A study on the usefulness of Self Help Group membership to women for empowerment

The present study was undertaken during 2008 with the objectives of studying the socio- economic status of self help group members and to evaluate the social impact of membership of SHGs on the empowerment of women group members in four districts of Northern Kamataka namely Bider, Dharwad, Gadag and Raichur with a sample size of 400 members (100 SHG members from each district) out of total 100 self help groups. The results of the study revealed that majority of the respondents were from nuclear families (61%), belonged to the groups of 36–45, 26–35, and 18–25 yrs and more than 50 per cent of them had primary level of education. Centre to empowerment process were actions which build both individual and collective assets, and improve the efficiency and fairness of the organizational and institutional contexts. The membership of SHGs made the members aware of the gender equality and led to the economic, social and political independence of members. It also improved the position of the respondents in the patriarchal family system through gaining knowledge of legal system and enabled the members to involve in family decision making. Moreover, the members also developed the leadership qualities through the sense of devotion to work, duty consciousness and self confidence etc.