Livelihoods
Smile: glimpses of sunshine
Women's empowerment group focuses on economic independence
     by Azad Essa

''I was previously just a housewife, but now I earn Rs1000 - 1500 (R200 - R300) per month, which adds to my family income and boosts my confidence. It has definitely brought a change to my life.''

Like Ms Suman Bhandare, thousands of women in the city of Pune, 300km away from Mumbai, India, have a reason to smile. The Savitri Marketing Institution for Ladies Empowerment (SMILE) is an organization that strives to empower disadvantaged women by creating spaces for economic opportunity and skills development.

In effect, SMILE aims to train and enhance the skills of these women, and subsequently markets their products in Pune. The brainchild of Ms Vandana Chavan, the then Mayor of Pune, SMILE was the off shoot of a successful literacy drive in 1997 through which fifty two thousand illiterate people across Pune were taught to read and write. In addition, they were taught the basic tenets of hygiene and immunization as well as basic budgeting and saving.

According to Mrs Kulkarni, an employee of SMILE, it was during the literacy drive that the women themselves illustrated a keenness to push the empowerment programme to beyond mere literacy programmes.

''They suggested that (they) were skilled in certain fields like beauty products, stitching and painting, but they were not getting a market''

This prompted the PMC to adopt the empowerment programme as an official local project, and SMILE was born as a joint project between the Sfurti  Mandal and the PMC's Urban Community Development Department.

Social Responsibillity and Quality Control

Since opening its doors at Lokmanyanagar and later at Vishrambaugwada, the neatly arranged shops have stocked bright red, oranges and green handcrafted garments, ornaments, bags, wallets, toys, lanterns, ayurvedic health products, even a variety of long lasting pickles. Strictly accepting only recyclable and eco-friendly products, SMILE addresses a host of socio-economic challenges facing women without losing sight of broader environmental struggles.

The attractive colours, design and good quality material showcased in the shops, is no coincidence. ''Every Wednesday committee members and suppliers meet and products are selected for sale. At this meeting, suppliers are guided and given new ideas for their products''.  Such has been the response to SMILE, ''We are getting bulk orders from Yasada and Crossword Stores'', Mrs Kulkarni added.

Originally, only products received from women below the poverty line (BPL) category were accepted. However, it became clear that the women often needed guidance, direction and in some cases, full scale training and access to equipment to produce goods that would secure a sizeable consumer base. This meant that middle class women or more privileged women were allowed to partake in SMILE, if their activities were empowering through skills transfer, guidance or through the provision of capital.

It is interesting that women from lower socio-economic strata of society have other duties and jobs. As explained by Ms Chavan,'' Middle Class women at a certain stage find themselves stuck in the house. As a result, many get involved in some sort of social work, like SMILE, and money is not their priority''.

Individuals and self-help groups form the bulk of the contributors. Another significant example of contributors occurs in the form of clusters. These are made up of disadvantaged women who are trained and employed to create specialised products. And coordinated by a cluster-head or a woman from more privileged background.  Until 2007, SMILE would keep 10% of the selling price for those underprivileged individuals or self-helf groups and 15% from clusters. But with SMILE's increasing success and independence, SMILE now bears its own administrative and honorarium costs for volunteers, while the PMC still covers the rent and electricity expenses. To account for the new costs, SMILE has increased its handling fee to 15% for the self-help groups and to 20% for clusters respectively.

''Of course the ladies can be the beneficiaries who come from a poor background, but we don't want to (only) fit into this social commitment slot. We have to become commercial'', explained Ms Chavan.

Entrepreneurship and Economic Independence

For the thousands of women involved in SMILE network, the opportunities for self development, entrepreneurship and independence have been granted an incessant boost.  A crucial example is that of Ms Mehrul Khan, who was able to fund her daughter's university education through SMILE. 

Not only has SMILE encompassed unemployed housewives earning to assist with household expenses, the venture has enabled those with existing skills to become trainers and facilitators, adding a further dimension to the esteem and empowerment of women in the area. ''I used to make chaklies (fried crisps) and ladoo (sweets)'', says Ms Sheema Bhagada, ''and used to give them to SMILE to taste. After my products were accepted and sold completely, I started training women in self-help groups, and now we have big brands like Big Bazaar ordering from me''.

But SMILE has not only managed to assist disadvantaged women.  Mrs. Sujata Powar, from a once-well to do family was able to rescue her family from a financial crisis through her large variety uniforms, hand stitched bags and wallets. Today, Sujhata employs four women from the neighbourhood to deal with the demand.

In her own words, ''SMILE has helped me to a great extent. I personally cant open a shop because its warm and Smile provided me the marker.

While SMILE has been able to secure a lucrative market, attracting tourists and particularly ''Middle Class socially conscious'' Indian women, prices have been deliberately maintained far below market cost. Surely higher prices would result in larger economic benefits for the women? The contradiction is all too obvious, though Ms Chavan argues that SMILE has to firstly secure a loyal consumer base, and secondly, by maintaining an extremely competitive price, the organization would be able to attract lower end consumers. This is an attempt to expand socially conscious consumerism beyond the precincts of an 'elite time pass'.

SMILE might bask in its rapid progress, but the organization would be first to admit that there are far too many issues needing to be addressed. Indeed, one of these issues includes tracking how earnings are utilized by the women. At present SMILE might have a flurry of success stories to point at, but the organization acknowledges that not being able to track earnings is problematic.

Nonetheless, SMILE has managed to elicit Nation wide attention for effectively making a difference through democratic and transparent processes. Seen as a model of urban development, the Maharastra State Government has ordered that every town or city in the State has an organization around the values of SMILE.

Ms Chavan elaborates, ''At a poverty alleviation workshop with Members of Parliament (MPs) in Jaipur, India, SMILE was lauded as one of the best practises of empowerment and poverty alleviation, eliciting further interest in SMILE's objection and principles as a model to be adopted in larger India''.

Azad Essa is a researcher at the IOLS-Research Unit, UKZN. Azad was a visiting researcher at JNU, New Delhi in January 2008.

Want to comment on this article? Join the discussion