Organised by the Nellore District Agricultural Labour Union, they had comearmed with thousands of petitions demanding work under the state EmploymentGuarantee Scheme, minimum wages, implementation of government developmentprogrammes, ration cards, pensions for widows and drinking water taps.

The person they waited for several hours to see, and hectored, was thedistrict collector, also a woman. She promised to look into the demands.True to her word, within two weeks, the mandal-level revenue and developmentofficials had sent word to the union that they would soon clear theirapplication.

In the first week of January this year, the government organised anotherJanmabhoomi programme (a direct contact programme wherein officers visitvillagers and solve problems on the spot) to deal with pending landissues.

The mandal revenue officers also requested the respective mandal unionsecretaries to accompany the government team to each village during thisperiod and help them in resolving the issues.

Further, 30 self-help groups were selected in each mandal for support underthe government's revamped Rural Development Programme and the SwarnajayantiGram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY).

Slowly but surely, the women of Nellore are also trying to bring in a changein social attitudes and values. With the support of the Nellore DistrictAgricultural Labour Union, they had formed women's federations in a fewmandals. These federations comprise village women's groups, organisedinitially for savings or accessing loans under the government's Developmentof Women and Children in Rural Areas programme.

Functioning through a representative committee that meets once every month,these federations raise issues that can be followed up by the union at themandal level, such as ration cards, house site pattas and pensions, to namea few. They also discuss a whole range of social issues and developstrategies for both change and resistance. The women of Nellore district,too, realise that a social support network is a must, and they are trying tobuild it through their federations. What is important is changes in socialstatus deriving from economic and political strength, and a consciousness isevident among the women that they need to assume a central role in economicdecision-making structures to that end.

Some lessons can be drawn from the anti-arrack movement which facilitated acampaign for podupulakshmi or saving groups in each village of Nelloredistrict, generating a staggering amount of Rs 8 crore between 1993 and1995.

However, the collected amounts could not be operated in several villagesowing to the transfer of local teachers who were joint signatories, or dueto the obstructive attitude of government functionaries in enabling them topursue their ideas. For instance, where women wanted investment in anirrigation device, they suggested petty trading.

Further, the withdrawal of funds needed the approval of the mandaldevelopment officer (MDO). Such contradictions resulted in women not beingable to use their funds to meet their needs.

To address these anomalies, the state government embarked on a move to formMutually Aided Cooperative (Credit) Societies (MACS) in every mandal,envisaging a committee elected by the members of the popdupulakshmi groupsto manage the financial resources.

The state's role was limited to providing a manager, a clerk and someinfrastructure. It was decided that all the past savings of the groups wouldbe transferred to MACS, and quick to realise the potential of thisinitiative, several of the federation members have got elected to the MACScommittees in their respective mandals.

For instance, the MACS in Kaluvai mandal, which was the first to getoperational in October 1999, decided that it would like to provide financialsupport to the most deprived and poor women in their mandal.

That is not all. Many of the mandal union members now want to contest thepanchayat elections the next time around. They are aware that politicalpower will help them gain social status and thus enable them to effectsocial change. A tremendous faith in their collective cause is what imbuesthem with the power to transform society, albeit gradually. For each womanknows she is not alone in resisting man-made inequities.