Empowering Women
The status of women in India is a complex story. In ancient times, the status of men and women was equal. Today, many women hold high offices in the State. However, women in India still face much discrimination and many social challenges, and are often subject to abuse and crime. To help combat this grim reality, Prime Trust actively believes that all women should be given a chance to earn the respect and opportunities they deserve from society. To this end, we run a number of programs, including supporting Self-Help Groups (SHGs), running vocational training centers to facilitate financial independence, and opening low-fee daycare centers to ease the stress of supporting a family.
Vocational Training Projects
Prime Trust has established a number of facilities that provide vocational training, teaching women valuable skills that lead to financial stability and independence.
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Tailoring Centre
Founded in 2008, a training centre for tailoring was opened by Prime Trust. Sewing machines were bought by Prime Trust, with some donated by the Rotary Club of Chennai, and one electrically powered machine was donated by a volunteer from Norway, Linea. Here, the women can pay a minimal fee to get tutoring in sewing and clothes manufacturing (courses of 3 or 6 months). At the moment 30 apprentices are learning how to make clothes in our tailoring centre (churridars, choli blouses, trousers, kurtas…). In our tailoring centre, the girls from Janani Home also attend regular classes and have learnt how to make their school uniforms. Handicraft Centre In the same building as the tailoring centre, a tutor also teaches how to manufacture bags, purses, letter pouches and other such fabric items. |
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Mat Weaving
Founded in coordination with Credit at People, a French nongovernmental organization specializing in microenterprise design, Prime Trust's mat weaving unit provides a secure facility, materials, machines, and training to a group of women for the production of doormats and other related products. Current production stands at approximately 2,000 mats per month, with supplemental earnings from mat sales increasing the disposable income of participants. |
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Self-Help Groups & Microfinance
Prime Trust has provided microcredit to a number of self-help groups (SHGs) through its own program, its partner organization Akshaya, and through several internationally-based sponsors. Since the founding of Prime Trust in 2002, these various programs have provided loans and vocational training to more than 1,000 women in Puducherry and the surrounding districts of Villupuram and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Through an emphasis on transparency and a user-friendly application process, Prime Trust's microcredit program sought to balance efficient use of funds with the unique needs of India's rural poor.
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Prime Trust’s Self-Help Groups
Prime Trust has facilitated the formation of SHGs throughout Pondicherry and the neighboring districts of Villupurum and Cuddalore. These groups are located in both urban and rural areas that are out of reach for many other organizations. Most of the women are from the poorest Dalit communities—sometimes referred to as the ‘untouchables’. Due to lingering prejudices from the old Indian caste system, these communities are considered to be at the bottom of Indian society and often experience unfair treatment and discrimination. Acquiring a loan or any financial support to start a business from a normal bank is not a possibility for these women. |
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Prime Trust acted as an intermediary between the banks and women, helping the women open savings accounts and encourage the bank to agree on a low interest loan. The intention of these micro-finance loans is to encourage entrepreneurial spirit within the groups, so that their members can collectively establish their own small businesses and work towards financial independence. When these businesses start to turn a profit and a group successfully pays off its first loan, the bank offers a larger sum so that the group may continue to grow.
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AKSHAYA: Our Federation of Self-Help Groups
In 2011 Prime Trust formed Akshaya, a SHG Federation dedicated to enabling skills-based entrepreneurship through microcredit. Akshaya helped women to financially underwrite their small business by providing a short-term loan for a period of 10 months. Akshaya had its own board with a Chairman and Directors from selected from Self-Help Groups and facilitated by Prime Trust. This federation makes application processes easy to follow, and prided itself in transparency, providing the necessary support throughout the process to ensure thorough understanding of the loan agreement and repayment through financial literacy and vocational training programs. Two highly trained field officers were employed by Prime Trust to travel to the various supported communities and provide assistance to ensure loans are being utilized efficiently and effectively. |
