Performance of Rural Entrepreneurs: A Study in Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka

In India, the need for microfinance is high as demand for credit to start microenterprises by the poor people is not met by the institutional initiatives of rural finance in a large scale. Due to the failure of percolation theory of social development, poor people are highly dependent on non-institutional sources of credit. Growth of microfinance in India has been the response to the failure of institutional initiatives of rural credit and exploitation attached with the informal system of credit. The delivery of microfinance to the poor is smooth, effective, and less expensive if they are organized into Self Help Groups (SHG). SHGs are promoting microenterprise through microcredit intervention. Microenterprise is an effective instrument of social and economic development. Microfinance is the agenda for empowering the rural poor. The objective of this paper is to focus on the activities of SHGs in the study area and to analyze the performance of rural entrepreneurs before and after availing microcredit.