₹6 crore mobilised for SHG members
Nearly ₹6 crore in financial assistance reached SHG members — landless labourers used it for petty trades, livestock development and small-scale cottage industries, drastically improving their quality of life.
Mahalir Thittam project
The Tamil Nadu Women's Development Project of the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Women Development — delivered by Coodu Trust as the approved NGO across four blocks of Karur District, with SHG work reaching 11 districts of Tamil Nadu.
1,345
Self-Help Groups formed
11
Districts of Tamil Nadu covered
201
Women trained in enterprise skills
67
SHGs bank-linked for cow rearing
The project
What this project set out to do
Project mission
Promoting economic development and social empowerment of poor and disadvantaged women through a network of Self-Help Groups, providing micro-credit for income generation and asset creation, facilitating bank linkage for livestock rearing, and building functional literacy, communication, and leadership skills — enabling women to participate fully and actively in decision-making at the household and community level.
The Tamil Nadu Women's Development Project — known as Mahalir Thittam — is implemented by the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Women Development (TNCWD). Coodu Trust was selected as the approved NGO for Karur District, working across four blocks — Kadavur, Thogamalai, Aravakurichi and Paramathi — from 26.01.2006 onwards. Under the wider programme, the Trust formed 1,345 men and women SHGs across 11 districts of Tamil Nadu.
Each group evolved through group formation, capital formation through revolving funds, and skill development. Nearly ₹6 crore in total financial assistance was facilitated to SHG members through SGSY, IWDP, Mahalir Thittam, NABARD, TAHDCO and nationalised banks — including ₹1.33 crore in bank loans to 67 SHGs of Karur District specifically for rearing cows.
Training turned credit into enterprise: 50 SHGs of Kadavur and Thogamalai blocks received financial inclusion training, and 201 women were trained in entrepreneurship skills during 2009–2010 — dairy development, tailoring, nursery management, vermicomposting and mushroom production. The financial linkages also seeded 120 commercial sheep farms in Kadavur Block, 10 goat farms with UVTRC Karur technical support, and 4 backyard poultry units at Mettupatty village.
- SHG formation
- Micro-credit & bank linkage
- Entrepreneurship training
- Livestock livelihoods
Why this work matters
The challenge on the ground — and our answer
The challenge
Women shut out of formal credit
Poor and disadvantaged women had little access to financial resources outside the household — and little say over how income was retained, saved or used.
Our response
Savings, lending & ₹6 crore in linkages
SHGs began with savings and internal lending, then nearly ₹6 crore was facilitated through SGSY, IWDP, Mahalir Thittam, NABARD, TAHDCO and nationalised banks — including a ₹1.33 crore cow-rearing loan for 67 SHGs.
The challenge
Landless labourers struggling for a livelihood
Without skills or productive assets, poor landless labourers in the four blocks struggled to move beyond daily-wage survival.
Our response
Skills plus productive assets
201 women trained in entrepreneurship skills; 120 sheep farms, 10 goat farms and 4 poultry units established — funds were wisely used for petty trades, livestock and small-scale cottage industries.
At a glance
The essentials
- Scheme
- Mahalir ThittamTamil Nadu Women's Development Project — Tamil Nadu Corporation for Women Development (TNCWD)
- Period
- 2006–2018Started 26.01.2006 — a long-term programme spanning 12+ years
- Coverage
- 4 blocks of Karur DistrictKadavur, Thogamalai, Aravakurichi & Paramathi; SHG formation reached 11 districts
- Beneficiaries
- 1,345 SHGsPoor and disadvantaged women, women SHG members & rural communities
- Partners & linkages
- TNCWD, banks & UVTRCSGSY, IWDP, NABARD, TAHDCO, RMK & nationalised banks; reporting to the Project Officer, Mahalir Thittam, Karur
- Project value
- ₹39,60,000With a total staff deployment of 180 staff-months
Outcomes
What the project changed
Micro-credit turned into productive assets
67 SHGs obtained ₹1.33 crore for cow rearing, and 120 sheep farms, 10 goat farms and 4 poultry units took root in the Kadavur region — sheep farming became a significant livelihood source.
Women's collectives running enterprises
Trained SHGs ran community herbal nurseries, community nurseries, vermicomposting and mushroom production centres — the start of an 18-year trajectory that deepened into FPC-based dairy enterprise in the Kadavur–Karur region.
Get involved
Support women-led livelihoods
Help us keep building Self-Help Groups, micro-credit linkages and women-run enterprises that lift whole villages across Tamil Nadu.