AmritaSREE SHGs receive $10 million in financial support this year

The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh visited Amritapuri to take part in the inauguration of this year’s distribution to self-help groups in 21 states.

Sri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Honorable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, arrived in Amritapuri last night. He joined Amma to inaugurate $10 million (₹850 million) of economic support for the 200,000 women who belong to AmritaSREE’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

“Amma is a symbol of love and compassion who is providing people with the basic means to live. I am blessed to meet you,” said CM Chouhan. "Similarly, let governments also be able to help the poor in this way with so much love and compassion. Amma’s gestures have touched me and I will also try to implement the same.”

Amma launched this year’s AmritaSREE package with a third installment of additional assistance that began in 2020 to support the SHG members and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes financial aid, grocery kits, and clothing.

The event saw the initiation of 1,000 new AmritaSREE SHGs in Kerala, and CM Chouhan and Amma distributed seed funding and kits to members. The women expressed their gratitude upon receiving this much-needed support.

Amma said: “The moon shines from the sun’s light, and likewise, I am able to do all this via my children who are helping to make this happen. I will try to do as much as I am able, but it is my wish to do even more.”

Amma also inaugurated a program to provide $1,200 (₹100,000) to families of fishermen whose lives are lost at sea. According to the World Bank, India’s most recent poverty headcount ratio is $2.15 per day.

As the only breadwinners, many fishermen's households are brought to the brink when such tragedies occur, common as they are. The new initiative creates a support channel as they bridge to alternative ways to earn a living.

As the first beneficiaries, members of 11 fishermen families from the Alappad Panchayat in Kerala were welcomed by Amma to the stage and she embraced each one as they received her support and consolation. Having grown up in a family of fishermen, she deeply understands their sorrow and embraced each one as they received her support and consolation.

“As we saw today through Amma, these sisters got her help and Amma also alleviated their pain with a hug,” added CM Chouhan. “We request you to please come to Madhya Pradesh and give us your love and compassion. The River Narmada gives us water, but we need your river of love and blessings there."

AmritaSREE (Self-Reliance Education & Empowerment) includes 13,000+ SHGs in India, with most of the members are from villages and other isolated rural areas. Amma’s firm resolve is that at least one member in each family engage in a profession that is not reliant upon increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, especially fishing and farming.

It was in 2005 that Amma began AmritaSREE as an initiative to empower rural women to independently earn a living. This came in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami when families that depended upon fishing were completely devastated. ETW provides annual seed grants for the SHGs, as well as training in vocational trades that include tailoring, nursing, handicrafts, plumbing and electronics repair.