Effects of marup on the functioning of self help groups (SHGS) in Manipur

Rural self-employment is considered to be an important sector in the fight against poverty in country like India. With the concept of providing self-employment to rural poor the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was introduced in the country. SGSY aimed at organizing the rural poor into Self Help Groups (SHGs) through social mobilization. The formation of SHGs is found successful in many and unsuccessful in some parts of the country. Manipur is among the states with low performance on SGSY. There are many factors responsible for uneven performance of SGSY across the country. The people of Manipur have a popular traditional practice of Marup which is a non-formal saving group. The present paper attempted to study the preference of the local people on Marup over SHGs and its effect on the performance of SHGs in the Bishnupur and Ukhrul districts of Manipur. It was found that besides other reasons local preference on Marup over SHGs and awareness has impact on the functioning of self help groups in Manipur.