Abstract
This article narrates a story of cultural change caused by livelihood intervention in rural Bihar (India). It shows that the impact of Jeevika, a microcredit-based rural livelihood promotion project, goes beyond its call for promoting livelihoods. The article recognises the distinction between structural and cultural aspects of social change and holds that an important impact of Jeevika on rural women of Bihar has been the cultural loosening of the patriarchal noose over their necks. It argues that the sustainability of such an impact is, however, unlikely, as the structural bases of patriarchy, namely, family, caste, land and agriculture, remain largely unaffected. Moreover, the whole process is exogenous—a creation of programme intervention.
Introduction
A long and serpentine queue of sari-clad women at polling booths, outnumbering male voters, during Assembly elections, 2015, disciplined women in queues at branches of banks holding accounts of self-help groups (SHGs), and a group of women squatted in a circle on a rug mat in the forecourt of the house of a poor woman, in the panchyat bhavan (village council building), in the granary field, or wherever they like, are unusual scenes in rural Bihar. Until recently, the male voters usually outnumbered the women voters in elections, be it Parliamentary, Assembly or Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The latter would often vote on the dictates of the male members of their families. Doing business in a bank was a male privilege, and the presence of women in a bank as customers was uncommon. Social gatherings of women were confined to marriages, celebrations and festivals, where they would be huddled in a corner with a limited, often feminine, role—sobbing in case of a death and singing on occasions of marriages, festivals and celebrations. Conducting meetings in panchayat bhavan and other public places was an absolute male prerogative and, as such, was tabooed for women.
Women in rural Bihar have traditionally a low social status and limited economic role. Nearly half of them continue to be illiterate. Rural female literacy rate in the state is 49 per cent, one of the lowest in the country. Sex ratio (females per 1,000 males) in rural Bihar is 921, lower than the all-India rural average of 949. The rural child sex ratio (0–6 age group) is slightly better at 938, a little higher than the all-India rural average of 923. Most of the rural women in the state are engaged in agriculture and allied activities, but their share in the operational holdings and area is abysmally low. As per the Agricultural Census 2010–2011, women in Bihar held 13.67 per cent of the individual, 16.56 per cent of the joint and 14.08 per cent of the total operational holdings in the state. In terms of area, women held 12.88 per cent of the individual, 15.48 per cent of the joint and 13.35 per cent of the total area. 1 The position of women at the all-India level is no different (Government of India, 2014).
As per the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the labour force participation rate (LFPR) of rural women in the state is incredibly low at 7.2 per cent in 2009–2010 and 5.8 per cent in 2011–2012. Rodgers (2012), in her study of 36 villages of Bihar, however, shows a much higher LFPR of rural women, but with sharp differentials across castes and age groups. Also, only 12.4 per cent of women in the age group of 15–59 in rural Bihar worked in paid jobs (NFHS-4, 2016, p. 4).
The LFPR of rural women across age groups forms a bell-shaped curve that, in a sense, shows patriarchal control which restricts their movement during the fertility age, and the restrictions decline with the advancement of age. Across age cohorts, it was 52 per cent in 20–24 years, 62 per cent in 24–29 years, 72 per cent in 30–49 years, 77 per cent in 50–59 years, 67 per cent in 60–64 years and 34 per cent in 65 years and above (Rodgers, 2012, p. 3).
There are other indicators of the low status of and patriarchal control over women in the state. Of the currently married women in the age group of 20–24 years, 40.9 per cent reported being married before the age of 18 years. Of the married women in the age group of 15–59 years, 43.7 per cent witnessed spousal violence. Interestingly, 74.8 per cent of married women participated in household decision-making, a positive development over the years (NFHS-4, 2016, pp. 2–4). But this must be seen in the context of high male migration from rural Bihar. Women’s role in household decision-making is higher by default. The male is absent, so the woman takes the decisions. However, women of lower castes have been less constrained by the patriarchal forces than their upper caste counterparts, as the two women groups follow different socio-religious traditions of Hindu society (Jha, 2009, p. 23).
