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| Self Help Groups (SHGs) for Women Empowerment | | | Dr. Banarsi Lal and Dr. Pawan Sharma | 7/22/2018 11:00:01 PM |
| Self-Help Group (SHG) is a small, economically homogenous and affinity based group of people who decide to save and contribute to a common fund to be lent to its members as per the group decisions. SHGs are a way to involve rural men and women actively in the developmental process by increasing the income, technical skills, mutual help, address constraints etc. The agenda of SHGs is 'Empowerment' and shift from dormant masses of the rural women to vibrant masses by bringing more income in their hands so that they can lead a better social life. Self Help Groups (SHGs) formation in J&K especially in hilly areas can assist in the women's empowerment.
The origin of Self-Help Groups is the brain child of Economics Prof. Mohammad Yunus of Chittagong University who founded Gramin Bank of Bangladesh in the year 1976.This was exclusively established for the poor section of the society. The Self-Help Group movement is a silent revolution to uplift the poor people across the globe. World Micro Credit Summit was held at Washington in 1997, converged the developed and developing countries of the world to overcome the serious problem of poverty by using micro credit as a tool to empower the poor section of the society. The major objectives of SHGs are :-( 1) To inculcate the habit of saving and banking among the rural women. (2) To develop credibility among the rural women and the bankers. (3) To develop group activity so that women can start the entrepreneurships.
Empowerment is a process which involves individuals or group of individuals to realize their powers and identity in all spheres of life. Empowerment of women has now become a major issue in the Government's Five year Plans by organizing women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) to begin the process of empowering women. SHGs aim to improve the quality of life of women by upgrading their skills and ensuring sustainability of groups. Many SHGs of women are now recognised in the society. SHGs help the men and women in the development process by increasing their income. The agenda of SHGs is 'Empowerment' and shift from dormant masses of rural women to vibrant masses by bringing more income in the hands and control of women so that they can lead a better social life. SHGs help to improve the quality of life of individuals by self reliance, upgrading their skills and developing sustainability in the SHGs group members' income.
The movement is supported by Government (an important component of Swarozgar Yojna, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh) and NGOs. These groups help to develop the strength and confidence among the members. They help women to come out of their homes, develop their skills, develop leadership qualities and increase their income. These groups help in finding innovative ways for improving women's situation economically, socially etc.
Women constitute around half of population in the social system but still there is a lot of gender discrimination in every sphere of life. Poverty and gender discrimination threaten the well-being of women, deny their choice for education and training, restrict them for their participation in different programmes, curtail political and economic rights etc. Women are given secondary importance in every section of society. Right from beginning of her life restrictions are imposed and she is prohibited to express herself properly. It has been observed that large percentage of population of women is unemployed, have poor socio-economic status, least decision making, lack education and awareness on different developmental aspects and so on. So, there is dire need to empower the women through different kinds of schemes or programmes launched by different governmental and non-government organizations.
Historically, there have been many groups in our villages, functioning around a secular activity for the common good of members. In India these mutual help groups are known as Self Help groups (SHGs). These groups help for the personal growth and emotional sustenance through face to face contact. It is an informal association of the individuals for economic visibility. The joint liabilities help the members for accessibility to credit and also peer monitoring, leading to better loan recoveries. The experience in India shows that provision of small financial services and products to the poor through bank linkages of SHGs have contributed to the process of rural development. More than 85% of SHGs linked to banks are reported to be of women. Women are getting empowered and their decision making at household and society level is increasing. Economic independence and trainings have empowered them and they are greatly helpful for transforming the villages. They are happy and confident now. The group members are involved in filling the loan application and then applying to the banks for lump sum. The loans taken by SHGs are used for the small enterprises in the areas like livestock management, horticulture development etc.
There are certain necessary conditions to organise SHGs such as (1) The regular meetings among the group members with an agenda & discussion. (2) Meetings should be organised in places which are convenient to reach. (3) Discuss on matters which have direct effect. (4) The presidents and secretaries of SHG should not dominate the other members.(5) Interest should be made in the group.(6) Setting the tasks to do and consent should be considered.(7) Group members should be aware about the services available from the Government and other agencies.(8) Helping members to take initiative.(9)Guide them for savings.
Stages in SHG Formation:
(a)Farming - Why or whether it wants to work together for a common purpose. (b)Storming - Disagreement and frustrations. (c) Norming - Common understanding of resolving conflicts, reaching decisions, measuring work completion, handling communication and managing meetings.(d)Performing - Individuals goals and roles as team focus and member alignment merge into a productivity unit.
Concept of SHGs: (1) The basis of coming together, affinity, common interests and homogeneity. (2) Ownership of the group by all the members. (3) Foundation of the group by all the members.(4) Foundation of the group existence - mutual help.(5) Co-operation forum. (6) A collective learning forum.(7) Cost effective credit needs of the poor.(8) Democratically constituted without any politically affiliation.(9) Not registered but governed by an informal by-laws formed by the members themselves.(10) Participatory decision making. (11) Self help supplement with mutual help. (12) Poor can serve and bankable. (13) Poor need not only credit support but also other services. (14) Can effectively manage and supervise micro-credit among their members. (15) Empowerment of the poor, especially of poor women is a major outcome. Regional Spread. (16) In order to reduce the regional imbalance in the spread of SHG Bank linkage programme, NABARD identified 13 states, which have a large population of the poor, for focused attention. (17) In 2006-07, the Micro Finance Programme towards resource poor regions of the country began.
Positive impacts of SHGs on women empowerment:(1)Increase women income.(2) Saving habits which helps women's control over their income.(3) Decrease women dependence on their families,(4)Focus on entrepreneurship development trainings.(5) Develop managerial competences.(6) Gender equality. (7) Personal Growth.
Potential Negative Impacts of SHGs:(1)Addition on women's responsibilities. (2) Time problem for women.(3)Increasing women's debt.(4) Increase work burden.(5) They are considered as easy targets.(6) Increased pressure on loan repayment.
The successful SHGs can be a source of inspiration for the other people who want to earn a substantial income for the upliftment of their socio-economic status. The Self-Help Groups can be an effective technique for women empowerment in the society. The group members should have passion to work honestly for their economic improvement. In order to run the SHGs smoothly there is a need of support from the heads of the family of group members, local people and external organizations. |
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