Sustainable development and economic growth is possible only when economies include women empowerment in the growth story. One of the successful schemes of the government of India has been the “self-help” program, which helped create economically sustainable self-help groups. Microfinance is a movement whose purpose is a ‘world in which as many poor and near-poor households have access to a range of high quality financial services, such as credit besides savings, insurance and fund transfers. Microfinance Institutes generally used the format of self-help groups to distribute their funds. This Study interacted with two microfinance institutes that focused primarily on lending to women, Hand-in-Hand and Madura Microfinance. The Study compared the pre-loan and post-loan scenarios. The parameters were the demographical, occupational, Income and expenditure factors. These parameters were studied to reflect upon the change in a woman beneficiary's financial status, lifestyle, decision-making powers in the family and society to indicate empowerment.
Women Empowerment, Microfinance, Self-Help Groups, Poverty Alleviation
