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The COVID 19 pandemic followed by the nationwide lockdown has left a huge impact on women in every field. The pandemic has revealed many underlying structural inequalities. This research seeks to know how the COVID 19 pandemic has left an impact on the women working in Self Help Groups, in terms of the production process and their personal lives. We also aim to know what roles Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs) have played in helping the government to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore came to be hailed as "corona warriors". Through this we hope to examine the opportunities and challenges these women faced and their responses to it.

According to NITI Aayog (2008), Self Help Groups (SHGs) is defined as “small, economically homogeneous groups of rural/urban poor voluntarily formed to save and contribute to a common fund to be lent to its members as per the group decision and for working together for social and economic upliftment of their families and communities. It is a group or association of individuals with common economic needs who undertake a systematic economic activity, participate directly in decision-making, and share benefits equitably”. This amount acts as funds for the SHGs which are used to provide collateral free loans to its members at small interest rates. Just like these self-help groups; SEWA (Self-employment Women Association) is “an organization of poor, self-employed women workers”. (VimoSEWA,2020). These women who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses and are not regular salaried employees with welfare benefits like workers in the organised sector. They are the unprotected labour force of our country and constitute 93% of the labour force working in the unorganised sector (Salgaonkar & Salgaonkar, 2019) However, the outbreak of Corona virus succeeded by the nationwide lockdown announced by the government of India has thrown many challenges to the members of many women in SHGs about the production processes, conduction of physical meetings, mobilizing savings of the group, the rotation of money for internal lending among the members as well as their home situation and mental wellbeing. The pandemic has given rise to the incidences of violence against these women within the households as a result of which the psychological health of women has been affected. According to The National Commission of Women (NCW) there has been a significant increase in the cases of domestic violence around the country. And reportedly NCW received 123 such emails in the time span of 15 days viz., from 23 March to10 April 2020. The pandemic has also ineptly affected the employment and production activities of these associations which have led to a sharp decline in the income of these women, thereby affecting their living standards. As per the research article formulated by the students of Amrita University, about 77% of the interviewee lamented for being laid off from their job because of pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Half of the interviewee stated large loss and almost 30% reported total decline in income. While the COVID 19 pandemic has already led to loss of jobs and income for millions of workers in India as per the CMIE report (Centre for monitoring Indian economy), these women also must face difficulties in harvesting, distribution and selling their crops due to the state restrictions and ban on public transport. Vali Palash, 58 a lady farmer from Raiyavan village in Dahog district, Gujarat had harvested wheat and corn from her 15 bighas of land just before the lockdown was imposed. However due to the imposition of lockdown and unavailability of transport, she could not find any potential buyer for her produce and thus had to suffer a huge economic loss. She was later helped by an NGO ‘Utthan’ which procured all her crops at nominal rates and later distributed it among those who have not been able to find food for themselves due to the crisis. There were multiple initiatives undertaken by the government or multiple non-profit organisations to support such women. For instance, as the Hindustan Times reported, “the New Delhi district administration started a skill-development programme to empower people, especially women from economically weaker sections living in slum areas and battling for survival. The initiative named as “Ummeed Ki Rakhi” aimed at generating a source of employment for those families who lost their job due to the impact of Covid-19. Most of the SHG members in the programme are women who used to work in factories and shops”. (Mishra, 2020). Despite facing so many difficulties, these women are on the frontline to help the government to contain this pandemic. A number of WSHGs have contributed in terms of manufacturing masks, making sanitizers, setting up community kitchens and spreading awareness about the pandemic. More than 19 million masks have been produced by 20,000 women of SHG's, and they have set up thousands of community kitchens across the country (Tiwari, 2020). In Kerala, the Kudambasree network actively ran 1,300 kitchens across the state and delivered food to quarantined and bedridden people. Women SHGs were offered financial assistance by several government schemes to be able to be up and running during this pandemic. “The microcredit innovation department of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural development has the largest microfinance program in the world.” (Mohan, 2020). Through it's SHG- Bank linkage program, NABARD provides financial assistance to SHGs. Schemes like Mudra Yojana, Mahila Udhyam Nidhi and Dena Shakti make it possible for women to borrow collateral free loans at low interest rates. Similarly, SEWA has also worked to alleviate the devastating consequence of COVID 19 pandemic especially on migrant and informal workers in India. Its immediate response to the pandemic involved the distribution of food to the needy followed by the distribution of health kits and cash transfer to the poor for sustenance. (Jain, 2020) Therefore, while COVID-19 pandemic has brought a debilitating cascading impact on socio-economic, cultural, private and public health systems, it has put a disproportionately greater burden on women. The pandemic deepened the pre-existing inequalities which in turn amplified the bearings of the pandemic.