Patriarchy, Caste, Women and Social Change in India
‘Indian social system, with a few exceptions, is characterised by patriarchy’ (Dube, 1990, p. 108), which ‘refers to male dominant structure and this indeed is the norm in a sizeable part of Indian society’ (ibid, p. 66). Its essential is ‘male dominance and female subordination’ (ibid, p. 108). Family, caste, land and agriculture are structural bases of Indian patriarchy. Its cultural roots are diverse, yet the sanatan tradition of Hindu society that sets the differential norms, values and behavioural patterns for dvija, women and shudras is its main cultural root. In a caste society, endogamous marriage ensures reproduction of caste. Women in such a society are custodians of purity of caste and caste honour, and are hence subjected to various behavioural restrictions, especially over their sexuality, in their reproductive age (Chowdhry, 2009). The customary law of inheritance favours the male progenitor. Women are denied a share in land, as this would lead to the fragmentation of holdings (ibid, 2011). Caste endogamy is to ensure that land remains within the caste. The upper castes retain ownership of land to ensure their domination over the landless lower castes. With the concentration of land in upper castes, the vast majority of lower castes are landless and earn their livelihoods through labour. The easy availability of a huge army of landless labourers from the lower castes makes it possible that in landowning upper castes, women do not have to work on their own farms and outside their households. This became a dominant social norm of agrarian rural society and produced the classic male–female division of roles in the Indian society. Men control the means of production, and women are the organisers of food, consumption, household care, apropos of classical feminist explanation of male–female division of roles in a society. Gendering of relations and tasks persists even today despite feminist movements and legislations relating to equality of women vis-à-vis men.
Women are placed below men; are considered inferior; and are the vault of caste and family honour. They are denied an equal position with men in society; their rights are limited by patriarchal dictates; and their access to economic resources, especially the means of production, is controlled. Women’s social gathering is confined to celebrations, festivals, etc., with pre-defined feminine roles. The movement of women outside the four walls of the household is for limited purposes, and they are often escorted by male members. Women are discriminated against by men in accessing food and nutrition, education, health and economic opportunity. Violations of patriarchal order invite allegations of being badchalan (of bad character). In some cases, even ostracism and honour killing are imposed as penalties on women and their families.
The course of social change in the Indian society has been explained by sociologists under the models of ‘sanskritisation’, ‘westernisation’ and ‘modernisation’ (Singh, 1986; Srinivas, 1995), and the processes of change have been explained as ‘endogamous’ and ‘exogamous’ (Singh, 1986). The model of ‘sanskritisation’ explains ‘endogamous’ processes, and that of ‘westernisation’ and ‘modernisation’ explain ‘exogamous’ processes of change, although they have intricate relations. While westernisation and modernisation explain universal processes, ‘sanskritisation’ explains a typical Indian process whereby the lower caste people try to emulate the socio-cultural traditions of the numerically small upper castes. ‘Sanskritisation’ has, however, helped in reinforcing patriarchy by extending the influence of sanatan traditions, which are patriarchal, to the lower castes, followers of lokayat traditions that are less patriarchal. On the other hand, the caste–class division checks the crystallisation of gender as class, apart from patriarchal restrictions. There have been numerous examples of exceptional women excelling in political, social and economic fields, defying the clutches of patriarchy, caste ideology and ubiquitous social and economic barriers. Yet, these exceptional heroic achievements have little impact on mass liberation of women. What is crucial for the formation of gender as a class is that women are organised under a common purpose, they identify themselves as belonging to one and aspire for collective mobilisation for a change in their status. Whether group formation, associational life and greater access to economic resources have helped Jeevika women in rural Bihar in achieving this objective is the central query of this article.
Context, Method of Study and Key Arguments
The socio-economic development of women in Bihar was not given adequate attention in the state until the formation of a coalition government in 2005 of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Nitish Kumar of JD-U. The political base of Nitish Kumar was narrow, fluid and consisted of a loose combination of caste and communities, rallied around him to get rid of the 15 years of rule of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Laloo Yadav and Rabri Devi. The electoral victory of the JDU–BJP alliance was registered by a sudden upsurge in popular support in its favour, defying caste–community lines. The RJD, a coalitional partner in the UPA-I Government at the Centre, indulged in proxy rule, but that did not go well with the people. Above all, RJD’s covert attempts to stop Nitish Kumar from forming the government following the February 2005 Assembly elections was considered by the people of Bihar as an attempt in subverting democratic processes (Pankaj, 2009).
In a caste-ridden electoral arithmetic, Nitish Kumar represented a section of the upper backward castes, mainly Kurmis and Koeries, who constituted about 6 per cent of the total population of the state and who had broken away from the Yadav-dominated RJD. Some sections of the disgruntled upper and lower backward castes also joined the bandwagon of Nitish Kumar who, in turn, projected development of the state as the main agenda of his government. At the same time, he was politically desperate to broaden his social base and was looking for a more caste-neutral political constituency around the issues of development. None of the political parties in the state had visualised and considered women as a political constituency in the past. The Karpoori Thakur–led Janata Party Government adopted a progressive reservation policy in the mid-1970s that provided for 3 per cent of reservations for women in government jobs. But his had a limited appeal.
