Empowerment Through Self Help Groups

Abstract

The empowerment of women is considered as an active process enabling women to realize their full identity in all spheres of life. The objectives of women empowerment are not only helpful to earn income for their family but also essential to the development of the society and the country as awhole.The Government of India and various State Governments have introduced many programmes from time to time for the upliftment of the poor unemployed women. The Ministry of Rural Development has special components for women in its programmes. The development of women is possible by making them involved in three functions namely production, marketing and bank linkage. To make them involved, Self Help Group is a means, because the SHGs are doing production, marketing, savings and lending functions. The Self Help Groups concept becomes handy in penetrating the concept of thrift and loan among the members, culminating into a viable economic model in alleviating poverty.Women SHGs are increasingly being used as a tool for various developmental interventions credit and its delivery though, Self Help Groups have also taken as a means for empowerment of women. Hence, in this context, the researcher has to gather and analyse information on the pre and post status of members of self help groups in Virudhunagar district in Tamil Nadu.