Analysing Socio-Economic Characteristics of Rural Self Help Group Members in Theni District of Tamil Nadu

This study was conducted in Periyakulam, Andipatti and Bodinayakkanur blocks of Theni district in Tamil Nadu. From each block, two SHG swere selected based on the contributions of tank to livelihood security. From these six SHGs, all the 102 members were considered as the respondents for the study. The respondents were interviewed personally by a well-structured interview schedule. Data were collected through focus group discussion method. The characteristics chosen as profile of the respondents are age, education, occupation, family type, caste, farm size, annual income, marital status, material possession and experience in group activity. The results of the study indicates that respondents were middle aged, had primary education, majority of them were wage earners, had nuclear family type, overwhelming respondents were married and lived in nuclear family, had medium family annual income, had big size farm holding, had mediumlevel of material possession, and possess more than two years of experience in group activity.