With the above considerations in mind, Nitish Kumar simultaneously launched three measures towards the socio-economic development of women in the state. An amendment in the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act in 2006 provided for vertical and horizontal reservations of 50 per cent of seats for women in PRIs. Before the 2006 panchayat elections, women held merely 1 per cent of the seats of gram panchayat (GP) heads (Pankaj & Singh, 2005). The mandatory provisions of reservation of one-third of seats for women was applicable at the level of members of the GPs and not at the level of headship. The second major step was mukhyamantri bicycle yojana (MBY), launched in 2006, for providing a free bicycle to all female students who got enrolled in Class IX in a government or government-aided school. This was aimed at reducing the high dropout of girls at the secondary level, often due to the location of secondary schools at a distance and lack of transport facility in rural areas (Murlidharan & Prakash, 2013). The third was promotion of microcredit-based SHGs under Jeevika (Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society), launched as a pilot project in 2006.
Jeevika is a rural livelihoods promotion project, structured on the model of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) of the erstwhile joint state of Andhra Pradesh, with the financial and technical support of the World Bank. It (Jeevika) is a federated three-tier structure of SHGs, consisting of 10–15 women members, Village Organizations (VOs) consist of 10–15 SHGs and Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) have 35–45 VOs. The CLFs operate below the Bloc/Mandal level under Block Level Project Management Unit that, in turn, works under the supervision and technical support of the District Level Project Management Unit. There is a Mission Directorate at the state level.
SHG formation under Jeevika was initially experimented in selected districts of the state, but since then, it has been expanded fast to cover most parts of rural Bihar. Jeevika, initially, focused on microcredit, and continues to be primarily engaged with it. Its expansion into other areas, like production, marketing, skill generation and other livelihood promotion activities, has been slow. However, it has taken on itself a number of other activities, like educating Group 2 members for expression and articulation, confidence building, social behaviour and general awareness about education, health, hygiene and even politics. It is also being leveraged as a service delivery agency, be it Aadhar enrolment, direct beneficiary transfer or maternity and childcare schemes.
This article is part of a study relating to comparative advantages of wage-and self-employment for women, and it considers Jeevika as a mission towards promoting self-employment for rural women in Bihar. It is based on a field visit to five villages of the Adarsh Mahila Cluster Level Federation, Jhikatia, under Bodh Gaya Block of Gaya District of Bihar, though the main study covers a larger sample and area. The selected CLF is the first phase cluster federation, and the selected villages are saturated with the formation of SHGs. The selected cluster and villages are neither very far away from the District Headquarters (Gaya) nor very near.
The observations in this article are mainly ethnographic. The methods of participatory observation, focused group discussions and informal dialogues have been used. Office bearers of VOs and CLF, Village Resource Persons (VRPs) and Community Resource Persons (CRPs) were also interviewed. The selected villages are inhabited by upper castes, OBCs and SCs. Muslims were also there in the selected villages, and women from them had joined the Groups.
This study is distinct from the other studies of impact of Jeevika in Bihar. For example, Meera Tiwari (2010) explains the social significance of the term ‘Didi’ as a more respectful word, while addressing the Group women. She underlines the poverty reduction potentialities of Jeevika. Datta (2015) has done a quantitative study of the impact of Jeevika on indebtedness and livelihood promotion, using a large sample and questionnaire, which shows noticeable impact. Sanyal, Rao, and Majumdar (2015) have examined cultural aspects of changes by examining the experiences of women in the Jeevika villages and in the non-Jeevika villages. While Sanyal et al. focus on construction of gender identity, this study lays emphasis on the destruction/weakening of the forces which hinder the formation of ‘gender’. The most important aspect that this article examines is the change in the cultural milieu of patriarchy and its long-term significance for the liberation of rural women in Bihar.
It is argued here that the impact of Jeevika transcends its declared purposes, which are: (a) to empower the rural poor by organising them in self-managed community organisations; (b) to enhance their livelihood security; and (c) to increase their access to various other social security measures through community mobilisation. The processes of group formation, associational life, community mobilisation and enhanced access to economic resources, like cash, credit, bank and market, have triggered a process of subtle social change in rural Bihar. Jeevika women have emerged as a source of cash, capital and livelihood for their families. Women’s say in family affairs has increased; in some cases, there is also a reduction in spousal violence. There is a crystallisation of women collectives and consolidation of gender solidarity.
