Building cooperatives in South India

20 Jun 2011 / Comments Off / in News/by TEU

Five cooperative-based businesses and more than 120 micro-enterprises will be created over the next three years in Tamil Nadu, South India with UnionAID assistance.

The project will build on the work of the past three years which has organised more than 30,000 people in Dalit and Tribal communities which is helping them to achieve economic independence. [pullquote]Meet Rajalakshmi and Rana from the Gypsy communityRajalakshmi (l) and Rana are the leaders of the Gypsy (Narikuravar) community which is part of the UnionAID project. They settled on government land near Madurai and are organised as a union, proud of their achievements. They want to work with two other Narikuravar communities to create a jewellery-making cooperative.[/pullquote]India may be thriving economically but its prosperity fails to impact on these two peoples - India’s poorest and most disadvantaged groups -most of whom are landless, own no assets, and have high rates of indebtedness and illiteracy. About half live below the poverty line on less than $1 a day. This new project will work at a grass roots level by breaking the cycle of poverty and discrimination while improving livelihood choices and economic security.

The project plans to assist these communities to:

establish five co-operative-based businesses based on goat and sheep rearing, agricultural farming, sandal making, bamboo basket weaving, and Gypsy craftwork;
form 120 micro-enterprises in floristry, jewellery crafts and organic manure products;
and train 155 key Dalit and Tribal representatives to deliver basic vocational skill training to 1045 people from local communities to develop business skills, and increase earning capacity and employability.

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