MUKTI Community Development Program (MCDF)

Average people of Sundarbans delta are extremely poor. Their livelihood is mostly dependent on single-crop agriculture, cutting wood from jangle, catching fish etc. Women of this delta region are even more vulnerable due to economic condition and lack of proper education. That is the reason Sundarbans is the biggest source in West Bengal for women trafficking. The women of Sundarbans need to travel a long way from their home to town for their daily work and the means of transport are neither safe nor comfortable for women. The dignity of women is compromised and they often face sexual abuse at their work place. Average education on Delta is 45% where women education rate is below 30%. Women power of Sundarbans Delta is under-utilized due to lack of lack of proper social structure and lack of enough opportunity.

To address this challenge in Sundarbans, MUKTI has designed a unique Self Help Group (SHG) and Micro Credit model for women. As part of this model, MUKTI provides 3 skill development training, interest free loan, and a self-governed mechanism for running the groups. The success of this model can be observed by the rapid progress of this project in last few years. Around 5000+ women joined in last 3 years in the programme where 1200+ women doing business successfully after getting training from MUKTI and receiving interest free loan. The loan repayment is almost 100% as our model is designed in such a way that each SHG group ensures the repayment of their loan. Administrative cost is also very less here, as women find their leader by selection/election method and manage the whole programme on their own. MUKTI is running 6 clusters of SHGs and wish to grow up to 10 by 2017.

MUKTI has now successfully created an avenue for the women force of Sundarbans. Many women leaders are now moving one step forward and leading some society development activities as well. Women from these SHG groups are now earning Rs 3000 -10000 per month. A large group of women are selling their products in various exhibitions and in towns. More than 50 women have established themselves as trainer of various businesses. Women trafficking have come down and self-respect has been restored for women who are engaged with this programme. Migration to town has been reduced significantly.