USID2011 Social Innovation & Service Design for Women Empowerment:

Introduction to Samarth
Ashwini Sukhdeve Design for Digital Experience, National Institute of Design, HMT Link Road, Peenya, Bangalore, KA 560029 India ashwini.s@nid.edu

Abstract
Due to the negligence of women development in the past, India has given special importance to the empowerment of women economically and socially. A number of initiatives have proved to be elemental in not only development of women but also eventually the nation overall. This paper aims to analyze a few such initiatives on economic empowerment for their effectiveness and shortcomings, and proposes an idea of an organization Samarth. The idea of the organization is to empower lower middle class skilled women by enabling them to set up their own business with the help of other such skilled women. This equips them with multiplied skill, knowledge and labour to produce quality products. This would not only make them self dependant but also present them with an opportunity to earn what they deserve and get recognition.

compared to other similar products. Most products made by them are similar, lacking any uniqueness and element of interest. Women at different levels of society are involved in money saving groups like SHG, Bhishi, Cheeti etc. These also serve as a platform to discuss issues and topics of interest. However, rarely are such groups converted into professional groups where returns could be high. Many women empowerment organizations have tried and tested ways to improve the status of women in India. The pioneer programs for economic empowerment of women like Entrepreneurship Development Programs have given rise to many women entrepreneurs. Although the program is effective as it is, some minor variations to it may prove to be highly beneficial. Samarth is one such variation that brings a positive change in the women entrepreneurship scenario in India. Samarths idea is to build brands from products developed by a group of women bearing skills such that each one enhances the product in a different way. The women undergo an induction program to learn the fundamentals of starting a venture, banking, computers and so on. They also form a group that makes products which are evaluated and taken further to production level. Samarths ultimate aim is to convert otherwise low self esteemed, ignorant and suppressed women to confident, strong and informed entrepreneurs. Thus, imbibing a
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1. Introduction
In India, women belonging to impoverished families are as responsible for the income of the families as the men. These families follow patriarchal structure and women are responsible for family tasks with no decision making powers. To handle multiple tasks, women need to handle their time very carefully. Some prefer to provide services from their home while some take up jobs like housemaids and work part time. Many are able to tap their talent in their professions but lack in producing products more desirable to the market

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culture of self-dependency in society. Entrepreneurships direct effect is on the family converting it to a self-sufficient and educated family. a wide range of areas, such as small business promotions, cooperatives, job creation schemes, sewing circles and credit and savings groups (Albee, 1994). [1] Microcredit plays an important role in economic empowerment of women. It was observed that even financial help for the family were taken under the name of the women as women were better trusted and umpteen number of alternatives existed for obtaining assistance for women. According to Preet Rustagi, in her paper on Employment Trends for Women in India, under non-agricultural occupations, aside from teaching which is the main occupationSpinners, weavers, knitters, dyers and related workers (NCO 75) also show a large share of women workers in non-agricultural activities. The occupational category of tailors, dress makers, sewers, upholsterers and related workers (NCO 79) also reports significant numbers of women workers increasing over time. Spinning and weaving related activities are gradually declining, with more men losing employment than women in these occupations. Involvement in finished products, such as preparation of dresses and garments through embroidery, tailoring and so on (covered under NCO 79) has registered additional women's employment of over 900,000 during the decade 1993-94 to 2004-05 which amounts to an annual growth rate of 5.3 per cent. The growth in this additional employment is similar in rural and urban areas-500,000 and upwards in rural villages and over 400,000 in urban areas. Besides these, occupation of trading and retailing activity showed significant employability.

2. Urban Poor Women in India

While designing to empower urban poor women, it is essential to understand various aspects of their life. While doing the research various aspects of the life of these women need to be interpreted. Although one might think that the status of urban women would be better as compared to their rural counterparts, various studies have shown that the constraints faced in both cases are similar (Fernandes, 1991 & INDIA: URBAN POVERTY REPORT 2009). Like rural women, urban women are affected by low socioeconomic status, lack of property rights, environmental degradation and limited health and educational resources. Most studies suggest that the greatest need among such women is income to cover the basic necessities of their family. In rural settings, the income earned by a woman is influenced by age, family size, health, educational level, land size, hours worked and involvement in cooperatives (Akinsanmi, 2005). [1] It was observed that even though the woman in the family does not hold the power of decision-making, the responsibility of earning for the family remained with both men and women. Women have added responsibility of handling the daily chores of the family. Buvinic (1996) states that the most straightforward vehicle to empower poor women is to increase their productivity in home and market production and the income they obtain from work. Mahmud (2003) contends that providing security of tenure will encourage more women to use their domestic space for income-generating activities. [1] Earning out of the home space would also mean they could manage their work as per their convenience unlike fixed timing employment. Economic empowerment projects usually focus on income-generating activities, which allow women to independently acquire their income. Income-generating activities encompass

