Bhubaneswar: Not so long ago, Nilima Sahu from Hirakud of Sambalpur district was struggling to meet daily needs. But one day, life changed for her and families like theirs. Hindalco, Hirakud, a unit of Aditya Birla Group, started the “Project Swabalambi” for empowering the women of Sambalpur by forming self-help groups (SHGs) for the socio-economic upliftment of the women living in its plant periphery. Kailash Pandey, Head of Hindalco’s Hirakud Cluster said, “We are concerned about the welfare of women from this region and by promoting the SHGs we want to instill among them a sense of entrepreneurship and independence so that they can live with dignity and self-esteem. Our engagement not only promotes SHGs but also empowers women to become entrepreneurs by helping them to start independent business such as tailoring and phenyl manufacturing.
Members of these groups were imparted capacity building training to understand the intricacies of SHG management. They were linked with banks, and financial assistance was arranged for them to engage in various income-generating activities. These activities resulted in remarkable changes in the economic condition of the members.” “The project which started with just 25 SHGs has now roped in 64 SHGs with 765 members under its umbrella, and Rs 83.25 lakh savings in their bank accounts. These SHGs also availed loan amounting to Rs 95.75 lakh from nationalised banks to undertake income generation activities,” added Pandey