Self help groups and women empowerment – A case study

Self Help groups significant feature is that they provide credit to the poor at subsidized interest rates besides having relatively low default rates on these loans. SHGs reduce transaction costs of financial institutions that do business with poor and that of the SHGs themselves. They reduce the cost of financial institutions by acting as intermediary organizations or by providing social collateral that substitute for costly loan appraisals and supervisions. SHG approach has made considerable impact on the development of rural economy in terms of increasing savings of the poor, providing access to credit for the poor at reasonable rates of interest by establishing linkages with the formal financial institutions, improving the production levels and income levels, strengthen food security and standard of life, improving asset creation and enhancing income generation activities, augmenting environment sustainability and contributing for the much needed women empowerment. With the enthusiastic roles played by the NGOs, the books, the public half decade, the SHG approach has transformed into a movement in the rural areas. In India there are member of NGOs and SHGs who are serving for empowerment of women. A survey of voluntary efforts in essential to a certain the kind of attention that the women were receiving from there sources. With this background, the study seeks to examine the functioning of SHGs and NGOs, and analyse economic benefits and social benefits to women.