Impact of Sujala watershed project on income generating activities of self help groups

The study was conducted during 2008–09 to know the impact of Sujala watershed project with respect to income generating activities (IGAs) of self help groups (SHGs) of Dhrawad taluka, Karnataka. The prime function of self help groups in Sujala watershed project is to improve their economic position. Under the project, four villages were purposively selected based on the maximum number of vulnerable SHG members who had participated in training programmes on some of the important IGAs such as tailoring, agarbatti, detergent powder or candle making. It was observed that after participating in training programmes there was an increase of 18.6 per cent in tailoring skills followed by 23.92 per cent in agarabatti making, 37.6 per cent in soap detergent powder making and 48.32 per cent in candle making skills. The main constraint observed was lack of marketing of products prepared by the members.