SEWA in Katihar

• 47 women have been given meaningful employment
• In 2013, the number of houses covered increased to 4,000

• Door-to-door service provision by Saundarya Saathis (waste pickers): Primary waste collection from households, drain cleaning and sweeping
• Waste segregation: wet and dry waste are separated and recyclables are collected for extra income
• Secondary collection by men: using tricycles and tractors, men collect segregated waste
• Proper waste disposal: segregated waste is delivered to designated landfill sites provided by the KMC

• PROVIDES DIGNIFIED EMPLOYMENT: Poor and vulnerable Waste Collectors gain means of employment through this initiative, a reliable, steady income and a dignified job.
• PROMOTES CLEAN AND HEALTHY CITY LIVING: Our model promotes awareness of the health benefits of proper waste management, and encourages city residents to join us in keeping the city clean and healthy.
• EFFICIENT WASTE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION: By avoiding waste accumulation, SEWA helps prevent further pollution or decaying of the environment.
• REDUCES POVERTY AND INEQUALITY: By providing a source of financial stability, our model helps improve the existing quality of life and aims to link members and their children to other services like that of micro-finance, vocational training, health and safety training. Targeting the persistent discrimination, SEWA actively employs Dalits in order to help them emerge from their imposed social status.
• CHANGING ATTITUDES AND CONTRIBUTING TO BETTER CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY: events are held to keep local residents abreast of the environmental concerns and its remedies.

Bamboo Artisans

Katihar is home to migrants from neighboring West Bengal who have specialized in bamboo weaving. SEWA Katihar has strengthened economic linkages for home-based bamboo weavers by connecting them to SEWA’s cooperative in Delhi, Ruaab. Ruaab markets and sells these products under a private label, Loom Mool to buyers across India and across the globe. Additionally, SEWA has provided loan and financing programs for artisans to help expand and grow their businesses.

Micro-finance: Self Help Groups and Bihar’s State-level Cooperative

Women in the informal sector are economically vulnerable because they lack safe, reliable, and non-exploitative sources of financing. SEWA first organizes women into self-help groups (SHGs) that help low-income women pool their resources. SEWA women members also start up, manage, and operate their own cooperatives for greater access to financial services. As banks often deny services to low-income and illiterate women, SEWA fills the gap by building women’s fiscal capacities through financial literacy trainings, exposure visits, and workshops. SEWA Katihar offers SHG models and a financial cooperative to help strengthen and open women’s access to finance.

SEWA SHGs consist of 10-20 women who financially support one another through monthly meetings, savings, internal loan disbursement and repayment. Through SHGs, women gain access to capital, which reduces their dependency on exploitative moneylenders; gain an understanding of the importance of savings, through financial literacy training; and build a collaborative approach to investment in the community.

• SEWA Katihar’s micro-finance program has 6 SHGs with 64 women members
• In 2015, SEWA Katihar SHGs had savings of Rs 247,950
• SHGs gave 170 loans worth Rs. 1,54,100, supporting women to finance business, education, and healthcare

• 1,549 women have  accounts in the cooperative
• Cumulative savings worth Rs. 48,22,175 (2016)

• 1679 people attended 48 health awareness sessions in Katihar
• 5 women’s hygiene care camps facilitated free first-time pap smear tests for 137 women
• 1029 referrals brought informal women workers directly to healthcare

• In 2016, 4589 women received linkages to public schemes
• 900 patients were directly connected to government hospitals
• 1,494 women attended 45 awareness sessions on menstrual hygiene