Role of Self Help Group/Micro Finance in Rural Odisha-An Opportunity and Challenge

Microfinance has become very relevant and effective in India and offers the rural and urban poor the means to earn their livelihood. Over the years, the provision of microfinance has brought a significant change-reliance, in respect of income generating and microenterprise development programmes of self-help groups (SHGs) have been successfully achieved with effective linkage and networking. The interplay between the two sub-systems of socio-economic development, i.e. microenterprise development and the microcredit and saving mechanism, has been quite smooth and effective in the case of SHGs’ linkage to mainstream institutions. Through the microfinance revolution, rural villagers of Orissa, one of the economically and socially backward state of India, have undergone a remarkable social upliftment.