DECLARATION

I, Taranjeet Kaur, hereby declare that the dissertation entitled “Role of

Self-Help Groups in Women Empowerment in Uttarakhand”
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the
degree of Master of Arts (Economics) is my original work and has not
been submitted to any other university or institution for the award of any
degree, diploma, or certificate.

I further declare that all the sources of information used in this

dissertation have been duly acknowledged and referenced.

This dissertation has been completed under the guidance and supervision
of Prof. Shikha Nagalia, DAV P.G. College, Dehradun, affiliated to
Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.

Place: Dehradun Signature of the Student

Date: ___________ Taranjeet Kaur
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Dissertation titled "Dissertation on analysis of the
role of SHGs for women" submitted by Taranjeet Kaur in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Arts in Economics is a
record of research work carried out by her under my guidance. The
dissertation is satisfactory and meets the standards required for the award
of the degree.

Name - Taranjeet Kaur

Place - DAV PG COLLEGE
Address - PREMNAGAR, DEHRADUN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to

Prof. Shikha Nagalia __________________, DAV PG
COLLEGE, Dehradun, for their valuable guidance and support
throughout this dissertation project. She had a sympathetic ear
for all my questions or concerns and her office doors as always
open for us to come in and ask whatever aspects of the project.
I would also like to thank my parents and friends for their
valuable support and advice which helped me to do the project
within the given time frame.

Name - Taranjeet Kaur

Place - DAV PG COLLEGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN SELF HELP GROUPS
PARTICIPATION IN MEETING
PATICIPATION THROUGH MAKING SAVINGS
PARTICIPATION THROUGH TAKING LOANS
EMPOWERMENT
IMPACT OF SHG LOANS ON ENHANCING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
IMPACT OF SHG LOANS AND TRAINING IN ENHANCING ITS MEMBERS
CHALLENGES FACING SELF HELP GROUPS
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY
STUDY DESIGN
PARTICIPANTS OF THE STUDY
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
THE QUALITATIVE SAMPLE SIZE
METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
DOCUMENT REVIEW
QUANTATIVE DATA

INTRODUCTION

Although they represent half of the population and contribute mainly to food production and
other, they have not shared the fruits of development equally with their male counterparts.
Rights such as, access to land, credit and other productive resources are difficult for women to
attain.

Empowerment is a process which generates changes in ideas and perceptions and creates
awareness about one’s rights and opportunities for self development in all important sphere of
life
As far as the employment of women is concerned the women self help group in Ethiopia
have been recognized as an effective strategy for the empowerment of women in rural as well as
urban areas, bringing women together from all spheres of life to fight for their rights. So
the present paper focuses on the importance of SHG for rural women.

Women’s empowerment has long been a central feature of the partnership among
Ethiopian Government, local and International donor agencies. One of the key instruments
for supporting Women’s empowerment is self-help group formation and facilitation. In
Ethiopia, SHGs are promoted by voluntary organizations in maximizing people’s participation
in combating poverty and fostering rural development.
Empowerment is a process that gives a person freedom in [Link] of collateral security, need
of small-sized loans which is expensive, high bank transaction costs and financial dependence
have been the major hindrance to women empowerment. SHG has proved to be a reliable
mechanism to meet the urgent credit needs of the economically vulnerable. It has also
empowered women to venture in to entrepreneurial activities.

Therefore, women are the main target population for some organizations such as Siiqqee
Women’s Development Association , which are working on SHG program. In fact, SWDA’s
Organizational Vision is “To see women living with dignity and Security”. Further, MDG
(Millennium Development Goal) also emphasized on this issue. Among the eight goals; the
third goal focused on promoting gender equality and empowering women intending to
eliminate gender disparity in all education levels by 2015.

The Self Help Groups are instilling financial literacy in the rural women and are
encouraging them to make small savings which will eventually empower these women to come
out of the debt trap of money lenders and enable them to access banking institutions which
are increasingly willing to lend money because of the extremely high credit worthiness of the
poor.

