
Recently, some new developments have started in our block. We had visitors from far away
Kerala come and talk to us about Gaon Panchayat and Goan Sabha. I am actively participating in
the work as a member of the Local Resource Group.
I am a busy woman now. Villagers commonly refer to be as Nirala Baidew (elder sister), the very
same people who identified me as poor, helpless, destitute widow and single mother. I am very
thankful to ASRLM. I can now see my destiny changing for the better.