Jeevika’s overall impact on the rural women of Bihar has been cathartic. A Jeevika woman profoundly acknowledged it, saying ‘it has opened our eyes’. Jeevika women are exuding unprecedented self-confidence and self-worthiness and are imbued with a sense of being valuable to the family and society. This sense of worthiness was denied to them by a combination of patriarchal forces, such as caste, land and agriculture. The article ends with a futuristic note. Women of Bihar may have to traverse a long way, as the structural base of patriarchy remains largely intact. The whole process is exogenous; its sustainability is contingent upon the support system. Will these positive effects last beyond the present phase?
Findings from the Filed
Emergence of ‘Shakti Devi’: Self-identity over Subdued Identity
In a patriarchal society, the world of a woman does not exist independent of her family. She is a daughter, a wife, a daughter-in-law and a mother. While a man has his own identity, the identity of a woman is known by prefixing the identity of a man. In rural India, and so in Bihar, unlike men, women are not known by their individual names, and rural folk do not address women, especially married ones, by their names. A woman is generally addressed as uski beti (his daughter), uski bahu (his wife) or uski ma (his mother). Even in urban India, it is common to address a married woman as the missus of, say, ‘Mr Singh’, ‘Singh’ being her husband.
Jeevika has given women an identity of their own through the well-rehearsed practice of self-introduction in weekly meetings of the Group. The meeting starts with a group prayer; the lyric of the prayer is Badhte Chalo (move forward), which is itself motivating. Each member introduces herself as follows: ‘I, Shakti Devi, am a member of Ganga SHG of village Vairaini’. This expression of ‘I, Shakti Devi’, week after week, has a positive psychological impact on self-recognition.
A family in a village is generally identified and located by the male head. Even a single-woman household is identified by its erstwhile male head. Although a family is still identified by the name of its male head, now, a family can be located using the name of a female Jeevika member. When the SHG women go back to their homes, they discuss about the meeting and tell their family members about other members of the Group. The names of the women members of the Group are uttered so frequently that other members of the families also become familiar with them. For example, Manju Devi, 55, is Treasurer of Jhirkatia Cluster, and a member of the Vikas Group of Vairani village. Children playing on the street and loitering male members in the village would easily indicate the direction of the house of Manju Devi. Before Jeevika, Manju Devi was a non-entity in this village.
While Jeevika women address one other by their names, a gender-specific term ‘Didi’, which literally means elder sister, has also gained currency. Tiwari (2010) finds this as a positive development, as, to her, ‘Didi’ is ‘a more respectful term’. This, however, might reverse, or negate the gains of self-recognition, at least from the viewpoint of cracking patriarchal norms. The problem with patriarchy is not that it does not address women with respect, or does not respect women. The terms like ‘daughter’, ‘wife’ and ‘mother’ are quite respectful. The problem is that these gender-specific terms also convey an obligation to conform to the respective gendered roles of ‘daughter’, ‘wife’ or ‘mother’.
The Jeevika women have developed an appetite for learning, motivated partly by the peer effects and partly by the necessity to meet the functional requirements of the Group membership. This is helpful in strengthening their self-identity. Initially, a majority of the women members of the Group used to place only thumb impressions. But they realised soon that they would have to equip themselves with functional literacy to handle the responsibility of the Group. Since the Group functions on the principle that each one should be a member as well as a leader, every woman member realised the need for functional literacy to transact activities of the Group.
Now, most of the women in the Groups have acquired functional literacy. It can be illustrated with the example of the Vikas Group of Baraini village. There are 14 members in this Group. Initially, only nine used to sign and five would place thumb impressions. Now, all the 14 members of the Group put their signatures. Their desire for learning does not stop with the learning of signature; since they have to fill up various forms and read notices and instructions, they are keen to learn reading, writing and basic mathematics. Some of these women cajole their educated co-members to teach them. The literate members of the Group are willing to help their illiterate members. Some of them take help from the tola sevak, a village-level functionary appointed by the government, whose main responsibility is to ensure that all school-going children of the village attend school regularly. They catch hold of the tola sevak after school hours and persuade her to teach them.
