• Selfhelp group is an informal association of women from poor households • It is an organization in which members with similar socioeconomic conditions come together around a common interest. • The size of the group normally consists of 10 – 15 members • Selfhelp and mutual help are the core principles of the group • The group provides equal opportunity to all its members to participate in the meetings • Members thrift and credit are the key elements for the group development • Members in the group take all decisions in their meetings by democratic process and consensus approach.
• Self-help Group concept Self-help group is an informal association of women from poor households • It is an organization in which members with similar socio-economic conditions come together around a common interest • The size of the group normally consists of 10 – 15 members • Self-help and mutual help are the core principles of the group • The group provides equal opportunity to all its members to participate in the meetings • Members thrift and credit are the key elements for the group development • Members in the group take all decisions in their meetings by democratic process and consensus approach • SHG Management and Financial Norms After formation of a Self Help Group the members should conduct group meeting and finalize the group management norms and financial management norms The members will decide and give a name to their group The group will decide the meeting place; meeting day and time for their regular meetings The group should conduct weekly meetings The members of the group will sit in a round manner in their regular meetings to facilitate face to face discussion and achieve active participation of all the members in the decisions The members of the group shall elect two representatives from among the members through consensus The group shall designate one of the members by rotation to preside over the regular weekly meeting The group shall introduce and maintain relevant Books of Accounts 8 The group shall identify and engage a trained bookkeeper to write the Books of Accounts and pay the remuneration from their earnings The bookkeeper shall be either a literate member of the group or an outsider willing to work with the group 10 The members through consensus will finalize the norms for imposing fines on absentees, late comers and defaulters as a deterrent so that the group activities will sustain for a longtime 11 The members of the group shall decide the weekly savings to be contributed by the members to the group based on the ability of the poorest women 12 The group shall open a Bank Account in the name of the group and authorize the two representatives to operate the account 13 All decisions shall always be taken in the group meeting through democratic process and consensus approach 14 The group shall take up internal lending to the members from the group fund by prioritizing the felt needs of the members based on poverty status 15 The group shall fix interest rate and installments for the loans given to the members and recover the principal and interest as per the installments 16 The group shall conduct all transactions like writing the records, sanctioning and disbursing of loans in the group meetings only 17 The group records shall always be in the custody of the group representatives, but not with the bookkeeper nor with any other member 18 The group shall conduct at least one transaction in a month with the Bank 19 The group should decide the minimum cash balance to be maintained with group representatives for meeting the emergency needs of the members 20 The group should decide the norms for the admission of new members and withdrawal of old members with regard to their savings contributions and returning of savings 21 The group shall introduce a Masanivedika about its performance and it shall be prepared by the Bookkeeper in the last meeting of the month 22 The group should get their records audited once in a year SHG meeting process The group will conduct weekly meeting and all the members will sit in a round manner The representatives and the bookkeeper will come to the meeting venue, 10 minutes before the commencement of the meeting As per rotation one member of the group will preside over the meeting and the bookkeeper will sit by her side The representatives will hand over the records to the bookkeeper in the meeting only All the members will participate and finalize the Agenda for the meeting After prayer by the members, the bookkeeper will record the attendance of the members The presiding member will conduct the meeting as per the meeting Agenda The Bookkeeper will record the discussions and decisions as per the Agenda in the minute book The bookkeeper will write all the records in the meeting only 10 The bookkeeper will read out the decisions item wise for the information of all the members 11 After collecting savings, Loan installments, and interest amounts from the members, the group will sanction new loans by prioritizing emergency needs of the members while giving preference to the poorest of the poor 12 Fines imposed in previous meeting on absentees, late comers and defaulters will be collected by the presiding member and the bookkeeper will record the transactions in the relevant registers 13 Members repayments of previous loans and new loans sanctioned in the meeting will be recorded in the loan ledger and members pass books in the meeting 14 The details of the cash transactions and cash balance in the meeting will be read out by the bookkeeper for the information of all the members 15 The bank remittance slip of the previous month will be given to the presiding member during the meeting and it will be recorded in the minutes book 16 At the end of the meeting, the bookkeeper will readout the day’s meeting minutes for the information of all the members and take signatures in the minute book 17 After the meeting is over, the bookkeeper will hand over all the records to the group representatives SHG Meeting Agenda: Prayer: All the members will sing the group song Members Introduction: All the members of the group starting form the representatives will be introduced by themselves Members attendance: Bookkeeper will record the attendance in the minute book including the names of the absentees and late comers Review of previous meeting resolutions: Members will review follow up action on the previous meeting resolutions and will take final decisions Collection of savings : All the members handover savings amounts to the presiding member Collection of loan installments : The Loanee members will handover the installment and interest amount in the meeting to the presiding member Collection of Fines : Previous meeting absentees, late comers and defaulters will handover the fines to the presiding member Sanction of new Loans : Small Loans are sanctioned as per the prioritization of members’ needs Big loans are sanctioned as per the step M.C.P processed and sanctioned Government programmes : Discussion on N.R.E.G.S., Indiramma Housing, S.H.G Bank-linkage, Insurance etc., 10 Social Issues : Child labour – Child education – pregnant and lactating women and other issues like early child marriages, domestic violence, alcoholism will be discussed