Objectives of the study

General Objective is to analyze the impact of SHG on social, economic and political
empowerment of women Self-
Help Groups (SHGs) aim to empower marginalized communities, promote financial inclusion, an
d foster sustainable livelihoods. Their objectives include:
Connecting unbanked populations with formal financial institutions.
Improving skills, awareness, and decision-making capabilities.
Enhancing the standard of living of poor households through sustainable livelihoods.
Promoting entrepreneurship by providing loans, training, and guidance.
Addressing social issues such as health, sanitation, education, and gender equality.

Objectives of Self-Help Groups (SHGs)

To provide access to credit and promote entrepreneurship.
To build confidence among marginalized groups, especially women, by fostering a sense of
community.
To connect unbanked populations with formal financial institutions.
To enhance skills, awareness, and decision-making capabilities.
To improve the standard of living of poor households through sustainable livelihoods.
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Concept of Self Help Group Approach

The concept of Self Help Group is first introduced by Laureate Mohammed Yunus in Bangladesh
and nowadays it touched the greatest part of the [Link] purpose of the groups is enabling the
group members to come together and combine their resource in order to access low-cost financial
service with a process of selfmanagement and development. They can be formed and organized
by authorized institutions or sometimes they can be formed by the common interest of
individuals living in the same life condition. The group members save a certain money together
for some period of time that can be used as loan so that they can engage in different small
business activities to improve their economic life and living conditions.

The Self Help Group Approach is a powerful development model which

recognizes poverty not only as material deprivation but also as a continuous process of
disempowerment. It aims at transforming individuals and communities from poverty and
hopelessness to a state of self esteem and empowerment.

The review of literature presented reveals that several studies have been conducted with regard
to women empowerment through Self-help groups in different areas like political,social, cultural
and economic empowerment, Rural Women Empowerment.
 Empowerment of SC/STs through Entrepreneurship, Empowerment of women in different
districts, Empowering women through entrepreneurship has been [Link] is observed that
SHGs has contributed towards empowerment of rural women in the field of micro finance, micro
enterprises, participation in societal activities like village development, social actions and
political action programmes.

Over all the concept of SHG had positive impact on women empowerment. Further some studies
also observed lower and poor participation of SC/ST women in SHG activities. Hence even
though the people have constitutional rights and equal opportunity to participate and take the
benefit of various social activities directed towards empowerment, SC/ST women participation
and empowerment has not improved compared to other communities. Therefore, review of
literature makes it clear that there is a need to study SC/ST women Empowerment through self-
help groups by considering economic, social, political and cultural issues. Theoretical
Foundations:

Connectivism

Beyond the SAMR model, this study is grounded in Connectivism, a learning theory for the
digital age developed by George Siemens. Connectivism suggests that learning is a process of
connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
In this framework, AI is not just a tool; it is a "node" in the student’s learning network.
The literature review must examine whether the "strength" of the human-to-AI connection
weakens the human-to-instructor connection.

The Debate on Academic Integrity vs. Innovation

A significant portion of current literature focuses on the "Detection Era." Early research in 2023
focused almost exclusively on plagiarism and cheating. However, the discourse shifted in 2024
toward "AI Literacy." Researchers now argue that banning AI is equivalent to banning
calculators in math class in the 1970s. The literature suggests that students who are taught to use
AI ethically show higher levels of "Meta-cognition"—the ability to think about their own
thinking—because they must prompt and edit the AI’s output.

The "Black Box" of Student Motivation

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) suggests that students need Autonomy, Competence, and
Relatedness to be engaged.

Autonomy: Does AI give students more control over their learning pace?

Competence: Does receiving instant feedback from an AI chatbot increase a student’s feeling of
mastery?
Current literature is divided. Some studies show that AI increases competence by providing
24/7 support, while others suggest it decreases "Relatedness" because students spend less
time interacting with peers and professors.

There is a desperate need for Quantitative Data to provide a statistically significant look at the
"Average Student." This dissertation addresses this gap by moving away from evidence and
toward hard data.

Working of SHGs

Each self-help group has a president, secretary, bookkeeper and treasurer who meet to discuss
problems, find solutions and collect savings. The secretary's responsibility is to manage the
funds and activities that take place at each meeting. The role of the bookkeeper is to maintain
the accounts and activities that happen in each meeting. The group decides to meet monthly or
weekly and start saving money regularly. When the fund reaches a certain size, it starts internal
lending from the group, that is, borrowing and lending from the group when needed .

