Formed with an initial corpus of Rs 7.48 lakhs, the Shri Mandal Bachat Co-operative Mandali will accept a minimum deposit of Rs 5 per person every month. Members can avail of loans upto Rs 15,000, Ramilaben Gamit, the credit society's manager, told Express Newsline.

The ball was set rolling three years ago when Mahila Mandal members at the village level were encouraged to start saving. ``We got a tremendous response. Women realised the importance of saving when they found they did not have to depend on their husbands to meet the expenses of their school-going children. When in difficulty, they could borrow or give loans to others'', said Fr Francis D'Sa of the Mandal-based Education Trust who motivated women to form Mahila Mandals.

The response, said Fr D'Sa, was so encouraging that within three years, 22 women became members of eight milk co-operatives in the area. Two of the women became vice-presidents of their co-operatives, taking an active economic role hands which even their husbands began to recognise.

But opening a credit society was not so easy. According to the rules, at least Rs 1 lakh is required to open a credit society. Two educated young tribal girls, Ramilaben Gamit and Mishula Gamit, went around the villages explaining the benefits of forming a Credit Society to villagers.

``The response was more than what we had expected'', says Mishula, who claims to have convinced 1183 women to become members with an initial saving of Rs 100 each within 10 days.

Asked how the Society would function, the manager said the President and Secretary of the Mahila Mandal in each village would collect money from individual members every month on a particular date and deposit it with the society. The monthly saving thus collected from all members of 16 villages will be deposited in the Surat People's Co-operative Bank and withdrawn as and when required.

With regular saving, tribal women will be able to send their children to school. The money their husbands wasted on liquor could be saved and better utilised, says Mishula. Other benefits are also likely to accrue. Within a month of the Credit Society opening, 137 women in nine villages agreed to attend night classes run by their educated brethen, says Mishula. Now, 35 of them can read , write, and even maintain their records!