Empowering women through financial inclusion: A case of Jangalmahal, West Bengal

Empowering women, particularly the poor women of backward communities, has been one of the important objectives of inclusive growth during the Twelfth Five Year Plan in India. There is a lack of inclusiveness in our growth process and this also varies from region to region. If we focus our attention to the regional dimension of this problem, say, in respect of the Drought-Prone Areas (DPAs) of West Bengal, the so called Jangalmahal, we observe that the poor women belonging to SC/ST communities in these areas are generally excluded from the growth process. This is particularly due to some constraints such as unfavorable agro-climatic conditions and poorly developed infrastructural facilities. It is believed that if these people are included in the growth process through the provision of microfinance with an appropriate linkage between the banks and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) then the intensity of poverty would be minimized.

The present study, based both on secondary and primary data sources, analyses some of the issues related to the progress of SHGs formed particularly by the poor women belonging to the SC/ST category, income opportunities of the members of SHGs, impact of such SHGs in the drought-prone areas and Non-drought-prone areas (NDPAs) of West Bengal.

Two sample draught prone districts of west Bengal, viz., Paschim Medinipur and Bankura have been chosen for this study. Eight drought-prone (DP) blocks and seven non-DP blocks have been chosen purposively as sample blocks. The sample SHGs have been chosen from both DP and non-DP blocks. Our study shows that after group formation, the income opportunities among the members of these SHGs have increased in both DPAs and NDPAs. However, this financial inclusion in DPAs becomes more meaningful in reducing the intensity of poverty and in empowering the poor women in these areas.