Women empowerment through self help groups in Odisha: A micro evidence from Mayurbhanj district

Self-Help Group (SHG) is considered an effective means of women empowerment. However, its effectiveness is subject to its functioning. The present paper examined the status of SHGs in state-wise and districts of Odisha. It attempted to examine the role of self-help groups in women empowerment based on a random cross-sectional survey of 132 households from Karanjia Block of Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. From the assessment of various benchmarks of empowerment, the results revealed that there was an increase in income, expenditure, and savings of the household of the members of the SHGs. However, improvement was more pronounced in social spheres, viz. self-confidence, participation in decision-making, control over family finance, and communication of the members.