Life Changing Loans for the Villagers
August 15, 2022
Since we started Transformational Community Development (TCD) work in Kharibari Village, our target was to help villagers be financially stable. We already have 10,000 rupees for the village Income Generation Committee, which can be used as loans for the villagers. Our purpose for this fund is to let the villagers take loans for income generation purposes and pay it back, in due time.
One issue is the village committee does not have any previous experience in handling community funds. There are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation. Previous efforts of having a community fund, or a committee fund through a government agency, failed miserably. Since we will move out from the village in a few months, I am thinking of handing over this money to them.
I realised that the villagers need theoretical and practical training in how to handle the committee fund. They need to learn how to keep proper records, and about lending, collecting loans, and giving reports. So, this month I had a meeting with the committee and explained to them about creating a committee fund and letting each participant take a turn leading, in a rotation. It is called CHHEET fund or Dhukuti Fund in local language. We already have 16 members who agreed to contribute 100 rupees every month. Through a lottery, we have made a list of recipients, and I am training two ladies as administration to regulate this fund. I will be the moderator to oversee all activity. This first scheme will run through September 2023, and then there will be another round. We have decided to meet on the 15th of every month to deposit the money.
I am hoping, through this year, they will learn how to handle being a committee, fund utilisation, and how to keep records of transactions, along with the honesty and sense of responsibility required to run such a fund.
Thank you!
Written by: Sanjay
GHNI TCD Worker
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