The U.N Policy Brief on “Impact of COVID-19 on Women” (2020) intricately discusses the problem that women have faced as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It suggests some immediate reforms and long term measures to alleviate these problems relating to health, abuse and financial independence. It also anticipated that the impacts of the COVID- 19 and the resultant global recession would lead to long term lessening in women’s incomes and labour force participation, thus having a compounded impacts on women already living in poverty. An article formulated by the students of Amrita University (2020) highlights the unprecedented problems faced by the people of rural communities due to the pandemic. The article mainly focuses on the women working in rural SHGs who have been badly affected by the pandemic. In this research we have contacted (telephone) 400 women who were below poverty line women members of self-help groups in Kerala to explore and assess their household situations. Available literature also examines various government policies and mentions some pre-existent statistics on unpaid labour, pay gaps and exposes the inefficiency of government policies. The great number of respondents reported of not receiving any monetary support as announced by the Government. Women are the majority front-line health workers and the pandemic is taking a toll on their health too. (Batemand and Ross, 2021). SHGs in Odisha that usually stitched school uniforms are now producing masks and PPEs. Self Help Groups across 27 states have produced around 10,000 litres of sanitizers, 50,000 litres of hand wash and 19 million masks. SHGs all over India, especially the Kudumbashree in Kerala, are running over 10,000 community kitchens and helping the government spread awareness. Jeevika, an SHG based in Bihar, is spreading awareness through Whatsapp groups, leaflets, songs and videos. Members of SHGs are also working as Bank Sakhis, to deliver doorstep banking and distributing pension in rural areas. These Self-Help Groups are rising to their motto of self-help and solidarity. (World Bank, 2020)

