Impact of Self Help Groups on Household Resource Generation and Poverty Management

Self-help micro-credit programme evolves in India as an effective strategy to combat with poverty and to improve the socio-economic condition of the poor especially the poor rural women. Promoting self-help-groups (SHGs) among the poor has proved to be effective in many countries in alleviating poverty and enhancing rural development. The paper is to develop the microeconomic perspectives in assessing structural contexts of poverty reduction in India. The methodology of the present study includes both quantitative as well as qualitative techniques. The paper seeks to explore the impact of SHGs in household resource generation and poverty management in parts of Mohammad Bazar Block of Birbhum District in West Bengal. Essentially, the paper discusses opportunities and constrains behind success and failure of the poor households to make their livelihoods sustainable through self-help-group approach. Evidence from the field survey reveals that instead of procuring some sustainable livelihoods resource generation, the poor are relying more on the SHGs for the sake of their easily accessible source of credit supply during crisis with affordable interests and repayment flexibility compared to other informal money lending sources. However, attempts have also been made to find out how SHGs intervention has changed the attitude and behaviour of the women towards savings, income earning capacity, mobility and expansion of assets. The research finally recommends that in order to transform self-help programme into a genuine livelihood diversification and livelihoods generation, the question of women‘s empowerment need to be reinforced from mere theory to practice. Therefore, the study raises question of the viability of microfinance as poverty alleviation strategy in selected villages of Mohammad Bazar Block of Birbhum District.