Enabling Rural Women as Agent of Social Change by Reinvigorating Self Help Groups:A Qualitative Analysis of SHGs in Odisha

An extremely innovative attempt of establishing women SHGs in rural areas has proved to play a prominent role in bringing out a multidimensional expansion of empowerment among the women members. Although access to credit and women empowerment is interlinked it did not increase the range of choices for a woman. Thus the expected impact is confined and restricted. It has failed to have a long-lasting and interrelated impact on her social surroundings. Gender issues or the non-economic issues such as illiteracy, lack of skill, patriarchy and so on ,are not the priority aspect but considered as the issues which is affected by economic benefits. But these issues remaining with the members have ultimately threatening the sustainability of the groups. An economic benefit initially does have a social impact but gradually the social disadvantages erode the economic benefits and ultimately make the groups inactive or dormant. Thus the whole purpose of empowerment through SHG no longer exists. This paper deliberates on discussing more avenues to strengthening the groups as to how we can shift from a confined scope and limited expectation of individual performance of helping oneself economically by being members of the groups to a more wide issue of a dynamic step towards women entrepreneurship with a tremendous social impact and benefits where each individual counts.