Place: Manadipalai
District: Cuddalore
State: Tamil Nadu
Intervention:
With the tropical climate enabling its growth, the women of the Manadipalai village in the Cuddalore district have been cracking the shells of the cashew to remove the nuts and send them for processing. Following a series of procedures before de-husking the shells, the women sit together and open the shells of the nuts with lubricants from the shell painting their hands black and leaving them with a burning sensation. All this does not stop the women of Sri Shakthi SHG from performing this activity as some of them are solely dependent on this for their livelihood while for some it is a contribution to their family’s cumulative income. As they are not the producers of the crop they need to buy the raw material to add value by de-husking and sell it to companies that polish the cashew before selling it to the customers.
Uniqueness:
The members of the Sri Shakthi group approached NABFINS through MNTN NGO who has partnered with us with different requirements of the members of the group. Some of them wanted to lease a cashew plantation area while some wanted to buy machines to de-husk.
It was not their immediate decision to take a loan from NABFINS but it has come as a last resort after approaching various financial institutions present in the nearby town. NABFINS district team has proactively graded and disbursed loans to the SHG and the SHG not only appreciates the timely credit but also the low-interest rates of the loan.
The members have availed Rs.3.5 lakh loan from NABFINS and have been our dear clients with timely repayments.
How it benefited:
While some have purchased machines to de-husk, the others are using the traditional method and expressed their wish to buy machines with the next loan that they would approach NABFINS.