Promotion
Palma Women SHG Federation was promoted by PWDS, a pioneering and longstanding NGO in Marthandam committed for the development of the Palmyrah worker community in Kanyakumari and Thiruvanandhapuram districts. Dr. Sam Amirtham, the then Bishop of South Kerala Diocese. Formation
PWDS, by promoting Palma Women SHG Federation has achieved its primary goal set 35 years ago! It believed tha
t empowerment of the poor happens only when their bargaining power is enhanced. Bargaining power enhances only when they are organized and capacitated. This is possible only through promotion and strengthening of community organizations towards self management and sustainability. Accordingly, PWDS gave due emphasis to revive the existing community organizations as well as to promote new ones wherever necessary from the year 2005 onwards. The goal was to promote a strong and self managed people’s organization properly streamlined. Through a rigorous intervention process a number of active self-help groups emerged over a period of time. At a certain point, the self-help groups fulfilling their criterion formed as clusters region-wise. When the capacity of the community enhanced adequately through these activities, federation of all the self help groups took place as a strong district-level people’s organization named Palma Women SHG Federation.
