Women Empowerment and Self Help Groups in India

SHGs (Self Help Groups) have evolved as a tool for empowerment and alleviation of poverty to the neglected section of the society. The experience across India and other countries has shown a robust potential of SHGs to integrate with the development issues thereby significantly impacting the lives of poor. This paper critically reviews the various studies carried out in India and brings out the challenges and prospects of women SHGs in Indian context. As evident from this paper, women SHGs by and large contributes to the development of core poor in terms of economic well being, alleviating poverty and leading to women empowerment.