Scaling Empowerment: Can Tripura’s Women Become Crorepati Didis?
Agartala Dec 27: Women from Tripura have done it. Over one lakh women belonging to various SHGs from different corners of the state have escaped the poverty trap through the Government’s Lakhpati Didi Scheme. This has encouraged the Government to aspire for Crorepati Didis program in Tripura.
Quoting Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission (TRLM) CEO Tarit Kanti Chakma, PTI reported that to embark on Crorepati Didi journey, the vision is to target 250 SHG women with an annual turnover of at least Rs 5 lakh and scale up their enterprises to an annual turnover of 1 crore. The question is how will this be possible? As they say “Vision without execution is hallucination”.
Of course there are many examples from India where the ‘impossible’ was made possible and cooperatives achieved huge financial success through innovation, management and leadership. Some like Amul in Gujarat and SEWA are producer cooperatives, while some like Kudumbashree are state led poverty alleviation programs.
Recent data from Kudumbashree for instance shows that the annual cumulative turnover for the enterprises under this scheme was Rs. 1,816 crores. Even though no single enterprise could reach turnover of 1 crore, even this is no mean feat and shows the possibility in the future. Having said that, the target for Tripura is no doubt ambitious but not beyond reach.
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The main lessons learnt from the entrepreneurial success stories in India is that apart from capacity building in the form of financial literacy, training and skilling, stronger linkages with local industries and market access are crucial inputs for scaling up. Women enterprises in Tripura are involved in agro-processing, bamboo and handloom. They need deeper links with local industries in these sectors.
While the local suppliers gain flexibility and reliability, the women entrepreneurs develop standardization and assured buyers. Here, the issues of branding and innovative marketing strategies gain particular importance. ‘Amul Girl’ is what achieved a status that was impossible for just any other milk producers’ cooperative.
Apart from creating a devoted local clientele it is a must for greater market access through digital platforms and e-commerce that will assist maximum growth of these ventures.
The good news is the blueprint for scaling already exists. TRLM has identified two types of production clusters- artisan clusters (handlooms and handicrafts) and sectoral clusters (food, service, tourism). That will help in better implementation through focussed interventions. The primary gains through clustering would be reduction in costs trough shared inputs, infrastructure and training and price stability through bargaining power.
Clustering would be especially beneficial for example, in the case of food clusters or tourism clusters, where there is regular demand throughout the year. It would allow for skill certification (standardization), linkages with institutions and government procurement and scalability beyond local markets.
Needless to say, continued infrastructure investment for connectivity remains a non-negotiable basis for these activities that would help with the otherwise high logistic costs. Focus on high value low volume commodities harnessing local resources such as bamboo and rubber gain prominence in this regard. Along with clustering to reduce costs- it provides the most efficient women entrepreneurs a chance to break the one crore ceiling. Indeed, all eyes would be on Tripura as a test case. If the program succeeds it would prove that empowerment can reach geographically isolated areas with the right mix of cooperation, strategy and leadership.
#Anindita Sinha teaches Economics at Tripura Government Law College and can be reached at asin.economics@gmail.com