Role of self help groups in women empowerment

Nearly a century has passed, and despite the multi-faceted development that India has achieved since then, their concerns are relevant even today. Although women constitute almost half of India’s 1.2 billion population, they are excluded from participating in economic activities and decision-making, as well as access to resources such as health, nutrition, education, etc. This exclusion and discrimination is reflected in fewer women. The labor force participation rate in India was recorded at only 22.3% in 2021 as compared to 30.3% in 1990.

In the context of the increasing importance being given to innovation, technology and self-reliance, especially in a post-Covid era, the economically weaker sections have faced huge loss of jobs and income. Even though women have the ability to contribute to household finances, they often do not have the agency to participate in decisions related to income generation pathways, thus often pushing their families to the brink of poverty. . In a country that is on the verge of rapid transformation in terms of growth of employment opportunities, urbanization and innovation, women participation in the economy is vital where India stands on the world stage. Even though the number of working women is about 432 million, about 343 million are not in paid formal job roles or work. An estimated 324 million of them are not in the labor force; And another 19 million are part of the labor force but not employed. Therefore, the nature of employment among women is either not accounted for in the formal economy, or women do not have access to formal jobs due to existing socio-cultural complexities. As a deeply patriarchal society, even as women seek employment, the dominant tradition of female domestic responsibility coupled with social stigma limits their economic advancement and access to opportunities compared to their male counterparts.

Entrepreneurship is an innovative and simple tool to remove the social stigma surrounding employment and give agency to women to break out of the shackles of subordination. In order to promote the participation of women in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, the government has launched several schemes like Mudra Yojana, Udyogini Yojana, Annapurna Yojana and Stand Up India.

However, despite efforts to create a better environment for women entrepreneurs in India, financing remains the biggest challenge. While the family may have disposable income, its key members often avoid contributing to a woman’s dream of financial independence. Furthermore, even if women manage to apply for loans, the collateral against which these are offered, such as property, is often in the name of their spouse, which is a deterrent to further ventures. works as. With social stigma, no financial access results in women’s unfulfilled ambitions, while limiting their opportunities to become self-reliant by gaining agency or mobility in the social sphere.

In such a scenario, Self Help Groups (SHGs) can act as a bridge between women entrepreneurs who have a desire to start an enterprise, but do not have the resources to fulfill their dream, and for this Required finance. An SHG comprises a small group of women who regularly come together to make monetary contributions. Emerging as important micro-finance systems, SHGs serve as platforms that promote solidarity among women, bringing them together on issues of health, nutrition, gender equality and gender justice. SHGs have already contributed significantly in developing entrepreneurial abilities by enhancing the skills of rural women and giving them an opportunity to engage in various entrepreneurial activities.

SHGs provide micro-credit to women entrepreneurs to sustain their business, as well as create an environment for them to develop greater agency and decision-making skills.

In India, the SHG movement began in the 1980s, when a number of non-governmental organizations organized and mobilized poor communities in rural areas to offer them formal channels for social and financial assistance. The program gained momentum with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, linking a small number of such groups with banks. Called the Self-Help Group Bank Linkage Program, this revolutionary initiative connected group members, many of whom had never had a bank account before, to formal financial services in a sustainable and scalable way.

In Maharashtra, in particular, the concept of SHGs dates back to 1947, when some women from Amravati district set up an SHG with only 25 paise. Today, apart from being a channel for credit in the state, SHGs also provide services ranging from entrepreneurship training, livelihood promotion and community development for women entrepreneurs. SHGs such as Mahila Economic Development Mahila Mandal, UMED campaign under the State Rural Livelihood Mission of the Rural Development Department of Maharashtra and government schemes like Tejaswani have proved beneficial in the development of women entrepreneurship due to women empowerment. A 2020 study by Ashwini Deshpande and Shantanu Khanna reported that SHGs in Maharashtra had a strong impact on several indicators related to women empowerment in the state, including political participation, knowledge of governance, financial literacy, mobility and decision making. includes taking. , In Maharashtra alone, 527,000 SHGs account for more than 50% of all women-led small-scale industrial units in India, indicating that SHGs can lead the holistic development of women entrepreneurship.

Self-help groups are highly relevant today as their provision of micro-credits helps in addressing regional imbalances as well as information asymmetries, thus providing an equal opportunity for women in terms of access to resources. The multidisciplinary IFMR study conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development assessed the impact of SHGs on livelihoods, and thus on consumption, expenditure and savings patterns in households of which women are part of it. The study found that SHG-assisted women were 10% more likely to save on a regular basis, resulting in economic empowerment, while working towards a better future for the next generation.

The revolutionary momentum created by SHGs has given women a vital sense of self-assurance in their journey to become self-reliant or self-reliant. Recognizing their important role, corporations and foundations globally have created SHG-led programs to help women achieve economic empowerment. For example, initiatives such as the Entrepreneur Campaign by EdelGive Foundation have focused on women entrepreneurs in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, among other states, by leveraging SHGs and other relevant stakeholders such as MAVIM. Facebook’s progress and Google’s Women’s Will have also moved towards providing equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

With mortgage-free micro-credit at the core of the trust that SHGs create with their beneficiaries, they are one of India’s most important tools for women to achieve socio-economic self-reliance.

Supriya Sule is a member of Lok Sabha