Bihar plans financial inclusion of rural women by scaling up Jeevika

Bihar has taken three initiatives aimed at financial inclusion of rural women associated with over 10.30 lakh Jeevika self-help groups spread across the state – the highest in the country – in the new fiscal.

Last year, Bihar became the first state in the country to cross the 10 lakh mark for self-help groups of women under Jeevika, a World Bank supported poverty alleviation programme operational in the state since 2007 to make women self-reliant.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been keen to use Jeevika as a tool of women empowerment since he became CM in 2005.

In one of the big initiatives, Jeevika SHGs have been given the contract for supplying school uniforms to students from class 1-12 in state-run schools. Bihar has nearly 1.80 crore school children. While students of classes 9-12 get ₹1000 each annually for buying uniforms, those from classes 6-8 get ₹700 each, those from classes 3-5 get ₹600 each and students of classes 1 & 2 get ₹500 each.

The education department last week issued an order that the uniforms – two sets for each student - would be purchased from Jeevika SHGs and clusters of the industry department at the local level in a phased manner from the next academic session. The funds given to the students in their bank accounts through direct benefit transfer (DBT) will be used for the purpose.

This will give sustainable income generating opportunity to thousands of rural women, though officials admit that handling such huge quantities on a deadline would require close monitoring.

Bihar’s Jeevika was a revolutionary model for women empowerment, and it would now get further fillip with initiatives for massive financial inclusion in the government’s Seven Resolves (Part-2) programme, said Bihar rural development minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary.

With inclusion of over 50% women in the Panchayati raj institutions and schools as teachers, the government hopes to make Jeevika the nucleus of rural development, and involve the SHGs in a whole range of activities, viz animal husbandry, agriculture-related activities, tailoring, mask making, banking and running small enterprises among other things.

“Apart from school uniforms, the government has also decided to settle ponds in the name of Jeevika SHGs for maintenance and fishery. This is another big step not only to boost income of rural women, but to also ensure their wholesome participation in the state’s ‘Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali’ campaign. The objective is to make them the engines of rural economy,” Choudhary added.

The minister said the third initiative announced by the CM is to let Jeevika Didis run the kitchen for hospitals across the state and other institutions. “The orders for all the three path-breaking measures have already been issued. ‘Didi ki Rasoi’ is running at quite a few places, but it has to be scaled up to cover all hospitals and also in other institutions,” he added.

Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) chief executive officer (CEO) and National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) director Balamurugan D said that modalities would soon be worked out with the education department for the supply of school dress to children as it would involve close monitoring at the district, block and panchayat-level stitching units.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, we got masks made by Jeevika. We have made an assessment that there are over 25,000 ‘Didis’ with tailoring expertise. Besides, we will also use those who were involved in tailoring outside state and have returned,” he said, adding Jeevika Didis had given a good account of themselves in financial management, availing bank loans of over ₹14,000 crore.

A detailed guideline regarding the supply of school uniforms would soon be issued following consultation among the education, finance, rural development and industry departments.