The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Lack of marketing skills hampers women SHGs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 24, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Lack of marketing skills hampers women SHGs

K. Lakshmi

NGO confederation provides useful interventions

TO PROMOTE MARKETING: L.V. Saptharishi, co-chairman of the confederation of NGOs of Rural India (left), interacts with members of a self-help group at the expo held at Thakkar Baba Vidyalaya, T.Nagar, on Sunday. — Photo: K.V.Srinivasan

CHENNAI: There are numerous women self-help groups springing up in the State of late, aspiring to become self-reliant. But, the lack of marketing skills serves as a major hitch in their plans.

The Confederation of NGOs of Rural India, Tamil Nadu chapter, provides interventions aimed at identifying a global market for products of the SHGs with the help of Export Import Bank (Exim Bank).

On Sunday, about 30 SHGs from Southern states displayed their products at Thakkar Baba Vidyalaya, T.Nagar, in anticipation of better market. The programme served as a prelude to the interactive meeting scheduled for Monday between SHGs, corporates and the bank about the prospects of the global market and the quality of the products.

S. Dhanalakshmi and V.Bhagyam of Ayanavaram who design and produce about 20 varieties of jute bags were yet to learn the basics of marketing skills. "We do not know much about marketing and we make products against orders routed through friends for the past nine months," said S. Dhanalakshmi.

Similar was the case with almost all other SHGs which displayed an array of products such as embroidered sarees, silver-coated jewellery, flower vases in ice cream sticks to bead work articles, paintings, bags and home-made products. J. Robinson, a resident of Anna Nagar, makes iconographies on prints and paintings on orders. Though he has been in business for four years, the novel venture was little known among the public, said Mr. Robinson. Robinson was one among the participants eager to obtain recognition of their individualistic products.

However, a few SHGs have export experience and seek to develop better opportunities through the interactive meeting.

K. Bhanu, president of CNRI, Tamil Nadu chapter, said the organisation, which had about 300 NGOs as members in the State, played the role of an intermediary between the SHGs and the stakeholders for identifying markets and modifying products according to the global demand.

The meeting to be conducted on Monday with Exim bank and corporates would help in identifying the market for each product and training the SHGs to enhance products, he added.

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