To promote economic and social betterment of its members people through thrift, self-help and mutual aid in accordance with the principles of cooperation as enunciated in Section 3 of the ACT.

Mahila Margadarshi promoting a Taruni Mutual Aided Cooperative Society Ltd with urban slum dwellers for their enlistment, the society starts with 65 women from marginalized families members and permanent residents in srikakulam municipality

The society initiated in the month of April 2005 and registered under MACS Act at Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Srikakulam on 17 th June 2005

Every member has involved with a share capital and a regular monthly thrift amount Rs. 30/- to 50/-

It is capacitating the women members through providing skill development trainings for income generation, number of members involved in the trainings in tailoring, embroidery, Tie and Dye and jute bags making etc and set up their own income generating activity with small loans taking from the Taruni MACS

• Encourage and afford all facilities for cultivating the habit of savings and thrift among its members.
• Formulate and implement relief, benevolent, mutual aid and welfare schemes for the economic and social betterment of the members/people.
• Offering financial and development counseling and implement necessary credit, non-credit and development projects / programmes for the overall welfare and development of the members and people.
• Liaise with related agencies such as Government, regulatory authorities, financial institutions, banks, local, national and international development agencies, federal cooperatives, local bodies, corporate bodies, charitable institutions etc for obtaining any benefit or for promoting the interests of the members and the Cooperative Society, subject to the provisions of the related laws.
• Lobby for more supportive legislation and Government policy and public support for augmenting the interest of the cooperative movement.
• Promote the concept of thrift and credit as an integral component of community development programme and assist in promotion of viable, sustainable thrift and credit societies for interested and needy people and wherever possible.
• Prepare websites and / or publish and distribute educational, training, management and development material like books, leaflets, pamphlets, paper ads and other reading material.
• Prepare projects for overall development of the people especially for women development and approach to local, national and international organization for getting funds / grants to do the development activities.
• Enter into arrangements with any Government, State, Municipal, Panchayat, local or any other authority and/or with any local, national and international development agencies and to obtain any benefit for the members of the society/for the people.
• Subscribe or contribute or otherwise to assist or to guarantee money to charitable, educational, health, benevolent, scientific, cultural and public utility institutions or such objects and purposes having relation to the development and welfare of members and the society.
• Collaborate with cooperative, financial and development organizations in financial and technical terms and promote subsidiary or new organizations.
• Raise money from the members, people and donors through fees, subscriptions, donations, contributions, subsidies, grants, share capital, thrift and other types of deposits etc,
• Organize or otherwise arrange for pension, insurance and health services to the members and provide development and other services to the people.
• Hold necessary infrastructure and programmes to provide all required services for providing or enhancement of livelihood, employment, productivity, income and for improving the quality of life especially in health, shelter, education of members.
• Make arrangements for capacity building training for members and people to identifying and salvation of local problems and given support to skill development and income generating trainings.
• Receive grants, donations, deposits, borrowings and other contributions from the Government / Government agencies, banks, other financial institutions, cooperatives, corporate bodies, development agencies and individuals for general, as well as specific purposes.
• Undertake any other activity which is incidental and essential for attainment of its aim.

It is enhancing the capacity building of 732 urban SHG and its leaders and also prepared Community Resource Persons, Book Keepers for strengthening the SHGs in Srikakulam.

Mahila Margadarshi has taken up activities since year 2004 on Environment Protection with the support of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Meetings, seminars, workshops, trainings, rallies, small group discussions were taken up during the programme.

Target Area

Mahila Margadarshi provided support to the fire accident victims in urban and rural areas through providing immediate relief what they actually need at that time.

The support is providing dress materials, food, utensils, study material to children organizing health camps, first aid etc on spot.

Under disaster mitigation, Mahila Margadarshi has undergone training through Government of India for a week days course on disaster management, valuable course from high profiled delegates was given more knowledge on disaster mitigation.

The Hunger Project and Mahila Margadarshi collaboratively working on capacity building of Elected Women Representatives in Panchayat raj in Sarubujjili, LN Peta, Srikakulam and Etcherla mandals in Srikakulam district.

Mahila Margadarshi organized Block Level Workshops in all four mandals before organizing Women's Leadership Workshops. The Block Level Workshops were focused on the concept of WLWs with involving all stake holders. An action plan was taken up during BLW from the EWRs for attending WLWs which were preplanned by the organization.

Each Woman's Leadership Workshop has organized with 25 to 35 woman participants focused on enhancing the leadership of woman at panchayat level, the module compiled with Social Citizenship and Political Citizenship of woman, 73 rd amendment in Panchayat raj Act, Gramasabha and its importance, Vision for a EWR and Planning for its implementation. The entire three days session was organizing in participatory method for easily understand and easily responding by the EWRs

The Block Level Workshops was organized at meetings halls of Mandal Parishad Offices at Sarubujjili, LN Peta, Etcherla and Srikakulam mandals.

The overall concept of the Block Level Workshops were focused the concept of the Capacity Building of EWRs. The BLWs were informed to all Sarpanches, woman ward members, woman MPTCs, ZPTC, Madal Parishad President (MPP), Mandal Parishad Development Officer, Mandal Revenue Officer and District Panchayat Officer, invite all of them to BLWs.

The BLW organized in one day, morning session focusing on the concept, need of woman's leadership and collecting the opinions of the other male representatives. The session is leaded by the MDO, MPP, Sarpanches and ward members and simultaneously taken up the opinions of EWRs and the evening session exclusively for preparation of action plan for find out the feasibility for attend the women's leadership workshops by the EWRs.

Woman's Leadership Workshops focused on:

• Social citizenship
• Political citizenship
• 73 rd constitutional amendment
• Vision and Planning

• EWRs come out with effective leadership from “I cannot” to “I can” and willing to participate in all meetings and grama sabhas in their area.
• All EWRs hike their confidence and personal growth levels towards their leadership and become sense of self-respect, dignity and have a confidence she become a good leader
• Understand the gender constraints, why women always looking as secondary citizen and their involvement towards mainstreaming gender. Setting aside societal inequities and stepping out as equal citizens
• Sense of solidarity amongst themselves towards deal the issues at panchayat level and district level
• Understand about the 73 rd constitutional amendment, and its provisions and how it was misused.
• Understand their roles and responsibilities and their right to ask the non-working government departments at village level.
• EWRs open up during the gender session, sharing the violence situations held in the family and society.
• Discussions about discrimination during the Panchayat meetings
• Caste discrimination
• Discrimination because of having all girl children.
• Discrimination because of poverty etc.
• Identification of women issues at village level and how discussion raised on gender issues during Panchayat meet
• Contesting information if their ward is unreserved for women.
• All are willing to develop a support structure at district level for their issues

Mahila Margadarshi has tie-up with Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty through its Mandal level agencies i.e. Mandal Mahila Samakhyas Ranasthalam, Etcherla and Mandasa on Implementation of Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture programme in 13 clusters of each five villages in the cluster in Ranasthalam, Etcherla, Mandasa mandals in Srikakulam district along with 6988 farmers in 23,621 Acres . The programme was implemented in 5 villages in Ranasthalam, 5 villages in Etcherla and 55 villages in Mandasa Mandals and working with 42 Village Organizations.