3. Self Help Groups

A Self-Help Group (SHG) is a group of people having homogenous social and economic backgrounds. This group saves small sums of money, mutually agreeing to contribute to a common fund. A group member would then be eligible to avail a loan from the common at the time of need or while starting individual employment. SHGs are linked to banks and other organizations to regulate their functioning. The group is encouraged to meet once a month and

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maintain a record of their savings, lending and repayments. Peer pressure ensures proper enduse of credit and timely repayment. Self Help Groups (SHGs) combines low-cost financial services with a process of self management and development for the SHG members. SHGs are seen to confer many benefits, both economic and social. SHGs have also proved to be platforms from which women become active in village affairs, stand for local election or take action to address social or community issues (the abuse of women, alcohol, the dowry system, schools, water supply etc.). However, according to a study on SHGs by EDA Rural Systems Pvt Ltd and Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society in 2006, women who have been SHG members for seven plus years, half are still poor and 13% are very poor. Also only 21% (46 of 214 groups in the sample) are involved in group based enterprise. [2] Supporting organizations play a critical role in providing or facilitating ideas for group based enterprise. Though, this does not guarantee viability of the enterprise. Roughly half of the group enterprises are viable, though with relatively low earnings for SHG members. In most cases, enterprises are short-lived and non-viable, with unrealistic margins, and problems of managing cash flows apart from womens lack of experience in handling such a system. [2] One Bangalore based NGO, Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE) was studied as a part of research. AWAKE is one of the oldest women empowerment organizations in Karnataka. Ever since its establishment in 1983, AWAKE has strengthened its ability to support women entrepreneurship. AWAKE developed its EDP program over the years. At AWAKEs EDP program, participants are exposed to programs involving awareness, business counseling, trainings, skill development, mentoring, business incubation, information sharing and networking, marketing assistance, credit referral and policy advocacy. Such a program strongly facilitates & motivates women participants in commencing their business independently. AWAKE has built up a strong support network with government, non-government, corporate, developmental agencies, funding and finance agencies. AWAKEs establishment plays a major role in trust development. Such a network alleviates AWAKEs process to provide the expertise in entrepreneurship development. The network further facilitates to mobilize the whole process of instituting the business. So, in short EDP motivates & prepares women to start a business with ease & expert advice. At this point, one is sure of the fact that the base of the business would be firm. But if the support ceased at this point, one cannot ascertain that the enterprise will operate smoothly with no glitches. The positive point at AWAKE would be that it provides guidance for two years after completion of EDP. However, EDP becomes a costly affair for a person below poverty line. At AWAKE, the fees to join an EDP alone is Rs. 2500. For a woman whose family saving is Rs. 50-100 per day, the possibility of joining such a program becomes subject to a hard decision. Moreover, EDP assists one in setting up their business but does not provide any skill development. There may be a few differentiating factors among the various businesses existing in the industry and the one started with the help of AWAKE. Guidance on product & service design for the business would improve their quality.

4. Entrepreneurship Programs

Development

As a part women empowerment programs, plenty of NGOs bloomed in the 90s to provide assistance with setting up ones own business. The organizations aimed at making women aware of the requirements of starting the business and thereby empowering them to aid their families financially. These NGOs duplicated other successful programs such as Entrepreneurship Development Programs (EDP). Various attempts have been made to promote and develop entrepreneurship, EDP being one such attempt. EDP is a structured training module at the end of which the participant is expected to develop self confidence and is motivated enough to start an enterprise for their economic self sustenance.

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5. Microcredit and Peer to Peer Lending
From 2006, after Mr. Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, numerous microcredit and microfinance institutions bloomed providing rich access of funds to those who could not traditionally avail any legal financial help. Microcredit also put an end to the much exploited money lending system in the rural parts of India. Concept of microfinance has brought about a positive change in providing financial selfsufficiency. Those who had no collaterals, no proof documents, no verifiable credit history or a steady employment could avail monetary assistance. Thus providing help not only in case of enterprise development but also in health and education and other personal requirements. This improved the overall well being of the individuals. With time, microfinance evolved and modified to address several other poverty related issues and to accommodate modern web and mobile technologies. This led to the facilitation of loan through the peer-to-peer lending model where the loan is made available as an aggregation of small loans. This led to harnessing the idea of social lending/investment or crowdfunding which could reduce the interest rate on repayment to almost half of that of the traditional microfinance institutions could offer. Thus, making the institution a mediator between funds and the indigent. In India, peer to peer lending was brought by organizations like Rang De, Milaap and few others. created by one of them got replicated over and over again. Creating interdependency of these professions could produce variations in the types of products through design intervention. Entrepreneurship Development Program could be fine tuned to serve a broader prospective in a sense such that it enhances ones skill at a much lower price and stabilizes the process of business development. Efficient use of peer to peer lending models to reduce financial risks and thereby stepping -up the confidence of the women to start their own business. Making a brand out of these enterprises and their products would create better market presence for such small start-ups. Figure 1 explains the feasibility, viability & desirability of the concept.