Stepping Across the Threshold of a Patriarch’s House
The Jeevika women faced considerable difficulties when they first stepped out across the thresholds of their houses. However, they did it, resisting restrictions, ignoring taunts and aspersions. Even their husbands were not cordial to them. When they stepped out of their houses in connection with the Group meetings, most of them did so for the first time in their lives; it was not easy. In some cases, they were warned by the male members of their families. They were also reminded of their gendered roles that centre around taking care of hearth and home. A few of them were even beaten up by their suspicious husbands. Raj Kumari, 32, a member of Genda (Marigold) Group, 3 was beaten up by her unemployed and habitually alcoholic husband. Sushila Devi, 55, also a member of the Group, is a Rajput, and observed purdah prior to joining the Group. She is now President of the Vikas Group and also an office bearer of the Adarsh Cluster. She stopped purdah when she started moving out regarding activities of the Group. Some other narratives are as follows:
Savita Devi, 40, narrates her experiences:
Samooh mein judne se aankhein khul gai hai. Pahale ghar se bahar nahin jate the. Kisi mard ko dekhkar ghar mein ghus jate the. Ab kahin chale jate hain. (Group has opened our eyes. Earlier we used to remain confined to the four walls of the house. We used to hide ourselves, while seeing a male member. Now we can go anywhere.)
Sunita Devi, 35, Pragati Group, Kurmaha village, explains the initial difficulties:
Shuru mein bahut dikkatein aati thi. Ghar ke budhe rokate the. Purush log kahate the ki yah mahila ghar chhod di hai. Dhire dhire purush log isse samjhauta kar liye. Aab hamein bahar janein mein pratibandh nahin hain. Aab biswas badh gaya hain. (We faced great resistance in the beginning. Elder male members of the family would stop us from going out. We were not allowed to go to the panchayat bhavan. Male members would say that this women had deserted her family. She is a badchalan, i.e. of a bad character. Gradually, the male members reconciled to this situation. Now, we are free to go anywhere. Our confidence has increased).
She stated that, given the resistance of male members, women initially held meetings inside the house of one of the members where resistance was relatively less and then rotated them to the houses of other members. Once it became acceptable, they started holding meetings in the panchayat bhavan. Sunita Devi is now working as a village resource person (VRP) in Littipara Block of Pakur District of Jharkhand. She travels to far-off places without a male companion (escort).
Jeevika has given to the women of rural Bihar a chance to break the glass ceiling of patriarchy. They now conduct meetings in the panchayat bhavan, which was earlier unheard of. The fact that women too can hold their meetings in the panchayat bhavan is a great setback to patriarchy. Jeevika women are visible in public places and organisations. Women can be seen in large numbers in banks, handling their accounts. In some of the branches, women customers outnumber male customers. Bank officials narrate with awe that women have picked up transacting business.
Melting of Caste and Consolidation of Gender Identity
In a caste society, there are hierarchical norms of interaction, not only between men but also between women, coming from different castes. Also, social interactions between upper and lower caste women are restricted. Even when they mix up, they do so not as equals. Lower caste women often work as domestic helps, cleaners or midwives for the upper castes. Interactions between the upper and lower caste women are guided by considerations of caste and class. However, as Group members, they interact as ‘equals’. Whenever a meeting is held at the house of an upper caste woman, and if she serves refreshment, the host washes the dishes. In a meeting held in the forecourt of the house of an upper caste woman (Shusheela Devi, 55, Vikas Group of Baraini village), about 20 women from different Groups belonging to different castes had assembled. Shusheela Devi, the host, served tea to all of them and collected the dishes after the meeting (as observed by the researcher). But for the Group, generally, the lower caste women would have been told to wash their dishes. Some upper caste families keep separate utensils for use by the lower caste people. In the same vein, the upper caste women share tea and snacks with the lower caste women whenever they meet at the latter’s houses. This was not so in the past. Women from the upper castes would not take food and water from a lower caste house. They would not even visit their houses.
The seeming consolidation of gender over caste identity is also helped by the fact that unlike the other poverty alleviation programmes, joined by women mainly from lower castes, the membership of an SHG is more inclusive. A caste-wise break up of 14 members of Vikas Group of Barain village is—Ravidas (SC): 3, Chandravanshi (BC): 1, Rajput (upper caste): 1, Halwai (BC): 1, Paswan (SC): 3, Thathera (BC): 1 and Yadav (BC): 4. The Prakash Group of Kurmaha village has 10 members—Rajput (upper caste): 4, Brahmin (upper caste): 1 and Koeri (BC): 5.
