Benchmarking

MODEL BY-LAW FOR ELDERS SELF HELP GROUPS

Name of the Elders Self Help Group:
Village Name:
Block Name:
Date of formation:

1. Objectives
1.	To organize the needy elders as group and introduce the thrift and credit schemes
2.	Involve the members of the group in small income generating activities, thus aid the member to raise his/her standard of living
3.	To function as a self reliant finance institution at grass root level.
2. Eligibility criteria
1.	Older persons aged 55 years and above can be a member of Elders Self Help Groups
2.	Group can have maximum of 20 elders as their members.
3. Executive members
	The group can select a President, Secretary and Treasurer. They can hold the office maximum for one year. Group has the right to change them before their term is complete if they are found to be not functioning in desired manner. We select Mr./Ms………………………..as President Mr./Ms………………………..as Secretary Mr./Ms………………………..as Treasurer
4. Group Meetings
1.	Elders Self Help Group has to meet once in a week.
2.	Meetings should be held in a common place and should begin with the theme song.
3.	All the transaction of savings, internal lending and repayment should be in the first weekly meeting .
4.	Presence of all the members of the group should be felt till the meeting ends.
5.	Only group members are allowed to participate in the meetings. Those who fail to attend the meeting without the prior intimation have to pay Rs………../- as fine.
6.	The resolutions and entire meetings proceedings should be recorded in the resolution notebook and signed by all the members.
7.	In the meetings members should not use words that affects anyone’s dignity.
8.	None to attend the meetings after drinking alcohol.
5. Savings
1.	Every member should save regularly Rs…../- as his monthly savings and contribute Rs……/- as management cost in the first weekly meetings
2.	In any circumstances if a member has to leave the group he can be returned his savings with ……… percent interest after deducting his dues.
3.	The members have scope to save money of special individual intrest and get this money back as and when he required.
6. Internal Lending
1.	Credit should be given to only the members of the group
2.	Members wanting credit should give the application form mentioning his installment periods
3.	Sanctioning the loan should happen in the group meetings only
4.	A member can avail maximum of Rs…………/- as credit
5.	A member can avail credit only after repaying the first amount
6.	The credit amount to a member should gradually increase.
7.	The credit should be dispersed after prioritizing the needy
8.	The interest rate for the internal credit is decided ………………per cent.
7. External Loan
1.	Credit should be given to only the members of the group
2.	The interest rate for the internal credit is decided ………………per cent.
3.	Members wanting credit should give an application, and business plan form mentioning his installment periods.
4.	A member can avail maximum of Rs…………/- as credit
5.	Sanctioning the loan should happen only in the group meetings
6.	A member can avail credit only after repaying the first amount
7.	The credit amount to a member should increase gradually.
8.	The credit should be dispersed, after prioritizing the needy, according to the business plans submitted.
8. Common Fund
1.	The income generated by Elders Self Help Groups after deducting the expenditure will be termed as common fund.
2.	Members resigning their membership cannot claim amount from common fund.
9. Cash in Hand
	The cash in hand should not exceed Rs………../-, if so the amount should be deposited in the bank.
10. Saving bank account
	A saving bank joint account to be opened in ___________________ bank in the name of Elders Self Help Group with joint signatories of President, Secretary and Treasurer or any two among them
11. Records
	Each Elders Self Help Group should maintain a resolution note book, General Ledger, Savings and Credit Ledger, Individual pass book, receipts and vouchers.
12. Audit
1.	Community Level Workers has to submit a monthly MIS
2.	Field Accountant has to conduct an internal audit once in three months
At the year-end group accounts should audited by an external person.
Model Grading Sheet for assessing performance of ESHGs
Elders Self Help Group Grading Sheet SI. No. Indicators Marks Score of Groups aged less than a year Score of Groups aged more than a year A Members in ESHG       1 Less than 10 members 2     2 10-15 Members 5     3 16-20 Members 10     B Frequency of Meetings (in last 6 months)       1 Monthly 4 meetings 10     2 Monthly 2-3 Meetings 5     3 Monthly 1 meeting 2     C Attendance       1 More than 90% members attend every meeting 10     2 70% to 90% attendance 5     3 below 70% 2     D Regularity of Savings       1 All members save regularly 10     2 Irregular savings 2     E Office Bearers       1 Office Bearers are changed once in a year 10     2 Office Bearers are changed according to the situation 5     3 Same office bearers remain unchanged 2     F Internal Loan interest rate       1 less than or equal to 24% 10     2 more than 24% and unto 36% 5     3 more than 36% 2     G Internal loan repayment       1 More than 90% 10     2 70% to 90% 5     3 below 70% 2     H Records maintenance       1 Good 10     2 Average 5     3 Bad 2     I External loan repayment       1 More than 90% 10     2 70% to 90% 5     3 Below 70% 2     J Transparency of Records and decisions       1 More than 90% of members have the knowledge of financial position and equally participate in decision making 10     2 70% to 90% of members have the knowledge of financial position and equally participate in decision making 5     3 Below 70% of members have the knowledge of financial position and equally participate in decision making 2       ESHG Name         Village Name         Bank Saving Account Number         Bank Name         Branch Name         Total Members in the group         Group Formation Date         Number of Months saved           Seal and Signature of ESHG             Remarks of the person who conducted the grading       Signature and Date                       Model MIS for Elders Self Help Groups (ESHGs)                   Monthly ESHG MIS               Items ESHGs 1 ESHGs 2 ESHGs 3 ESHGs 4 ESHGs 5 ESHGs 6 ESHGs 7 Name of the group               Saving date               No. of Elders attended               No. of elders saved               No. of elders took credit               No. of elders repaid only the Premium               No. of elders repaid only the Interest               Management cost contribution per head               Savings/Head               Till Previous Month               Items ESHGs 1 ESHGs 2 ESHGs 3 ESHGs 4 ESHGs 5 ESHGs 6 ESHGs 7 Total Savings Rs.               Total Management cost contribution               Total Premium collected               Total Interest collected               Total Credit Given               Misc. collection               This Month               Items ESHGs 1 ESHGs 2 ESHGs 3 ESHGs 4 ESHGs 5 ESHGs 6 ESHGs 7 Total Savings Rs.               Total Management cost contribution               Total Premium collected               Total Interest collected               Total Credit Given