The bookkeeper records the members' attendance, savings and loans, repayments and minutes of
meetings in a ledger. The ledgers were then taken to the bank to open a bank account in the
name of the group.
The money collected by the group members is then deposited into the bank by two members of
the group. A portion of the savings is kept by the treasurer and other 56. members and can be
used as an emergency loan by the group members. Nominal interest is charged on this. These
groups are given training on how to manage meetings, how to approach government officials,
how to deal with their policies, budgets, business, etc.

Funds received through loans. Members of the group could apply for loans and these were
sanctioned during monthly meetings and the distribution of loans depended on the availability of
funds. They can also take low interest loans from banks to start a profitable business. SHGs
create employment opportunities for poor and disadvantaged groups. It also resolves conflicts
through collective leadership and negotiation. It provides collateral free loan with terms decided
by the group .SHGs work as a collective guarantor for members who wish to borrow from
organised sources of fund. As the poor collect their savings and save it in banks, in return they
receive easy access to loans with a small rate of interest to start their micro unit enterprise. Self-
Help Groups have emerged as the most effective mechanism for delivery of microfinance
services to the poor

Need for SHGs - The SHG's programme aims to reduce poverty and discrimination, encourage
the rural poor to save and invest, and encourage people to start their own small or micro
enterprises. It tries to resolve conflicts through negotiation and leadership. The programme aims
to provide adequate cash support to the most vulnerable groups, especially women in the family,
the disabled and 84. the underprivileged [Link] role of SHGs is important 85. and includes
the following:
Use members' resources to promote joint ventures and improve the lives of the poor.
Develop the habit of preserving and using local resources and use individual skills for mutual
benefit.
To act as a media for socio-economic development of the village.
Create linkages with NGOs and banks.
Assist in loan repayment.
To gain mutual understanding, develop trust and self-confidence.
To use as an effective delivery channel for rural credit.

Objectives of Self Help Groups (SHGs)

The following are the main objectives of Self Help Groups:

To inculcate the habit of saving and banking habit among the rural women.
To build up trust and confidence between the rural women and the bankers.
To develop group activity so that various welfare and developmental programs can be
implemented in a better way with the participation of these women groups .
To achieve women and child welfare program goals by actively involving these women groups in
Universal Immunization Program, small family norm, Universal Elementary Education, etc.

Characteristics of SHGs

The following are the chief characteristic features of SHGs:

Small size.
Identical interest/social heritage/common occupation, homogeneity, affinity.
Intimate knowledge of members, intrinsic strength, needs and problems.
Flexible and responsive.
Democratic in operations.
Simple documentation.
Collective leadership, mutual discussions.
Group solidarity, self help, awareness, social and economic empowerment.

Benefits of SHGs

The benefits of SHGs are as follows :

A via-media for development of savings habit among the poor.
An access to large quantum of resources.
A window for better technology/skill upgradation.
Availability of emergent, consumption/production credit at the door step.
Access to various promotional assistance and
Assurance of freedom, quality, self-reliance and empowerment.

Functions of SHGs

In view of carrying out the empowerment of women, the SHGs are expected to take on certain
functions which are essential documentation on the happenings of the SHGs and their
involvement with the wider society is considered to be vital. Small savings details are
maintained by the members themselves.

SHGs play a crucial role in various functions that contribute to socio-economic

development. Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are informal associations of individuals, typically from
similar socio-economic backgrounds, who voluntarily come together to improve their living
conditions through mutual support. Their primary function involves financial intermediation,
where members pool their regular savings to create a common fund from which collateral-free
loans are provided at reasonable interest rates for personal or income-generating needs. This
system builds financial discipline, promotes banking literacy, and acts as a collective guarantee,
enabling members to access formal credit from banks and reducing their dependence on informal
moneylenders.

