Self-Help Group and Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women in Rural India

Background/Objective: The study focused on confirming the financial and social empowerment status of women belonging to various self-help groups in the country. Self-Help Group (SHG) is a village-based financial intermediary committee usually composed of 10–20 local women or men. In India, many SHGs are linked to banks for the delivery of micro-credit. Since literature review confirmed the positive attitudes per se of the self help group women, the financial facilities for sending their children to school and access to the day-to-day living amenities. It can be concluded that SHG have been successful in achieving both social & financial empowerment goals. Analysis: The secondary data analysis is made and it also confirms the steady growth on the membership level as number of self help groups in the country. Findings: Findings on social organizations have been presented. The key reasons for the success of SHGs are its link with the poor people, its innovative practices, its capacity to enable people’s participation in development and trust building at different levels between stakeholders. SHGs also help in the financial status of the households. They have developed self-confidence and independence among rural women, which in turn increased the livelihood of the rural people.