Prof.Shrikant Bhate.

Architect and Social Entrepreneur.

D-9, Durvankur Society I, Panchavati, Pashan. Pune 411008.
Mobile:9890440648. E mail: bhate48@gmail.com.
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PROJECT PROPOSAL
EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN THROUGH VARIOUS
EARNING OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME SELF SUFFICIENT
IN BASIC LIVING NEEDS.
Preamble: It is seen that after 66 years of independence the fruits of
development have not reached the needy people of society as there are huge
problems in delivery system, with the result even though Govt has spent huge
sums of money for rural development, due to lack of co ordination between
varios departments, the expected results could not be achieved.
Considering above mentioned aspect we wish to design and implement a unique
delivery system through which the individual family would be able to meet all its
basic requiremnets and get Economic Freedom to pursue higher goals in life.
BASIC NEEDS OF RURAL FAMILY:
It is observed that average rural family faces following problems in their day to
day life.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Availability of clean drinking water.

Clean and Healthy Toilet facility.
Assured supply of fuel for cooking.
Availability of Electricity.
Skill based education and entrepreneurship development.

6. Good farming practices such as Organic Farming and assured income to

agricultural produce.
7. Primary Health Care facility.
8. Guidence for all kinds of building construction activity such as housing, cow
sheds, cold storage facility, dairy, and poultry sheds etc.
9. Cultural and Social awareness programmes.
Our proposal.
It is not possible to tackle all these problems simalteneously but we wish to take
up few of these issues and offer various solutions under one roof so that as
families improve their economic level thay will add on various other tools/
gadgets etc so that their life will become less cumbersome and they will have
more time for earning opportunities.
We wish to offer following facilities with approximate cost estimates and their
advantages.
1. Clean Drinkig water. We will
be giving a small water filter which
removes all the harmful substances
from water and makes it potable
and free from any bacterias. All the
major diseases in village occur due
to impure water and we hope that
this fcaility will save considerable
amount of money from the family
budget.
Approximate budget: Rs. 1000/

2. Clean and Healthy Toilet Facility:

We wish to offer very comfortable toilet facility which is very easy to
construct and which uses mimimum amount of water and the urine is
collected separately and used as fertilizer in the farms. The excreta are
sanitised with the help of good ventilation and solar heat and then it is
converted in to good quality wormicompost.
This facility will improve the health of families and will also considerably
increase the agricultural production from their backyard/ farm.
The toilet may cost around, Rs. 15,000/

3 Domestinc ready to install Bio Gas plant and Solar Cooker.

This plant will help provide the fuel for cooking and will make the cooking
much easier without any harmful smoke etc and will help maintain good
health of women. The slurry from gas plant is good manure and can be
used in the backyard for growing vegetables of daily use.
Approximate Budget: Rs 20,000/

4 Solar Electricity:
In rural areas the power cut severly hampers various activities such as
students study, watching T.V, running of small industries etc. We wish to
provide basic lighting facility so that minimum amount of light required will
be available in the house and as the family gets more income they will add
more panels and will get more light.
Approximate Budget: Rs.10, 000/

5 Providing income generation by planting Moringa Trees and giving

nutritious food.
We wish to provide basic nutritinal needs of all family members to keep
them healthy. We will be giving them ready to eat items prepared by local
Self Help Group so an income generation activity will get going and each
family will be benefitted.
Approximate Budget Rs. 500 per month.

Above mentioned basic needs will be fulfilled by providing income

generation opportunities to the women SHGS and helping them to get
the loans and timely repayment. Livelihood opprtunity through tiny and
small scale industry initiative.
1) Earthworm rearing, wormi composting etc.
The earth worms and wormi compost command good price in the market
so we hope that the group will be able to earn good income through this
venture.

2) Marketing Solar Dried Agri Produce.

The Solar Dried Food business is quite new in India and has got good
demand in Urban areas. Well designed packaging and aggressive
marketing will generate good business for these products.
3). Solar Cooking and selling Solar Cooked Nutritious Food Items

Solar cooked food is very delicious and remains in good condition for
considerable time. Urban Areas and neighbouring housing will have good
scope for these products.

4) Sericulture. Weaving of silk yarn, selling of cookens.

The rural women can take up this business very seriously as Govt
purchases the cookens at fixed rate so there will be constant income
through this venture.
5) Weaving cotton yarn with modified Amber charakha

This venture is also very suitable for women for earning good income
working from their home. With the help of solar electricity the yarn
spnning is much simpler and earning will also be much more.

So it will be our endeavour to offer earning opportunities to rural women

so that they can earn about Rs 100/ per day and save about rs 25 to 30
daily or about Rs 750/ per month to afford above mentioned facilities in
their house which will give them more time for earning and improve the
quality of life by removing the drugery thay have to face everyday.
By having above mentioned facilities overall saving/ earning will be as
follows,
1. Water purifier and Toilet facility: saving Rs. 100/ ( on medicines and
sickness)
2. By solar lighting.
Rs. 200/
3. By bio gas plant.
Rs. 300/
4. By solar cooker.
Rs. 100/
5. By having nutritious food.
Rs. 300/
6. Increased agricultural production.
Rs. 500/
Total earning/saving per month

Rs. 1500/

So it will be seen that if a family invests Rs. 50,000/ initially, then they will
get all the basic needs fulfilled and the life will become much easier and
the members of family will be able to devote more time for earning
opportunities.
We feel that if a Bank sanctions a loan for a group of 10 families which may
be a SHG in a village then the total loan amount will be re. 5,00,000/ and
considering present interest rate and a loan repayment period of 100
months we assume that EMI will not be more than RS 750.00 whereas

total saving/ earning will be Rs.1500/ per month, so even after paying
regular installment of maximum Rs 750/ per month the family will be
saving Rs.750 per month.
We also wish to offer Health and Accident Insurance benefits to all
families out of their savings which will take care of any eventuality and
also help them tide over any medical and accidental mishap.
So this is a unique scheme of Empowering Rural Women and helping them
get rid of daily hardhips they have been facing in their daily routine.
The actual benefits will be as follows,
1. Improved Health due to water filter and toilet and less expenditure on
medicines and hospital.
2. Assured fuel for cooking, smokelss kitchens and so better health
condition.
3. Assured lighting so kids can study till late night, parents can put in
additional work, they will have better entrtaining opportunities due to
T.V, music etc.
4. Improved living condition due to assured income through tiny business
model.
5. Overall improvement in health due to more intake of nutritous food and
the children, old people, pregnant women will enjoy good health and
new born babies will also show this improvement.
It is proved internationally that if we invest 1 rs in fulfilling the basic
needs of families then overall economy growth will be around Rs. 8 to 9
which is about 8 to 9 times the original investment. So if we can adopt
this model in rural areas we will see exponential growth of economy and
it will give great impetus to purchasing power of rural population which
will drive the overall industry on the path of rapid growth.
So we strongly advocate that all the financial Institutions may consider
this proposal and may be implemented in every village in order to usher
in a Green and Economic Revolution in India.