TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR LEADERS (Secretary & Chairpersons’) of SHGs under SCOPE NGO

Topic for Workshop

1. Management and practice

Total participants present were 

50 from six villages of Rahu Cluster of Daund Block, Pune.

To keep the records of Accounts SHGs

Practices, Rules, laws financial support of Nationalized Banks to the SHGs.

Agricultural Schemes of the State. 

Resource Personnel:

1. MRS. Sanjivani Pathak, Asst. MANAGER,   

    United Co-operative bank (Nationalized bank), 

    Rahu, Daund Block, Maharashtra.

2. Mr. J. S. Bhadakvad, Agricultural Asst. 

    supervisor (State Agricultural Dept), Rahu, Daund 

    Block.

3. Mr. Baban Sheikh, SCOPE coordinator (Pune 

    Region)

4. Mrs. More, SCOPE-SHGs’ animator, (Pune 

    region)

5. Mr. Vishwas Chakranarayan, Executive Director-
     SCOPE, 

Date: 28.02.2013

Venue: Rahu Grampanchayat Sabhagriha (Village Community Centre)


The Resource persons Spoke:

1. Mrs. Sanjivani Pathak:

She promised the group of the assistance from the bank, she invited the women to invest in small scale agriculture-allied business. She also told the women to approach her in case of any difficulties in the banking.

2. Mr. J. S. Bhadakvad said that the Govt. has been giving more priority to the group work. ‘We also support you to give agricultural schemes’ he told the women.

3. The Director of the SCOPE Mr. Vishwas Chakranarayan  said, ‘if you keep yourselves open and generous and together, then SCOPE will also support you thorough various training programmes. It will encourage you to market your products.’ Along with this Mr. Director also spoke to them about the Laws of Banks and its relationship with the SHGs. He further spoke about Integrity, accountability transparency in the accounts, teamwork, and respect for each member in the group.

4. Mr. Baban Sheikh and Mrs. Anita More explained the women leaders of SHGs about the account books and how to record things.

Conclusion: Several women expressed their thought and opinions. The women admitted that this was their first ever meeting. They expressed their happiness over the guidance from the Bank Personnel. Many desired that there should be many more such workshops and follow-up programmes. That will gradually prepare them to handle the difficulties in their own respective SHG groups in their won villages. This way there would be village leaders automatically being prepared from among women.  After the workshop there was light refreshment to all the participants and the resource persons.

Mr. Vishwas Chakranarayan, the Director of SCOPE is explaining various books of SHG Accounting. 

Here, he is exhibiting the Passbook of the SHGs

Here he is showing a sample of the Account Book to the women. 

SUCCESS STORY: BIOGAS IN DAUND BLOCK

This is the way people cut trees to use firewood for cooking

 The SCOPE began its work of creating awareness about Biogas. As the prices of petroleum and cooking gas have been rising by leaps and bounds, the SCOPE decided to discuss the problem with the villagers of  Takli Bhima  village of Daund block, Pune district.

There were several meetings to discuss the positive and negative things about this new proposal.The whole process went on nearly for a year and beyond.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Even to make a cup of tea the villagers use firewood.  

Considering the cost of LPG cooking gas, the destruction of green earth around and health hazards due to smoke of firewood suffered by the villagers the SCOPE educated the village-families about many benefits of the Biogas-cum-toilet project. 

 It  was a common site in the rural India apart from the slums in cities of people going out into the fields for nature's calls.Even today one may come across this situation in several villages across India. However, the SCOPE also educated the villagers about the health hazards created due to open feces. 
Though the villagers agreed to attach toilets to the Biogas Plants, they faced another big hurdle.

The question was, "How to connect the Human toilets to the Biogas Plants?" Since bio-waste comes from cows(mostly) and the cows are considered Holy, it was unacceptable for the villagers to join human feces to the Biogas Plant. But they were made to understand with several meetings. 

Finally a few were ready initially. As the others saw the benefits, they too joined the movement of having a Biogas-cum-toilet plant around their house.   
   

Earlier, women would be busy thinking and hunting for dry firewood, braking and chopping it from the neighbouring jungles. Anything would do. Small dry shrubs, thorny bushes or dwarf trees to bigger and shady trees. All this firewood was being stacked. 

Today, they do not have to roam around for firewood. Now they are aware of financial savings. There are smoke related health-hazards, like burning eyes, illnesses of lungs, corns due to thorns. Of course the Biogas has taken their worries of hunting or chopping firewood, the Biogas fire kindled every family's oven.
There are other benefits. The Biogas is much safer than the LPG gas cylinders.the farmers also avail the benefit of manure by way slurry that issues forth from Biogas.  

Some More Photos of other families in the same area.