Impact Assessment of Self Help Groups on Empowerment of Rural Women in Andhra Pradesh

Empowerment of women is a holistic concept. It is multi-dimensional in its approach and covers social, economic, psychological and political aspects. Empowerment of women and bringing them into the mainstream of life is one of the priority areas in the National Development Policy of India. Empowerment as an approach to development and gender equality has acquired greater importance in the country and elsewhere in the last decade. In this context, a study was conducted in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh to assess the impact of Self Help Groups (SHGs) on empowerment of rural women. Following multi-stage random sampling, data were collected from 80 respondents, 40 members and 40 non-members. Apart from conventional tools, chi-square test was used for the study. The results of the analysis revealed that SHG members were better empowered in psychological, social, economic and political aspects than the rest of the society.