6. Origin of the idea - Samarth

The idea of Samarth was derived weighing all the points mentioned in the earlier parts of the paper. Significant insights that led to Samarth were Although many women were involved in official or unofficial groups for saving money and discussing common issues, very few actually got involved professionally. Women were majorly involved in tailoring, embroidery, textile, dress making, weaving, upholstery and other such related professions. But, the end products from each of these varied very rarely. A trend

Figure 1 - Critically evaluating the concept

7. What does Samarth do?

Samarth is essentially a non-government organization (NGO). Its objective is to bring together skilled women (may/may not be educated) and develop a group of them in such a way that their skills compliment each others skills. This group would be a guided by designers and experts such that they are able to build their own brand out of this business.

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8. Who does Samarth Serve?
Samarth is designed keeping in mind a particular set of women. These are mostly young to middle-aged women belonging to the urban poor class. They live in a slum area of a city which is jam-packed with small houses or shacks. They have a family to be handled along with their work. They belong to a family which is able to earn not more than Rs. 3000 per month. Education of the children, if at all provided, is limited to any school in the neighborhood. Women are employed to serve broadly the textile industry either self-employed or as labourers. Their professions are weaving, embroidery, stitching, tailoring and the likes. They may also be skilled at such professions but not working for them. If they are self employed, they are not able to earn enough to attend the needs of the family. They are striving hard to strike a balance between work and family to earn more every day. Given an opportunity, they are ready to work more. The labourers in the textile industry are those who are working under fixed timings or for extremely long hours to meet the financial needs of the family. They are exploited by the big brands for their skills and are paid low. Unaware of the other options, these women continue with sorrow. The main mode of operation is publicity of Samarth at locations where these women visit most frequently, for instance - vegetable vendors and grocery shops. Other possibility of publicizing could be banks and post offices as at these places the officials from the offices could explain the necessity of the services in their life. Kiosks should also be placed at market areas and near work and slum areas where representatives from Samarth would guide and motivate the women to join Samarth.

9. Structure
Women joining Samarth go through 3 stages 1) Access 2) Induction 3) Incubation
Figure 2 - Stages & Actors involved in the phase of Access to Samarth

9.1. Access to Samarth

This step is the most crucial step as it serves as the entry point to the whole process for the women. Women become aware about the service Samarth through various media like posters, banners, TV commercials, radio, kiosks and so on.

It would be crucial to involve the vendors, bankers and post officers in the process. They would be the main point of contact between Samarth and the interested women. Samarth would give a set of application forms to each of these officials to be given away to women and get them filled there. In case of illiteracy the officials would either guide her or forward her contact details to Samarth. The officers job would also be to provide all essential details about the program or at least direct her to the nearest Samarth office.

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The filled forms would be collected by Samarth representatives at regular periods. Once the forms are gathered, they would be analyzed and multiple batches of women would be formed for the next stage of induction. The commencement date for induction program would be conveyed to all the candidates either on phone or in person. different members and whether their group could stand a long term professional relationship. The products made by all such groups are then assessed by designers for their usability and their possible existence in the market. Opinions are brought in from a broader perspective by displaying products to a larger set of designers through Samarths store and online portal. All good opinions are carefully understood and noted by Samarths designers. Evaluation of products is a 7 day long activity. The participant women are not involved in the assessment of products as during this period they are engaged in enrichment talks from experts. This phase is a replication of the entrepreneurship development program. A rich knowledge on importance of self employment, banking and savings, local arts, skill improvement, Computers and ICT and so on are provided.

