The Microfinance Review

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Impact of Microfinance on Women Empowerment and Poverty Eradication:A Study of Self-Help Groups in Andhra Pradesh


Affiliations
1 Department of Economics, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh, India
     

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Over the past quarter century, microfinance has evolved into various operating forms and achieved varying degree of success across India. One such form of microfinance has been the development of the self-help movement. In India, the Self- Help Group (SHG) movement has become the basis for programmes promoting empowerment, eradicating poverty and overall improvement of the status of women in the society. The SHG- Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) registered a significant growth both in terms of coverage and the outreach of credit to the poor. The government of Andhra Pradesh is said to be a role model in initiating SBLP more effectively compared to other regions in the country. This paper assesses the impact of the SHG programme on women empowerment and rural women's poverty in the backward districts of Andhra Pradesh (AP). For the purpose of the study, primary data is collected through schedule method, utilising a well- structured questionnaire. Multi-stage purposive random sample method is used in data collection. To assess the impact of SHG programme on eradication of rural poverty and women empowerment, the 'Poverty Eradication Index (PEI)' and the Women Empowerment Index (WEI) is constructed. The position of women before joining SHG and after joining SHG with respect to these indices is calculated to measure the impact. The study reveals that 55.9% of women have been empowered in the study area after joining SHGs. On an average, SHG programme eradicated 45.3% of the poverty in the study area. Even though it shows that the SHGs have provided a good environment for the upliftment of the rural poor women in the study area, poverty still persists among them. The average annual per capita income of some women is not able to completely cross the below poverty line mark and still 44% of women respondents have not been sufficiently empowered in the study area.

Keywords

Poverty Eradication, Women Empowerment, Self-Help Group, Microfinance.
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  • Impact of Microfinance on Women Empowerment and Poverty Eradication:A Study of Self-Help Groups in Andhra Pradesh

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Authors

Rajani Manikonda
Department of Economics, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract


Over the past quarter century, microfinance has evolved into various operating forms and achieved varying degree of success across India. One such form of microfinance has been the development of the self-help movement. In India, the Self- Help Group (SHG) movement has become the basis for programmes promoting empowerment, eradicating poverty and overall improvement of the status of women in the society. The SHG- Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) registered a significant growth both in terms of coverage and the outreach of credit to the poor. The government of Andhra Pradesh is said to be a role model in initiating SBLP more effectively compared to other regions in the country. This paper assesses the impact of the SHG programme on women empowerment and rural women's poverty in the backward districts of Andhra Pradesh (AP). For the purpose of the study, primary data is collected through schedule method, utilising a well- structured questionnaire. Multi-stage purposive random sample method is used in data collection. To assess the impact of SHG programme on eradication of rural poverty and women empowerment, the 'Poverty Eradication Index (PEI)' and the Women Empowerment Index (WEI) is constructed. The position of women before joining SHG and after joining SHG with respect to these indices is calculated to measure the impact. The study reveals that 55.9% of women have been empowered in the study area after joining SHGs. On an average, SHG programme eradicated 45.3% of the poverty in the study area. Even though it shows that the SHGs have provided a good environment for the upliftment of the rural poor women in the study area, poverty still persists among them. The average annual per capita income of some women is not able to completely cross the below poverty line mark and still 44% of women respondents have not been sufficiently empowered in the study area.

Keywords


Poverty Eradication, Women Empowerment, Self-Help Group, Microfinance.

References