Fatima Bi had put her thumb impression on nomination s for the post of Sarpanch three yeas ago. Now Kofi Annan is going to present her with the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Race Against Poverty award on October 17.
What did she do? A 40-year-old illiterate and seemingly conservative women of Kalva village in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, Fatima fought male opinion and laughter - she shrugged off the burkha.
When she was elected sarpanch there were 20 self-help groups of women in the village working independently. Then she went to a UNDP training programme and realised she could do a lot. So, she took village records from mandal revenue officials, mooted the idea of bringing all the self-help groups together and formed a village development organisation, "Proddu" (Sunrise) ... Men were the stumbling block. They jeered, they prevented their wives from venturing out, some even assaulted them, but "slowly they realised our potential and took our efforts seriously" says Fatima, a mother of three sons. With the funds available to her, she got cement roads laid in the village and a water tank and a school building built, recounts Zubeda Bi, a member of Proddu. "Fatima was a guiding force. With the cooperation of her husband, she shrugged off the "burkha" and came out for our welfare ... Vijaya Bharati (UNDP Project officer) was also of great help," she says.
After Proddu was formed, the seed capital for projects went up to Rs.2.75 lakh. The village organisation started giving loans at the rate of 24 per cent per year as against the 72 per cent interest charged by private moneylenders. Impressed, the UNDP granted a Rs. 10 lakh, interest-free loan to the organisation.
Proddu took the loan and spread it out. A micro-plan was drafted on how to use the money, says Martamma, secretary of Proddu. As many as 230 beneficiaries were identified and loans ranging from Rs. 3,000 to Rs.20,000 were granted. Those who got the money bought horse-carts, bullock carts and land; built cloth shops and cycle stores; planned a dairy, a super bazaar and a hotel.
Now Proddu gets Rs.20,000 in hard cash every month. With money at hand, the women .. identified 18 young widows and some deserted women made the district administration sanction pucca houses and ration cards for them. They were also able to give seven old women disowned by their family members a monthly old-age pension of Rs.50. The women also decided not to marry off their girls till they were 18 years old. And they trained them to be self-reliant e.g. tailoring, embroidery ... The next step was to set up a creche, Ammavodi (mother's lap). This allowed women to go to work, adding to the families' income ... The silver lining was adopting three physically handicapped children. Thirteen-year-old Shameem, a polio-affected girl was admitted to a residential school, courtesy Proddu that paid Rs.6,000. Khader Pasha, also polio affected, was admitted to a school in Kurnool. Proddu looks after him now and he helps out by teaching illiterate women. The women are also in the forefront of a shramdan programme. (They) have cleaned up a t00-metre nala ... (Source: The Indian Express, 3 October, 1998)