Beyond finance, SHGs play a crucial role in socio-economic development and empowerment.
They serve as platforms for collective decision-making and mutual discussion to resolve conflicts
and address common social issues like alcoholism, domestic violence, and illiteracy. The groups
also focus on capacity building and skill development, providing training in various trades (e.g.,
tailoring, handicrafts, agriculture) to enhance members' capabilities and support self-employment
and micro-enterprises. Through these functions, SHGs help alleviate poverty, enhance the social
status and self-esteem of marginalized communities, particularly women, and ensure that
government welfare schemes reach the intended beneficiaries more efficiently.

Membership in Self Help Group

It is important that people from poor households are made aware and made to recognize the
significance of collective efforts in solving problems that seem impossible with individual
efforts, by voluntarily deciding to put their efforts together to help increase their access to
financial services, economic services like technology, training in skill and enterprise
management, material support and marketing facilities, etc.
Members are usually women, as women's groups have historically shown
better savings and loan repayment performance, leading to a strong focus on women's
empowerment through SHGs. The group members must live in the same locality or
neighborhood, which facilitates regular meetings (often weekly or monthly) and a strong sense of
community and mutual understanding. The group operates on principles of collective decision-
making, where all members have a voice in matters such as the amount of regular savings,
interest rates for internal loans, and repayment schedules. This structure, built on mutual trust
and shared challenges, enables marginalized individuals to access financial services and work
together to overcome poverty and social issues that would be difficult to address individually.

Membership Requirements

Size of group is normally restricted to 15-20 members to facilitate participatory processes.

Members of a group should be at least 18 years of age.
Members should be aware of rights and obligations of membership.
Members must share understanding on objectives and vision of group
Finally, membership by mutual selection is a solitary means to build group solidarity.

Mutual selection process entails the participant to expressly indicate the list of all people who
could be trusted with their money. Persons with negative characteristics tend to be left out of
such formed trust groups and those with the positive attributes tend to be included.
 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Response Rate

Age Level of Respondents

Education Level of Respondents
Marital Status of the Respondents
Quantitative data analysis

ANNEXURE

i: Interview Guide to be used with SHG Members

ii: Interview Guide for the Project Staff
iii: Interview Guide for Grass-root Community Leaders
iv: Observation Checklist
v: Checklist for Document Review
vi: Proforma for Submission of M.A (RD Proposal for Approval
vii: project proposal

Significance of the Study

The study was expected to provide alternative suggestions and/or appropriate policy measures
that are viable to enhance women empowerment. The findings of this study will be used to spur
women participation in economic growth and enhance empowerment. The study may also
help Governmental and Non-governmental organizations participating in the promotion Self
Help Groups and women empowerment to produce an alternative idea.

Scope and Limitation of the Study:

The scope of SHGs is extensive, serving as a powerful mechanism for socio-economic

transformation, particularly in rural areas. They promote financial discipline by encouraging
regular savings among members and linking them to formal banking services through initiatives
like the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, thereby reducing dependence on informal
moneylenders. Beyond microfinance, SHGs act as platforms for community development and
social change, empowering women with leadership skills and a collective voice to address local
issues such as alcoholism, dowry, and sanitation. They also serve as effective conduits for the
efficient implementation of government welfare schemes and provide a support system for
members to diversify their livelihoods through vocational training and micro-enterprise
development.

Limitations of SHGs

Despite their potential, SHGs face significant limitations. A key challenge is the variable quality
and sustainability of operations; many groups struggle with poor accounting practices and a lack
of qualified resource personnel for skill upgradation, which limits the economic gains for
members to a subsistence level. There is also a notable regional disparity in their success, with
concentration in certain states, and a persistent "patriarchal mindset" in some areas that
discourages women's full participation. Furthermore, SHGs often remain heavily dependent on
promoting government agencies and NGOs, and the withdrawal of this support can lead to their
collapse, raising questions about their long-term self-reliance and scalability.
Self-Help Group: a group of ten to twenty destitute people who are organized to change their
economic, social and political life and to help each other during different problems financially,
by saving some amount of many for both economic advancement and for accidental
problems and emotionally, through their strong social bond among the group members.

SHG Leaders: are group members who serve the group voluntarily without having any payment
or benefits, such as by facilitating the meetings of the group, leading the discussion, participation
in the decision making process and the like.

