Gopalganj, Bihar: Rambha and Aarti, from Dighwa village in the Vijaypur block of Gopalganj district in Bihar, have no money – not to buy a quality goat, nor to feed the one they have – nor, being impoverished and Dalit, do they own land on which a goat could graze.

But this election season, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been talking up women exactly like them, reminding them of the Rs 10,000 his government has, not long ago, promised to give those with an entrepreneurial bent of mind. If they avail of this benefit, they become “Jeevika Didis,” as women beneficiaries of the Chief Minister’s Women Employment Scheme are nicknamed.

Rambha and Aarti, however, are not impressed by the promise. “What can one do with Rs 10,000 – what income can it generate?” asks Rambha.

“We cannot even afford a neeman (quality) goat. We need a farm to graze goats, but we do not have that either,” adds Aarti.

Rising inflation eating into their meagre budgets has made earning a living a struggle for survival. “Nitish Kumar should not merely speak about livelihood. He must provide us with jobs – set up factories and create employment opportunities for women. He must also lower inflation.”

To be sure, Jeevika Didis have gained significant attention in the ongoing Bihar Assembly election campaigns, mostly because the Nitish Kumar government has been vigorously promoting the financial aid it claims to have given 1.40 crore Jeevika Didis. The chief minister mentions the scheme at every public meeting, drumming up the contribution of these women to Bihar’s economy — and that of the nation.

Recently, Kumar said, “After receiving this amount, numerous women have initiated their own businesses… if their businesses remain operational, they will be eligible for additional support of up to Rs 2 lakh.”

There’s so much talk about Jeevika that the ruling coalition of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others seems to believe it will pave their way to a renewed victory. Leaders from both parties insist that the Rs 10,000 transfers to Jeevika Didis have strengthened female voters’ fondness for the Modi–Nitish government.

At the same time, former deputy chief minister and opposition Grand Alliance chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav has proposed a “monthly support” of Rs 2,500 to Jeevika Didis, along with permanent employment and a stipend of Rs 32,000 for community mobilisers – who are vital to the operation of the scheme. Additionally, the Grand Alliance manifesto promises that loans taken out by Jeevika Didis will be waived and that they will receive interest-free loans for two subsequent years.

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The Bihar government launched the Women’s Employment Scheme on September 26 by depositing, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rs 10,000 into the accounts of 75 lakh Jeevika Didis. On October 3, 25 lakh more women were included, and on October 6, another 21 lakh women received financial assistance. So far, the government claims to have spent Rs 10,000 crore to assist 1.2 crore women and plans to extend the scheme to urban areas, for which self-help groups have been formed.

History of the project

The Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project, supported by the World Bank, was launched in 2007, originally in six districts. The self-help groups established under the project, now known as “Jeevika,” have grown rapidly in number. Bihar is known to have 1,144,421 self-help groups and up to 1.4 crore women – “Jeevika Didis” – affiliated with them.

The project aims to empower the rural poor socially and economically by encouraging women to engage in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, poultry farming, honey production and non-farm activities such as producing incense sticks, candles, Madhubani paintings and sewing. Beyond the self-help groups, Village Organisations and federations have also been established to act as clients of social service providers, business entities and the formal banking sector.

The central government launched the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana in 1999, later renamed the National Rural Livelihoods Mission by the Manmohan Singh administration in 2011. After 2014, the Modi government rebranded the initiative as the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana, offering financial support to establish self-help groups and promote livelihood opportunities through them.

According to the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, 11,07,481 self-help groups and 77,087 village organisations have been established under this initiative. Another 10,47,398 self-help groups maintain savings accounts in banks, while 9,86,946 have loan accounts.

Funds from government spent to repay loans

But for the Jeevika Didis in Dighwa, the Nitish Kumar government’s financial aid of Rs 10,000 doesn’t spark enthusiasm. Instead, they are strongly resentful of the "Modi-Nitish" government over rising unemployment and inflation. They see this financial support as a tactic to gain their votes – even as many women self-help group members are yet to receive the Rs 10,000.

Take the Jeevika Self-Help Group in Dighwa Gram Panchayat’s Bansuri. It comprises 11 women, of whom six received the Rs 10,000 aid. Aarti was one of the beneficiaries. She used the amount to settle Rs 10,000 of an outstanding loan of Rs 13,000; part of the principal and all of the interest remain unpaid.

Another woman, Chanwa Devi, says her two daughters-in-law have yet to receive the Rs 10,000. Inquiring about it daily has left them increasingly frustrated.