9.2. Induction
This is the phase which introduces women, bearing similar and complimenting skills, to each other. Samarth contemplates their skills at group and individual level such that their personal skills are improved and businesses could be evolved from them when considered as a group. Once the confirmation is provided to the women, they join Samarth on the said dates. The batches can be scheduled to accommodate the time schedule of the women morning and evening. A small amount of money, Rs. 30-50, is also received from them to Samarth to develop a sense a responsibility for them to attend the whole course. Samarth greets them with a welcome kit containing a set of id cards, brochures, stationary and some goodies like women accessories. The induction process is a two week long process divided in two parts 1. Introduction & workshops to make products. 2. Evaluation of products by designers and training sessions During the first week each one introduces herself, her skills, interests, like-dislikes, family and everything she would want to share. A lot of talk and discussion takes place complemented by small ice-breaking games. This makes her comfortable with the group and her coordinators from Samarth. The next step is to help them mingle and interact with the whole group. Samarth achieves this by making their groups and involving them in multiple group workshops where they interact with most of the other participants and make products out of waste in a given period. The workshops are co-ordinated by representatives of Samarth who assist them and provide them suggestions whenever required. The workshops provide a sense of the level of comfort among

Figure 3 - Induction process at Samarth

9.3. Incubation
At the end of two weeks, designers would have analyzed all the products and would be

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ready to provide suggestions. Groups are suggested to the participants as per the probability of success of product and the comfort level of the members of the group. Participants are inquired about their preference of groups, if at all they have any or they would be encouraged to follow their groups as per group products. Once the group is convinced to work together for a longer period, they are briefed about the process they would be undergoing to set-up the business. They are also registered into the incubator for a time of one year. Extensive sessions between the group and Samarth co-ordinators and designer to set-up the business are initiated. The designer discusses the improvements and gives his suggestions about product design. The product is evaluated critically about its usability and sustainability. Once the product is finalized, peer to peer microcredit institutes like Rang De are approached for the investment. As per the process, the group shall receive the promised amount within one month. Samarth co-ordinator explains the requirements of setting up a business. They are also handed a booklet informing them about these requirements. Once these are understood well, the group along with Samarth decides the name for the start-up. Then, Samarth helps them register the business. Next level, they develop the branding and stationery for the brand. Production begins under Samarths guidance initially and later can be taken up independently as the sales improve over time. After initial setup, Samarth meets its startups once a month. All start-ups maintain an accounts register provided by Samarth. Over time, accounts are made digital depending upon the ease at which the enterprise can handle it. Expert suggestions and trainings are provided to improve the quality of product & its production. Samarth takes a small percentage of the start-up earnings for one year. This helps Samarth sustain while not providing a onetime burden of charges for incubating & counseling the start-up for a year. This also maintains the self esteem of the start-up of not looking at the support from Samarth as a favour or donation to them. All start-ups sell their products with Samarths brand along with their own brand, atleast for one year. All products of the startups can also be sold at Samarths store and online portal if the start-up wishes to.

10. Experience
This age has evolved to be the age of user experience. It is essential to create a positive experience at every stage for the success of the service. Samarth creates an experience at every stage by providing ease of usage and by giving goodies at various levels.
Figure 4 - Incubation at Samarth

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To provide ease, the service could be started near or in schools at the school timings so that the childs mother can participate in the program leaving the tension of her children. Due to the flexibility of the induction program, its location need not be fixed and can be conducted in different schools or other such public places. Branding develops interest in the product and thereby improving confidence of the start-ups to provide better.
[2] Self Help Groups in India - A study of the lights and shades by EDA Rural Systems Pvt Ltd in association with APMAS (Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society) [3] Self Help Groups http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfhelp_group_%28finance%29 [4] Peer-to-peer lending http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer_lending [5] Association for Women Entrepreneurs of India AWAKE http://awakeindia.org.in/

11. Evolution
Over time, Samarth will create a database of participant women to be contacted later on in case no business could be started for them. This will bring in variety in the type of skills that will be provided. Samarths main aim would be to make women self-dependent by starting their own businesses. Samarth can be open in providing temporary jobs within Samarth but encourage business start in the long run. With experience, Samarth should venture into new areas of industry, creating many more opportunities for entrepreneurship. New areas could be food products, soaps, paper products etc. Samarth would equip its incubation center for machinery needed for the start-ups. Building a network of start-ups would help them discuss common issues and help each other whenever required and possible.

[6] Rang De www.rangde.org

12. Conclusion
There are a lot of urban poor women who are very skilled yet are not able to convert their talent to a source of generating finance for their families. As shown in the paper, introducing a new concept of using complementing skills of different people can produce desirable products in the market while making the Indian women self dependent.

11. References
[1] Womens Economic Empowerment: Meeting the Needs of Impoverished Women, UNFPA, 2007 http://www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/382

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