Women Empowerment Through Self Help Group A Study of Kakatpur

Abstract

Women due to lack of access to education of significant quality and content, proper training, resources, bank-loan and decision- making, women do not have the opportunities to improve their living condition. The patriarchal orientation of women s role in biological reproduction restricts their participation in the mainstream of social, economic and political processes. A large number of women are either ill equipped or not in a position to propel themselves out of their traditionally unsatisfactory socio-economic conditions. Their roles in the process of development have long been neglected. The scattered, piecemeal or curative approaches so far made for the advancement of these women, view them only as passive subjects of protection or as recipients of marginal welfare and social services. Such approaches cannot prevent the growing marginalization of women in the socio- political spheres of the society. Any programme of action for the empowerment of women should be started with a programme of regular source of income. Since women are having low level of educational qualifications, skill or technical knowledge, they are always in an inadvantageous position while searching for any employment. With all the responsibility of child bearing and child rearing and also house-hold management, they cannot migrate to another place in search of economic opportunity. newlineIn rural areas, their access to credit is beset with a number of problems like insistence of collateral security, cultural distance between rural women and banks, high transaction cost, restricted and fixed banking hours, inconvenient repayment schedule, cumbersome procedures, denial of credit to women due to default of the male members of the family etc. Dissatisfaction with the result of many formal credit programmes has stimulated searches for modalities that can provide effective financial services to rural women. This search leads to the emergence of an innovative scheme called self-help groups (SHGs). newlineBecause of the early success of the SHGs as a social