ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SELF HELP GROUPS
ON WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN LATUR DISTRICT
Research
scholar:
Lakhadive
Archana Ashok
Department
of commerce
Mahatma
Basweshwar College,Latur
Contact:9552439121
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ABSTRACT:-
Empowerment of
women is the process of controlling power and strengthening of their vitality
through basic categories of empowerment - economic, social and political. It is
a process, whereby women become able to organize themselves to increase their
own self-reliance and assert their independent right to make choices and to
control resource, which will assist in challenging and eliminating their own
sub-ordination. The participation of women in self-help group (SHGs) made a significant
impact on their empowerment both in social and economic aspects this study
addresses women empowerment through self-help groups in Latur District,
Maharastra. There is a growing awareness to lead a better quality of
life with a change in attitudes and life styles which presses them to be
self-reliant and to take part in the economic development through Self Help
Groups (SHGs). The head of the SHGs who is termed as ‘Animator’ is also
responsible for the success or failure of the group. So, there is an urgent
need to motivate the Animators as well as the members of the group.
Keywords:
, Self-Help Group, Animator, self reliance, Empowerment
INTRODUCTION:-
Introduction “Gaon Bade To Desh Bade” is the dictum of
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) which is very true
for a Latur District. India whose 70% population resides in 6,38,345 villages
and 24 crore poor are engaged in microenterprises. As highlighted by the Nobel
Peace Award Laureate and former Russian President Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, the
imperatives for a better future are—“peace, fighting poverty, promoting global
social justice and common wealth and protecting environment”. These words
indicate towards social banking. The credit needs of the rural masses in
general and rural poor in particular are met via rural financial markets
consisting commission agents, Moneylenders and landlords etc. At this juncture
Microfinance has been proposed as a possible solution for the maximum outreach
and alleviation of poverty in the rural poor especially the disadvantageous
sections of the society namely women, small and marginal farmers, and landless
farmers.
International
Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD) has one of its strategic objective in
contributing to the goal of rural poverty mitigation is to provide financial
and related non- financial services in rural areas the world over. In 1992
NABARD launched a scheme to organize poor people into a group of 10-20 persons
and linking that group with the banks. The scheme was broadly a replica of
Bangladesh Grameen Bank. Under this scheme poor, preferably the women are
organized in SHGs with the help of Banks, NGOs, Panchayat members and banks
financing these SHGs were made eligible for concessional refinance by NABARD.
SHGs
are believed to be the vehicle for women empowerment and poverty alleviation.
According to the Planning Commission of India SHG is a self-governed, peer
controlled small and informal association of the poor, from socio-economically
homogeneous families who are organised around savings and credit activities.
Members of SHGs meet weekly or monthly and discuss common problems and share
information to come at a solution. Group members make effort to change their
economic and social problem through mutual assistance.
CONCEPT
AND FUNCTION OF SELF-HELP GROUPS:
Generally Self-Help
Group consists of 10 to 20 women. The women save some amount that they can
afford. It is small amount ranging from Rs. 10 to 200 per month. A monthly
meeting is organized, where apart from disbursal & repayment of loan,
formal and informal discussions are held. Women share their experiences in
these groups. The minutes of these meetings are documented and the accounts are
written. The President, Secretary and Treasurer are three official posts in any
SHG. If the SHGs are connected with some NGOs, they take part in other social
activities of those NGOs. Of late, the organizational structure of various
micro-financial groups is undergoing significant changes. There are Thrift
groups, Credit management groups, Income generating groups, Self-help groups
and Mutual help groups. Sometimes the institute that promotes the SHG, itself
provides loan facilities. It is called as Micro-finance Institute. All
households are living under ‘Below Poverty Line’ category and their income is
less than Rs. 40,000 per year. The National Bank for Agriculture &Rural
Development will create an Rs.15 billion fund to cater to women's Self-Help
Groups in economically weaker districts in the country, after joining the
self-help group the women are economically and socially empowered. It is
especially focus on the SC/ST.
NEED OF SELF HELP GROUP IN MAHARASTRA:-
The
financial requirement is one of the basic needs of the poorer section of the
society for socioeconomic development. Microfinance to Self Help Groups (SHGs)
may be considered as a vital option for meeting the financial needs of those
poorer sections of the society. Microfinance is the form of financial
development that has its primary aim to alleviate the poverty. Governments,
donors and NGOs around the world responded enthusiastically with plans and
promised to work together towards the realization of these goals. The present
research paper is an attempt to study the role of Micro-Finance and
Self-Help-Groups (SHGs) for the socio-economic and political development of
poor people living in the rural and DUSHKAL affected areas in Latur district of
Maharashtra.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:-
·
To study the structure, conduct and
performance and the impact of the SHG programme on empowering women in social,
economic and political aspects in Latur district.
·
To analyse the impact of SHG-bank
linkage programme on promotion of financial inclusion in terms of access to
banks, savings, borrowing and insurance by the SHG member participants as
compared with non-participants.