Jeevika women rush to the help of one another whenever any of them is in trouble/distress, even if it is entirely a conjugal affair. For example, Baby Devi, 31, of Kurmaha village was often beaten up by her husband who was a habitual drunkard. While inebriated, he used to beat her and also obstruct her from preparing food for the family. Fed up with the behaviour of her husband, she brought it to the notice of the Group women who decided to visit her house, and confront her husband, collectively. They warned him to behave decently. It was noted that he had changed since then.
The house of a Group member, Chattri Devi, 40, caught fire, and all of her belongings, such as clothes, foodgrains, cash, utensils and cots, were destroyed in the fire. She was crying inconsolably beside the ashes of the burnt house. While the villagers rushed to extinguish the fire, it was the female members of the Group who came to her substantial help. Some of them donated clothes to her, some provided grain, some gave utensils, some members parted away with their cots and some provided thatch and other materials to rebuild the house. But for the help of the Group members, she would have been in great distress.
Group Solidarity, Collective Interest and Social Concern
On certain occasions, Jeevika women have shown exemplary solidarity. One instance of this is in connection with the opening of bank accounts of the Groups in 2010, which is narrated by the Group women with a great sense of bravado. The branch manager of Madhya Bihar Gramin Bank, Cherki, was delaying opening the bank accounts of the Groups. He had opened accounts of about 20–25 SHGs, and about an equal number of them were made to wait. The office bearers of the Groups whose accounts were yet to be opened visited the branch a number of times. Each time they were told to come some other day. Their patience was running out. One day, they insisted on his opening their accounts without any further delay. The branch manager, instead of assuring them, behaved rudely and replied: ‘If you insist I would not open the accounts. Do whatever you could do to me’. Enraged by the behaviour of the branch manager, they decided to assert themselves. They gave a call to other women members and told them to rush to the bank. Within half an hour, about 20–25 women assembled there. They decided to lock up the branch manager inside the bank until he opened all the remaining accounts and apologised for his rude behaviour. Officials from the District Headquarters rushed to the rescue of the branch manager, who was released at 9 PM only after opening all the accounts and only after tendering an apology. This news spread like wildfire in the area, and since then, other public functionaries deal carefully with the women of the Groups.
There is a government middle school in Kurmaha village. One outsider owner of a private school, in connivance with the headmaster of the school, conspired to use the school building as a hostel for the students of his private school. The women Group members of this village learnt that some students from outside the village were staying in the school building. They decided to inspect it and found it to be true. Women gheraoed (surrounded) the school and told the headmaster to get the premises vacated. They confronted him: ‘where will the children of the village go?’
There is another instance of Jeevika women taking up a social cause. A female member of Luxami Group, Baraini village, had fixed the marriage of two of her daughters, and the marriages were to be held simultaneously on the same date, perhaps to reduce the cost. One was an adult (18 years) and the other was a minor (16 years). When the date of marriage approached nearer, the Group women decided to stop the marriage of the minor girl and convinced the parents about its consequences. The adult girl was married, but the marriage of the minor, without dissolution of the engagement, was postponed till she was an adult.
Social Awakening and Political Participation
We can see clearly an increase in socio-political awareness among the Group women. They are determined to see their children go to school and provide them the best possible education. A number of women have taken loans from the SHGs only to get their wards admitted in educational institutions or for other education-related expenditure. They have become vigilant about the functioning of schools and Anganwadi Centres (maternity and child care centres) in the villages. Women are slowly taking up other social issues, such as sanitation, drinking habits of male members and even disputes among families. Group women have a serious concern for toilet facility. The issue is discussed in their weekly meetings. Some Groups are quite successful in their missions.
Women’s participation in elections has increased. They have not only turned up for voting in large numbers, but have also campaigned for exercise of the right to vote by each and every citizen. About 1,000 women of Adarsh Cluster marched in a procession in three villages—Khap, Beladeeh and Karmadhapa—at the time of the 2015 Assembly elections. The procession was organised to spread awareness regarding exercise of the right to vote without any fear or/and inducement. The following slogans were raised:
Jo Dega Kapda Paisa Note
Usko Denge Kabhi Na Vote
(We will not give our vote to those who would allure us by clothes and money)
Budha Ho Ya Javan
Sabhi Kare Matadan
(Old and young, everybody has the right to vote).
It seems women played a important role in the victory of the Nitish Kumar-led alliance in the 2015 Assembly elections. Group women voted for Nitish Kumar, who had given them Jeevika (livelihood), in large numbers. Interestingly, they remained silent about their political preference, perhaps being afraid of affronting male members who had been traditionally dictating to them for whom to vote and not to vote. A member of a group in Kumraha village was instructed by her husband, who was in Punjab at that time, to vote for a particular party. The woman had made up her mind to vote otherwise, and she did it, defying the advice of her husband.