Sunakesha Devi says she spent her Rs 10,000 to buy bricks and cement to install a lintel for her home. She has also applied for a Rs 5,000 loan from the group two months ago, but since it hasn’t come through, she has been forced to seek loans from private microfinance companies at exorbitant interest rates.

Rambha Devi said she wished to purchase a neeman (good-quality) goat, but Rs 10,000 wasn’t enough. She mustered up an additional Rs 2,000 for a mediocre goat, but she neither has space for the animal nor land for it to graze. “How can I manage with just one goat?” she asked.

Shanti Devi wants to buy a buffalo calf but doesn’t have the means to raise Rs 20,000–30,000 for it.
The self-help group at Bansuri is one of the oldest Jeevika groups, formed even before the project was launched. It initially aimed to raise awareness on women’s health and nutrition, but the members were included in the Chief Minister’s Women Employment Project in 2007 and opened a bank account.

This district – Gopalganj – has 25,326 self-help groups supporting 2,93,923 families. All the women members of the Bansuri group are Dalits, while most of the men from these dozen-odd families have migrated to work in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Rajasthan. The elderly, children and women are left behind – and hardly own any land.

Sunakesha says, “Some families own one kattha of land, while others two. No one has more than four katthas.”

Debt trap

Landlessness, unemployment, escalating inflation and the rising cost of education and healthcare are ensnaring the rural poor in a cycle of debt. Even the women of the Bansuri self-help group have found it difficult to break free from this trap.

Chanwa Devi’s eldest son, Ashok and middle son, Manoj, are labourers working in Delhi. Ashok borrowed from microfinance institutions for medical treatment, while Manoj borrowed for his daughter’s wedding. Unable to repay the instalments, their wives left for Delhi with the children. The microfinance companies are now pressuring Chanwa Devi to pay off the loan. She said a microfinance company agent has threatened to seize their home. “I have hardly a thing to eat; where can I possibly find the money to repay the instalments?”

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Another group member said she has borrowed Rs 45,000 twice from a microfinance company for her daughter’s wedding and the monthly repayment is Rs 2,550 each time. She also borrowed from the group to purchase a buffalo. Another member said she had taken two loans from a microfinance company as well.
Community mobiliser Saroj Azad, who lives in the same village, said that agriculture and animal husbandry are the primary sources of employment, but because they do not own land, these occupations do not work for them.

As a result, most women are compelled to borrow from both the group and microfinance companies to meet their needs. They earn so little that they cannot repay the loans.

‘Our village is deprived of everything’

On both sides of the Dighwa settlement are houses of elite-caste people who possess agricultural land. Meanwhile, the Dalit settlement does not yet have a road. Water supply pipes have not reached their settlement due to the influence of the elite-caste people. The Dalit settlement is also excluded from housing schemes.
Aarti, Sushila, Draupadi, Rinku, Shanti and Kalavati, members of the self-help group, say none of them have been allotted a house. Sunakesha says her father-in-law was allotted a house when Indira Gandhi was prime minister. According to Saroj Azad, only two people have been allotted government housing. Aarti has applied twice for a toilet but is yet to receive any assistance.

The women also face a decline in agricultural work, as wheat and paddy are now harvested using combine harvesters. Rinku says that even when she occasionally finds work as a weaver, her income is only Rs 100.

Chanwa Devi, the eldest among the women, says sharply: “This village is deprived of everything, in every way.”
The women are also upset with their sitting legislator, Sunil Kumar. Originally from Mahuva, an adjacent village, his father Chandrika Ram and brother Anil Kumar were also public representatives. Sunil Kumar, earlier a police officer, entered politics after retiring as Director General of Police. This is his first stint as an elected representative and he is considered close to the chief minister. He was the prohibition minister earlier and is now the education minister.

Both Rinku Devi and Sunakesha say they regard Sunil Kumar as their “caste brother,” but he appears indifferent to their plight. “Had he visited us even for a glass of water, we would not have complained – but he seems focused on the high-ups.”

Shanti Devi adds, “When he comes seeking votes, he will inquire about the location of our homes, saying he doesn’t recognise us.”

Saroj Azad, who has been managing self-help groups for twenty years, says each member contributes Rs 10 a week, often depositing their savings and the bank offers them a “revolving fund” that they can use to lend and borrow for livelihood-related tasks.

Since Jeevika groups started receiving Rs 10,000 (from September, not long before the assembly elections), more women have shown interest in forming self-help groups — even some from better-off families, hoping to access the Rs 10,000 and other benefits the government offers. In Chaumukha village, there are already twenty such groups and another twenty were formed after the announcement.

The achievements of Jeevika groups have been widely extolled, but the situation of the Bansuri Jeevika group presents a stark contrast.

Translated from Hindi to English by Naushin Rehman.

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