These tribal women bank on Didis, manage mines

First they replaced the money lenders. Now it is the turn of mining contractors. Tribal women in Durg and Rajnandgaon districts of Chhattisg...

First they replaced the money lenders. Now it is the turn of mining contractors. Tribal women in Durg and Rajnandgaon districts of Chhattisgarh, most of them literate or semi-literate, are clawing their way out of poverty by running own banks and now managing own mines.

If marriage of a daughter is fixed and you run out of cash, or if you just want to a buy a bicycle, the ‘‘Bankwali Bai’’ is always there. She is the head woman of an aptly named Didi Bank, with 60,000 women from Durg district as members.

The banks are open 24 hours a day, credit is extended for all household needs, money is lent to even non-members, profits are shared, and no one reneges on payment of loans.

Story continues below this ad

The woman handling the affairs of Ansuya Bai Didi Bank is a 34-year-old neo-literate from Junwanivillage in Gunderdehi block, Devki Bai. The bank was set up in 1998 by 11 women pooling in Rs 10 each. Now it has deposits exceeding Rs 20,000, while an almost equal amount is advanced to members at 2 per cent interest. The same village has two other Didi banks, and the total deposits in the three exceed over Rs 1 lakh.

In some villages, every woman is a member of the Didi Bank. In Durg alone, there are nearly 3,440 Didi Banks, holding deposits of Rs 2.60 crore.

The women have moved on to occupations traditionally considered a male domain — like mineral exploration and running of factories. As many as 50 mines in the district are being operated by women groups.

‘‘The most significant feature of the Didi Bank,’’ says Durg District Collector I.P.C. Kesari, ‘‘is there are no defaulters. Hundred per cent recovery.’’ The other significant feature is its success in ridding the villagers of moneylenders.