Constraints of women's empowerment though self-help groups: A case study in lakhimpur district of Assam

Almost half of the country's population is women. Women also plays a significant part in a household as well as in the economy. But till today women are found to be backward in comparison to men. Several efforts have been taken by the government for the socio-economic development of women in our country and Self Help Group (SHG) has gained prominence as a successful strategy for women empowerment in India since 1980. Present study focuses on, review of various literatures relating to women empowerment and find out research issues. Moreover the study examines various socio-economic and institutional constrains relating to women empowerment of different social groups under SHG through microfinance. This study was conducted in the Lakhimpur district of Assam. Data collected from different social groups of selected development blocks of the district under purposive sample method and total 200 sample respondents (SHG members) were taken for the study. The study found various constrains of women empowerment through microfinance and suggested to overcome the constraints.