Self help groups : A ray of hope in challenging times

The purpose of the Self Help Group is to obtain microcredit from banks with encouraging members to save and to lend money for their members. In an informal setting, the women learn basic financial skills. They begin with minimal contributions; learn to inter-loan, and keep records. The purpose of this is to classify the social and economic factors which impact the involvement of women in self-help groups (SHGs) for their economic as well as social empowerment. It’s human nature to search for a silver lining even during pandemic COVID-19. Humans need hope. Some sectors have proved resilient even in these challenging times. The most prevalent among these is the self-help group (SHG) movement in India, which is one of the most powerful incubators of female strength and entrepreneurship in rural areas. It is a powerful channel for altering the social construct of gender in villages. Women in rural areas are now able to create independent sources of family income. Self-help groups are groups of 8-20 women engaged in entrepreneurship activities. SHGs are formed for a variety of reasons, yet their primary purpose has been to economically empower women and communities through saving/lending activities and bank-linkage programs to access loans and capital. Through taking the SHG concept to scale, the Indian government along with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and funding agencies, is increasingly developing SHGs by layering thematic interventions onto entrepreneurial activities. While there were many young literate, semi-literate and skilled women who have home-grown skills, the absence of capital prevents them from taking a full plunge in any decision-making role and setting up their own independent business. Self Help Group is an innovative organizational setup for the women upliftment and welfare. Today, the self help group movement is increasingly accepted as an innovation. There is need to impart skill developed training to the women to form a Self Help Group for becoming entrepreneur and a skilled worker. All India Coordinated Research Project, Family Resource Management is imparting skill based training to rural unemployed youth, the impact of these trainings can only be realized if the skilled resource rural women engage themselves and form a Self Help Group and also start an enterprise. These Self Help Groups can become a ray hope for those rural poor families which merely depend upon daily wages for their livelihood.