Effectiveness of women savings schemes of commercial banks-A study with special reference to Calicut city

“Women should be uplifted for the up-liftment of the nation, for if a woman is uplifted, society and the nation is uplifted”. Hence, women income should be properly saved and invested. Women empowerment is a process which enables the powerless women to develop autonomy, self control and confidence with a group of men and women. Bank deposits are one of the traditional and most attractive methods of savings. In this competing world large number of banks started separate “SAVINGS ACCOUNT FOR WOMEN” or “MAHILA ACCOUNT” with special offers, with a view to attract women investors. It is assumed that personal savings account result in improving the decision making capacity of women. Further it results in women empowerment.. Even though it offers a number of advantages exclusively to women, it is not properly enjoyed by Kerala Women. The reason may be lack of proper awareness, or support from their counter parts or family members. In addition to that there might be some inconvenience in opening and operating such a Women account or separate Mahila Account. There may be social, cultural, personal or psychological factors that affect the investment decisions of Women investors. In addition to that, the effectiveness of Women Savings Banks is also questionable. Whether it actually provide any benefit to the up-liftment of women? Whether it is actually utilised by women investors? The present study on the women savings schemes of various banks conducted at Calicut city reveals that only six scheduled banks provide special advantages to Women depositors. The number of depositors in women savings scheme is very small and amount of deposits in this account to bank's total deposit is also very negligible. Further the study reveals that it doesn't result in providing much economic benefit to women investors and to Banks i.e Women Savings Bank Account is not much effective in Calicut city.