·
To assess the changes in the social
conditions of member’s households due to their association with SHGs in Latur
district.
·
To study the SHG constitution and
functioning, decision-making, collective action, social empowerment, economic
empowerment and political empowerment in Latur district.
HYPOTHESES:-
·
There is no significant difference in
the performance of SHGs and tenure of existence, literacy level of the leader
and size of membership of the groups.
·
There is no significant difference in
the social and economic condition of the members before joining SHGs and
afterwards.
·
There is no significant difference in
the perception scores of the different groups of members and social factors and
the attitude of the members.
METHODOLOGY:-
The present study is
based on both primary and secondary data. The primary data were collected
through two interview schedule, one for SHGs and another for SHG’s members. The
secondary data were collected from books, journals and websites.
STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
In
1985, the government introduced the concept of women self-help groups in urban
areas to eradicate poverty and empowering the women. The slum women joined in
20 members SHG started their monthly savings and became active in accessing
loans from the SHGs. The objectives of SHGs include various aspects, such as
empowering women, eradication of poverty and community development. Thus, the
financial needs of the poor people remained unfulfilled. They could not
participate in the economic development of the country and thereby they could
not improve their living conditions. To overcome this problem, NABARD desired
and introduced bank linkage programme to cover unbanked poor people in India.
Accordingly banks were instructed to offer microcredit by having linkages with
self-help groups. Thus, the movement of self-help groups especially formed by
women gained momentum in Latur district.
ANALYSIS:-
This part of the paper
deals with the analysis and interpretation of the primary data that has been
collected through survey conducted among the members of selected SHGs promoted
by in Latur district of Maharashtra region. A sample of 10 SHGs consisting of
162 members has been taken for the present study and the data has been analyzed
with respect to general profile of SHGs, social impact and empowerment of SHG
members.
SOCIAL IMPACT AND
EMPOWERMENT OF SHG MEMBERS:-
A. Communication Level of Members:-
It is found that there
has been 48 per cent increase in SHG members, who can now freely talk in the
meetings while there has been a decrease of 17 per cent and 31 per cent
members, who sometimes talks or hesitates to talk. It can be concluded that
Microfinance movement is having a good impact on members, in their ability to
express their feelings and has made people more confident to express
themselves.
B. Self
Confidence among Sample Members:-
The group formation
brought out the hidden talent and leadership qualities among the members. It
can be seen that there has been an increase of 45.6 per cent in SHG members
with respect to confidence building factors. Therefore, it can be concluded
that after joining the SHG the members have improved their status in family,
become helpful in family finance and sometimes helped others too.
C. Change in Family Violence Family violence:-
Involvement with SHG
has reduced family violence in 25 per cent cases especially due to reduction in
economic difficulties. In most of cases the members revealed that their
husbands should also be involved in SHGs.
D. Status of Access to Amenities:-
Since SHG programme has
economic as well social implications, it is necessary to evaluate the various
dimensions of the programme. Lack of infrastructure facilities, access to
amenities like health, sanitation, education, market, water supply, affect the
economic and overall development of the members. It can be seen that there has
been an increase of 40.53 per cent in SHG members in terms of their status of
access to amenities factors. Therefore, it can be concluded that after joining
the SHG the members have improved in getting access to amenities like medical,
sanitation, education, market, water supply, transport.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SHG MEMBERS
Change in the saving pattern of SHG members:-
I found that there has
been almost 80 per cent and 15 per cent increase in SHG members, who are now
saving there money in Bank & Post Offices and SHG, while there has been a
decrease of 85 per cent and 10 per cent members, who were earlier having cash
in hand and provided loans to relatives. It can be concluded that SHG is having
a good impact on members, in their ability to save their hard earned money.
Change in the cumulative saving pattern of SHG members per month
I found that there has been 74 per cent
increase in SHG members who are currently saving more than Rs. 2000 per month,
who were earlier saving nothing in the pre SHG period, while there has been a
decrease of 10.5 per cent, 50 per cent and 13.6 per cent members, who were
earlier saving between zero and Rs. 500, Rs. 500 and 1000 & Rs. 1000- 1500
per month and there has been no change in 8 members who were earlier also in
the range of Rs. 1500 and 2000 per month. It can be concluded that SHG is
having a good impact on the saving of the members.
Reference:-
·
Basu, P. & Srivastava, P. (2005).
Exploring Possibilities: Microfinance and Rural Credit Access for the Poor in
India. Economic and Political Weekly. 40(17).
·
Banerjee (Chatterjee), T (2009).
Economic Impact of Self Help Groups
·
Basu, P. & Srivastava, P. (2005).
Exploring Possibilities: Microfinance and Rural Credit Access for the Poor in
India.
·
Dasgupta,
Rajaram (2005). “Micro-finance in India, Empirical Evidence, Alternative Model
and policy Imperatives,” Economic and political weekly, 9 March
·
Banerjee, T.
(2009). “Economic impact of Self-Help Groups- A case study”, Journal of Rural
Development, 28 (4), 451 – 467.
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