There are about 2,724,572 SHGs in the state. Assuming an average of a minimum of 10 members per SHG, there are about 27,245,720 female members of the SHGs. The total number of female voters in the state is 29,676,576. In other words, SHG women constitute about 91 per cent of the total female voters. If we go by the percentage of women who voted for Nitish Kumar, it would not be misleading to say that they played a decisive role in the re-election of Nitish Kumar. Of course, there were also other factors in his favour.
Emergence of Women as Earners
Jeevika Women as a Source of Cash, Capital and Livelihood
Jeevika women have emerged as an important, in some cases a principal, source of cash, capital and livelihood. A major benefit of the SHGs is the easy availability of cash to meet day-to-day needs. In case of any exigency, women rush to the Group for financial help. It has been so useful that members borrow even ₹500 from the Group. Shanti Devi, 60, Kurmaha village, says with great relief: ‘Garib ke liye bahut sahara hai’ (It is a great support for the poor). Savita Devi, 35, narrates: ‘Naihar jane ke liya bhi 500 rupaye lene aa jati hun. Bimari mein bhi bahut subhida hai’ (I come to take even ₹500 to go to my parents’ home. It is also of great support in case of illness).
Members of the Group borrow money for different purposes: to meet basic consumption needs, for medical treatment, for education-related expenditure, to pay debt, to buy household items, and, of course, for productive investments.
In Khap village, Jamuna Group (Itara Panchayat) of Adarsh Cluster, a member took a loan of ₹10,000 to purchase a cow. Her family had savings of ₹10,000 but needed another ₹10,000 to buy a cow (the price of a cow varies between 20,000 and 40,000 in the local market). The family had been waiting to buy a cow for long. Borrowing from the market was an option, but the usurious rate of interest prevented the member from opting for this. With the help from the Group, a long-cherished desire of the family was fulfilled. She now uses half of the milk for self-consumption and sells the remaining half. Another woman of the same Group borrowed ₹4,000 to buy two goats—one each at a price of ₹2,000. Unfortunately, both the goats died; she paid the loan and borrowed once again. Had she borrowed from the market, she would have been in real trouble because of the usurious interest rate. Another member of the same Group also bought a cow for ₹20,000. The cow gives 4 lilres of milk. She keeps 2 l for self-consumption, mostly for the children, and sells 2 litres for ₹80 (₹40 per litre). Yet another member of this Group borrowed ₹7,000 for the treatment of her daughter. But for this help, the treatment of her daughter would have been neglected. A member of the Group narrated that she intended to borrow ₹20,000 for her husband who is a carpenter and works door-to-door on daily basis. She is looking for a proper shop to pay the loan and borrow again. Rakhi Goswami, 35, member of Jamuna Group, owns a bangle shop. She became a member of the Group only in 2013. She took a loan of ₹10,000 to enlarge the shop. Earlier, she used to mortgage her ornaments to borrow money from the market. She feels relieved now as she does not have to mortgage her ornaments.
Mintu Kumari Sinha, 35, presently working as community coordinator (CC), is extremely obliged to Jeevika for a change in her life. She joined as a member of an SHG in 2008 and became a community mobilizer (CM) in the same year. She borrowed ₹3,000 in 2009 to buy a sewing machine. Her second time borrowing of ₹2,000 was for medical expenditure. She also borrowed ₹30,000 to buy three katha 4 of agricultural land. She gets an honorarium of ₹10,000 as CC, and now feels secured and satisfied.
Raj Kumari, 32, of Genda (Marigold) Group, Baraini village, is presently working as CM at a modest honorarium of ₹2,000 per month. First, she borrowed for a sewing machine, and then she borrowed for installing a hand pump in her house, as she had to fetch water from a distance. Later on, she borrowed ₹50,000 to purchase an auto-rickshaw for her husband who was unemployed and used to loiter in the village. Now, she is able to repay the loan with ease. There has been a drastic change in the behaviour of her husband since then. He now treats her with respect and has stopped beating her up.
