Our work02 EmpowerKarnal district, Haryana · since 2000
When women build financial strength, communities change with them.
These are not microcredit groups. They are community infrastructure: 1,083 self-help groups that save, lend, keep records, act on water and health, and — through two federations of their own — negotiate with banks, panchayats and government departments.
How a group becomes an institution
- 01
Group
10-20 women; monthly meetings; 96% attendance.
- 02
Savings
₹84.95 crore held cumulatively by March 2026.
- 03
Credit
5,753 internal loans this year; bank linkage follows.
- 04
Capability
Record-keeping, health, governance and proposal-writing training.
- 05
Leadership
Two federations with elected executive committees.
- 06
Community action
Water, sanitation, disease surveillance, kitchen gardens, welfare access.
Self-help groups, 2010 – 2026 · Haryana Rural Development Report
- 15,486
- women · 108 villages
- ₹84.95 crore
- cumulative savings, March 2026
- 5,753
- loans processed this year
- 6,000
- women at International Women's Day, 2026
Leadership & governance
Two federations, run by the women who built them.
Jan Shakti Mahila Vikas Federation and Jan Shakti Mahila Unnati Federation represent all 1,083 groups. Their executive committees meet monthly; in December 2025, annual general body meetings in 103 villages were organised entirely by 15,326 SHG women. This year the federations trained in proposal-writing, worked on their own registration and compliance, and liaised with banks, panchayats and the education and social welfare departments.
Disability inclusion · since 2012
1,247 people who were hidden. 52 organisations of their own.
Arpana began by identifying persons with disabilities kept out of sight by stigma. Their organisations — across 49 villages — save and lend like the women's groups, and a trained cadre of volunteers, the Viklang Vikas Sahayaks, helps members obtain disability certificates, Ayushman insurance and ration cards. This year, 11 members received battery-operated rickshaws for their livelihoods; 900 people, 600 of them with disabilities, marked World Disability Day at Budhakhera.
Story · Karnal district
Manju wanted more for her daughters.
“My children are not only educated — they are bringing pride to our entire village.”