Comparative study on women empowerment through self-help groups in Chhotaudepur district of Gujarat state

The concept of Self Help Group has its roots in rural areas and it has been mooted along rural and semiurban women to improve their living conditions. In India, this scheme is implemented with the help of NABARD as a main nodal agency in rural development. It is a self-employment generation scheme for especially rural women, who don’t have their assets. The proposed investigation was carried out in Chhotaudepur district of Gujarat state. Among six taluka, two taluka were purposively selected for the study, from each of which, two villages were selected. Thus a total of four villages were selected and from each selected village, 10 women involved in self help groups and 10 women not involved in self help groups were selected, making a total sample of 80 women selected for the study. This study revealed that the majority of SHG and Non-SHG members were from middle age groups and joint family, had primary to secondary level of education and had up to Rs. 50000/- annual income. The majority of them were marginal and small farmers had membership in one organization and had agriculture and animal husbandry as their main occupations. The SHG members showed a little bit higher empowerment than Non SHG members. The variables education and annual income showed a significant relationship in the case of SHG members, while education and training received showed a significant relationship in the case of Non SHG members.