BIS #2275 INCOME GENERATION STUDY DISSEMINATION

Mayuri Rajbhonsi
MATUNGA, FEBRUARY 10, 2011: The Don Bosco Research Centre, Matunga has been negotiating with various stake holders in the development field to help the rural and urban poor receive as much capital benefits as possible. There have been several meetings with various NGOs and workshops to help them understand the concept of Social and Financial Inclusion (SnF).

One of the important meetings on January 16, at the RnD was with the heads of the CSA (Mumbai Archdiocese), Caritas (West Zone), Finance Managers (Kotak Mahindra) and Habitat International (ex-Director) to make a presentation of the RnD teams' study of income generation (IGP) patterns and marketing strategies in nineteen NGOs of Western India.

It was found that eighty five per cent of those engaged in such activity were women. These IGPs were started to help women for their empowerment and savings. Local raw materials were largely used for products manufacturing, but nearly all NGOs had challenges with marketing their products, and competition from outside products. Many lacked quality and up scaling the product. Profits were not large due to the localized retailing of the product.
There were suggestions that if the IGP needsot for Profit Company. The Finance Managers present decided to take up the responsibility of working on this marketing arm with research to be taken forward, it needs the backing of the mother body (the Church based NGO) and a co-ordination Section 25c nsupport from the RnD.
The case studies indicated that those NGOs with a long history of IGP, who had their women involved, began sending their children to school. Having this income and food, the parents sent the children to school and not on the streets. This generation that studied went in for well placed, skilled or white collar jobs. Thus making an upward mobility in the economic strata of society. This movement is one to stay for their coming generations. Hence, IGP is one of the methods of keeping children off the streets, in education and to move out of the poverty cycle.
At a meeting for the Caritas West Zone - Midas programme an opportunity to make a presentation on the follow up of this study was made at a meeting on January 28 at Sarvodaya, St. Pius Seminary, Goregaon, to representatives from twelve Dioceses in charge of social work, CCOs and NGOs of their diocese. Most of the priests/religious were animated in following up a strategized method of marketing of their SHGs products. Two social work directors of the Western India Diocese have decided to begin the process of doing a pilot experimental programme in this aspect with the RnD animating and facilitating the process.