Shova Devi, 40, Asha Group, Beladeeh village, is from a landless scheduled caste (Paswan). Her husband used to go to big cities like Delhi, Guwahati, etc., for seeking employment. She managed to live with the remittances of her husband and her own limited earning as a casual labourer. She would earn about 3 kg of rice (₹75) per day, but employment was seasonal and for a limited number of days. She would earn a little sum from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), but employment was available only for a few days. After hearing about an SHG, she decided to join it and then borrowed some money to open a grocery shop in her new house, constructed under the Indira Awas Yojana. Now, she has a secured income of about ₹5,000–6,000 per month from the shop. She borrows money to purchase food grains from the farmers at a cheaper price during the harvest season and then sells it during the lean season at a higher rate. She has stopped working as a casual agriculture labourer, and instead utilises surplus time making agarwatis (incense sticks) as part of the SHG production unit.
Women members of Kurmaha village have borrowed mostly for productive activities, say, opening of shop (provisional store, bangle and cosmetic shop), poultry farm, buying of power tiller or three-wheeler and repayment of loans. Some of them have taken multiple loans. Renu Devi, 45, Gayatri Group, Kurmaha village, has taken five loans since 2010. Her first loan was of ₹15,000 to open a saloon for her husband whose five brothers were working in one saloon, a joint property of the family. Now, her husband has his own separate saloon. After repaying the loan, she took another loan of ₹25,000 in 2013 to open a men’s beauty parlour for her elder son who is disabled and was unemployed. Now, he runs the parlour in Cherki, the nearby marketplace. She again borrowed ₹25,000 in 2015 and opened a shop in the village, which she runs along with her second son and her elder son’s wife. In between these three loans, she also borrowed ₹4,000 to pay fees for getting two of her other sons admitted in school.
Poor people are generally reluctant borrowers for investment purposes, and compelled borrowers do so for social and other exigencies, as they have little access to formal credit. Because of the absence of risk-taking capacity, lack of collateral assets and usurious rate of interest, people remain reluctant borrowers for productive investment. This prohibits growth of entrepreneurship among them. However, people continue to borrow for social and other exigencies. Due to Jeevika, there has been a change in the borrowing pattern among the people associated with it. Now, a number of people have got a chance to plunge in entrepreneurship, howsoever small it is, which they would not have done without easy access to credit from the SHGs. Earlier, they used to borrow by mortgaging whatever little assets they possessed. The ornaments of women were generally pledged. But once they were mortgaged, very few women were able to get the same back.
A Long Road to Traverse
Women in rural Bihar will have to go a long way to translate the cultural gains from the experiences of Jeevika into structural changes. On various occasions, Group women have demonstrated exemplary solidarity, rising above caste–class divisions, but it would be misleading to assume that gender has washed off caste–class divisions. Kinship relations, an essential structural component of caste, remain intact. Group women might have emerged as a source of cash, capital and credit for their families, but often, they hand over cash and capital to the male heads of their families. Their control over productive resources has not changed much, and neither has the case of ownership of land and assets. The structural bases of rural society and of patriarchy remain largely unaffected.
There are other pitfalls as well. First, the representation of SC women in the Groups is less than their share in the total population of the state. Ideally, they should have joined in greater numbers. Chances of women from better-off families (upper castes and upper OBCs) grabbing the opportunity are there, unless a drive is made to ensure greater participation of the SC women who are the most vulnerable among the women in rural Bihar. Second, until now, the major activities of the Group have been confined to provision of microcredit.
To start any productive activities, some basic conditions have to be in place. For example, a poor woman may want to open a shop, but to open a shop she should have adequate space in her house. She may want to buy a cow, but she should have enough homestead land for keeping the animal. Most of the SC women are living in one-room houses, and as such, it is difficult for them to start a shop or any activity. Easy availability of finance is only one important aspect. Women of SCs and other poor families would benefit more from the formation of production groups than by the mere availability of credit. The formation of production groups has been slow. Third, an apprehension is there that the whole project might collapse with the withdrawal of external support. The vast administrative structure erected for the running of this programme might falter with the withdrawal of the support of the World Bank.
Jeevika has had day-to-day impacts on the lives of rural women; there are irreversible cultural gains. A woman who has stepped out of her patriarch house, has done so forever. A woman who has come out of the veil (covering her face) would remain so expectedly throughout her life. A woman’s realisation of self-identity cannot be snatched away easily. Such an ambience creates for egalitarian male–female relations in the long run. Cultural gains of Jeevika for social transformation are indicative of a new social order. The gains of Jeevika have affected the functioning of PRIs.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
This study was conducted with the support of Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). I am grateful to the ICSSR for sponsoring this study and to my colleagues in the Council for Social Development, New Delhi, for their useful comments during a presentation of this study.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received financial support from the ICSSR for the field work of this article.