The study posed questions (through telephonic interviews) to over 100 women working Self Help Groups from several states of India to identify the social, economic and personal tsunamic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown in the lives of these women.
Economic impact
Before the pandemic hit, for most respondents, their main source of income was agriculture or small businesses. For all of them, their incomes were supplemented by the incomes of their husbands. Two respondents worked under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS)while one supplemented her income from agriculture by working in a brick kiln. 56.3% of the respondents did not own any land while 37.5% were "partially" dependent on farming and 6% were completely dependent on farming.
The pandemic had hampered the production and selling process in the SHGs of 75 percent of the respondents. Out of this, 18.8% only experienced partial hampering of the selling and production process. For 25% of respondents, the production and selling process went on uninterrupted. The impact on the credit pool was examined. 50% of respondents were not sure if there was a reduce in the credit pool, 43.8% remarked that there was a definite reduction in the credit pool. There was no reduction in the quantity of the credit pool for 6.2% of the respondents.
Social and Political Impact
As many reports of women in SHGs making PPE kits, masks and beds and running tele mental health services and community kitchens emerged, the researchers enquired if the respondents were involved in such activities to aid the fight against COVID-19. It was found that 56.3% of respondents were making at least one of the products mentioned above. 37.5% were not involved in the manufacturing of COVID necessities and 6.2% were not aware if their SHGs were undertaking such ventures. Most respondents were involved in spreading awareness about the importance of wearing masks, hand washing and social distancing in their neighbourhoods. Members of the Kudumbashree that were interviewed were involved in conducting online awareness campaigns. However, a small number of respondents were not involved in spreading awareness about COVID and COVID prevention.
On being asked whether they are aware about the welfare policies and schemes announced by the government for SHGs and if yes, did they avail the benefits of these schemes, 43.8 % responded that they were not even aware about the policies, while the other 43.8% were aware and even availed the benefits. 12.5% of the respondents claimed that even though they were aware of the policies, they could not avail any benefits. However, ‌a majority of the respondents expected some kind of aid either in cash or kind from the government after the lockdown as many of them had to face difficulties during the lockdown.
Personal Impacts
As income was disrupted, many respondents said that they managed day-to-day expenditure with their past savings and free ration provided by the government. Some also reported receiving interest free loans from the government which proved quite useful to them. Others managed by relying on the produce from their land. There were also two respondents who were receiving their income without any disruptions and thus faced no problems. Respondents were asked if they were the sole earners of the family at present to which 75% said “no” while 19% of the women were indeed the only earners in their families. 6% of the respondents also claimed that they were dependent on their past savings for subsistence.
A question was posed to know if the husband or other known males of the female respondents were handling their bank account in spite of them being the actual account holders. While 37.5% of women said yes, 50% of the respondents denied the said claim. 12.5% of the respondents did not know about the subject matter.
For 56.3% of respondents, child care and household activities was not their solitary responsibility as other family members shared that responsibility. However, 43.7% of the sample size handled everything by themselves and had no help.
India saw an alarming increase in cases of violence against women, especially domestic violence during the lockdown period. 81.3% of our sample size were fortunately not victims of domestic violence. While 12.3% endured domestic violence once or multiple times during the lockdown, 6.7% refused to talk about this issue as they viewed this as an intrusion into their personal affairs. It was also observed that 68.8% of respondents reported that other members of their respective self-help groups have not raised concerns of domestic violence. However, 31.2% of respondents agreed that their coworkers in the SHG had faced domestic abuse and violence. This directs us to the conclusion that a large chunk of women, though not the majority, have been victims of domestic violence during the lockdown. It also shows us that self-help groups are a forum where issues like this might be discussed. However, a trend observed is that women are reluctant to come up with their own experiences of domestic abuse but are more ready to report the problems of others
A question “how has the lockdown hindered your financial independence” was posed to the respondents. Most remarked that their financial independence had been hindered as the income they received had decreased. Many respondents had other ways to earn, apart from SHG work However these businesses were also affected due to the lockdown. It Is noteworthy that in some cases, the husbands of the respondents had lost their source of income and were financially dependent on the respondents.
Interestingly, there were many women who reported receiving zero government aid during the pandemic. Some reported that they have been receiving some aid from the panchayat and also some free ration and money under certain government schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana and Kudumbashree scheme etc. Others reported to have received free masks, food grains, pulses and some little amount in their bank account by unknown sources.

The study observed and analyzed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown on Women in Self Help Groups and also took into account the efforts and contributions of these women to society despite the raging pandemic. The main findings of the research are listed below.
1.The pandemic caused severe disruptions in income of women in SHGs. They managed to handle their daily expenses by using savings or by depending on government aid.
2.The Household responsibilities of women increased and their financial autonomy saw a decline. Women interviewed also reported a rise in domestic abuse.
3. Government aid and support were not effective in mitigating the problems caused by the pandemic. Lack of awareness and inadequate and corrupt disbursement of schemes were responsible for this.
4. Women in SHGs were also 'corona warriors' as they were actively aiding the efforts of the government by manufacturing PPE kits, masks as well as disseminating services and information.
Many SHGs in India have been mobilized by the government to help them in their battle against the novel Coronavirus. These groups have many female members who belong to the rural areas and face many predicaments. To conclude, the pandemic has adversely impacted many communities and groups differently and the women belonging to self-help groups have also been on the receiving end of this impact. Therefore, their problems as well as their significant roles in assisting the government in times of this crisis need to be further explored and examined.

The objective of working on this project was to identify the problems faced by the women of SHGs and SEWA in particular, so that their plight is noticed by the policy makers and they could formulate policies which also acknowledge these women’s groups and associations. Like the UN Policy Brief on the pandemic entails, States have a duty to make sure that everybody is safeguarded from the deadly impact of the virus. This can necessitate measures and certain security for the vulnerable or those who are impacted disproportionately. It is indeed true that government is making steps to contain the spread of virus but ultimately the onus lies on the people who are at the helm of policy implementation. It is pertinent on the part of policy makers to incorporate a gender evaluation into the improvement of COVID-19 regulations and because the pandemic unfolds, there may be a pressing want for sex-disaggregated facts to completely recognize how specific genders are stricken by the virus. Understanding the effect of lockdowns on women may entail in the improvement and implementation of different aptful coverage measures.

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