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Sa-Dhan Patrika

Volume 6

Issue 2

attended the meeting, the federation

·

Realised the importance of linkages

as a whole, and on the direction of

with a variety of institutions to realise

activities being undertaken.

The

their vision.

awareness of members about the

·

Insisted that their accounts are

institutional and financial status, as well

cleaned up.

as the different roles of each level of the

·

Prioritised coverage of poorest of

federation has significantly improved. For

the poor by forming new SHGs.

example, one issue that was raised

·

Review of the SHG performance as

Once the people's

during the exercise was that leadership

a major priority in the VO meetings.

organisation is on

at the MS level was ineffective; the MS

·

Staff and MS EC began facilitation

this path for a

has since voted in a new president, and

of visioning at VO level.

period of five-

is in the process of selecting a new

·

Resolved to ensure each VO had

years with strong

Treasurer and Secretary. Further, they

its own building.

facilitation

are  now  aware  of  the  issue  of

·

Greater focus on timely repayment

support, it will

Community Investment Fund repayment

of loans and also collection of old

surely continue

at the VO and MS level, and are making

dues from members.

the journey for a

increased repayment rates a priority at

·

Enhanced capacities to realise their

long time.

all meetings. Along with these tangible

vision through collective effort.

benefits from the visioning exercise, there

is also a general feeling of motivation

To facilitate sustainable institutions of the

among  the  executive  committee.

poor in the form of MS is a time-consuming

Building the vision statement and

and long-drawn process. Engaging the

creating an action plan has given the

members of the MS, their staff and all the

members a sense of purpose and set of

other stakeholders in building a vision

achievable goals which has inspired

document and in realising the same is a

them to strengthen their MS.

sure way to ensure institutional and

financial sustainability of the people's

Perhaps the most telling sign of the

organisations. To support this process over

impact the vision-building process has

a period of five years, there is a need for

had on Gangavaram is that the

trained and committed professionals.

executive committee is now planning to

Once the people's organisation is on this

work with each village organisation (VO)

path for a period of five-years with strong

so they have their own action plan

facilitation support, it will surely continue

towards achieving the overall vision. The

the journey for a long time.

MS has had such a positive experience

with the exercise, and has seen such

Based on the success of the vision-

improvements

in

performance,

building exercise in Gangavaram,

motivation, and direction, that it would

APMAS plans to conduct similar sessions

like each VO to have the same

in the other mandals where it is working

opportunity. The annual action plan with

intensively. From its experiences, the

roles and responsibilities, timeline,

organisation will compile a user manual,

indicators  has  given  the  MS  an

so  that  other  organisations  and

opportunity to review the plan during

promoting institutions are able to learn

the monthly meetings and plan for the

from it. This is one of many initiatives

future. Previously the MS meetings were

APMAS has undertaken in its role as a

conducted without any focus on future

resource institution for SHG promotion in

plan and ended with discussion on

Andhra Pradesh.

routine agenda like repayment rate,

performance  of  VOs/SHGs,  loan

Footnotes

requirements etc. The following are the

Mandal is an administrative unit in Andhra

1

specific and immediate benefits of the

Pradesh with approximately 50,000

participatory vision-building process:

population covering 20-30 villages.

Village Organisation (VO) is a federation

2

·

Staff and women members realised

of SHGs at the village level consisting of

the need and importance of the

5-30 SHGs. If there are more than 30 SHGs

MS.

in a village, more than one VO will be

·

Collective thinking about their own

formed. VOs may be registered as

organisation's present status and

Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies

future strategy.

(MACS) under the AP MACS Act.

·

The entire process facilitated

Mandal Samakhya (MS) is a federation

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ownership among the EC members.

of VOs in a given mandal. 20-40 VOs form

an MS and it is generally registered under

the AP MACS Act.

Anjaneyulu, CS Reddy and Jennifer Livingston

Anjaneyulu is the team leader, capacity building. Jennifer Livingston is an intern

from AGA Khan Foundation, while CS Reddy is the CEO of APMAS

info@apmas.org