Identification of Successful Projects for Improving the Employment Conditions of Rural Women

Khan, N.S., Shaheed, F., Mitha, Y. and Rehman, S.

Chapters: 1. Introduction, 2. The Shah Kot Training and Income-Generating Project for Women, 3. The Sungli Income-Generation Project for Women, 4. The Question of Replicability and Recommendations.

This is a study of two income-generation projects for women in line with the objective of the ILO/DANIDA project, which is to identify and study projects that have been successful in improving the conditions of poor rural women. Both the projects selected are in Jhang District (Punjab Province). The first is a skill-development-cum-income generation project, which is located in the village of Shah Kot and started functioning in 1966. It involves the promotion of female employment in the traditional areas of embroidery and sewing, as well as the encouragement of handloom cotton cloth. The second project was started in 1975 in the village of Sungli, and involves the encouragement of date-leaf basketry and the marketing of these products in urban centers. A study of these projects was undertaken because it was assumed that since both these villages were under the influence of the same landed families, and the same woman initiated both the projects, therefore they were interconnected to some extent, and were considered to be equally successful. However, the study negated this hypothesis. The report highlights the factors contributing to the success of one project and raises the crucial issue of relating projects to the specificity of the socio-economic milieu, leading to the failure of the other project. This in turn helps focus attention on the in-built contradictions in development processes, which often succeed in one area, only at the cost of marginalizing others. The case studies also confirm the fact that 'the poorest of the poor' or the most isolated villages are also the least likely to be able to sustain developmental projects. But to direct projects only to the more receptive villages and/or people only results in greater differentiation and marginalization of these areas and people most in need of assistance.

Key words: Rural women, Employment, Economic activity, and Income-generation.