Participation of Women in Self Help Groups

A small group (10 to 20 members) usually women, voluntarily formed and related by affinity
for specific purpose, it is a group whose members use savings, credit and social
involvement as instruments of empowerment (As defined by the SHG Portal). The
movement adopts an approach where at least one member of each identified rural poor
household is mobilized into the SHG Group network with an intention to turn these groups into a
functionally effective and self managed institution. District Level supported by Community
Facilitators who ensure the processes of inclusion & mobilization and will be led by
internally selected women leaders who are voted through a democratic process within the
SHG system.
The SHG is a voluntary association of the poor who come
together to improve their Socio-economic condition. The SHGs may be association formed
either by male members or by female members or both. The SHG’s are formed under the
principle of self help to promote individual through collective actions in areas of any mentioning
income, gaining easier access to credit and other resources and increasing their bargaining power.
Every SHG has its own principle and values; member’s active participation is the key principle
which cuts across most SHG as indicated in the literature. Participation has no universally agreed
definition it varies with authors depending on the context in which it occurs. In the context
of empowerment, different authors have given different definitions.(Westergaard,1986,
p.14). The World Bank defines participation as “a process through which stakeholders.
Influence and share control over development initiatives, and the decisions and resources
which affects them. Participation as and end is an active process in which the participants take
initiatives and actions that are stimulated by their own thinking and by deliberations over which
they exert effective control.

Participation in SHG is usually taking active role in group core activities and occasional
activities. Core activities include attending meetings, regular savings, credit recovery, activities
relating to lending and borrowing. Non-core internal activities include participating in
trainings,exchange visits, electing office bearers, participating in community events such
as addressing social issues health and sanitation issues, water, children issues.

Key Aspects of Participation

Economic Empowerment: SHGs serve as a financial intermediary, promoting regular saving and
providing access to collateral-free microcredit, which helps members start small businesses (e.g.,
tailoring, animal husbandry, food processing). This financial autonomy reduces dependence on
exploitative moneylenders and increases women's control over household income and assets.
Social Upliftment and Awareness: By meeting regularly, often in women-only spaces,
participants build strong social networks and gain self-confidence, self-esteem, and
communication skills. They address community issues like health, sanitation, child marriage, and
domestic violence, which helps challenge deep-seated patriarchal norms.
Political Engagement: Involvement in group decision-making and community initiatives builds
leadership skills, leading many SHG members to participate actively in local governance and
even get elected to village councils. This participation enables them to advocate for policies that
benefit their communities.
Access to Government Programs: SHGs act as a platform for disseminating information about
and facilitating access to various government schemes and services, such as health check-ups,
insurance, and skill development training programs.

From the literature reviewed most scholars agreed that participation is a means and an end state.
When viewed as a means it is seen as a process of achieving set objective or goal through use
of local economic and social resources to achieve predetermined targets. Participation as and
end is an active process in which the participants take initiatives and actions that are stimulated
by their own thinking and by deliberations over which they exert effective control.
 Participation in meetings

According to Das (2010) in India Self Help Group (SHG) organizes frequent meetings
either weekly, fortnight or monthly. The meetings are used by members to discuss, reflect
business. Members’ physical presence is very critical and a register of attendances is kept ,
absenteeism attracts fines. The group officials also maintains minute book where they record all
meeting proceedings. The meetings core activities include members making their savings,
discussion on Social issues, repayment of loans, and payment of fines and dispatch of
loans.
During the meetings, members review on loan application and the amount to be loaned
to applicants. Admission of new members and how to release those who want to resign,
taking disciplinary action against members who misbehaved is also discussed.

Other critical activities to enhance group cohesion are discussed; these include activities such as,
undertaking community activity, taking up common economic activity to build up group
income, and organizing for trainings. Trainings are important in development of SHG
members.

Participation through making savings

Self Help Groups has given urban women whom most of them live below a dollar a day
an opportunity to secure their tomorrow by putting a coin aside from their hard earned money.
The SHG gives women opportunity to saves regularly, access formal savings institutions
and also participate in management of these savings. Members are required to make frequent
savings as possible they are then recorded in a savings register. All SHG members must agree to
save a small, fixed amount regularly (e.g., weekly or monthly), regardless of how small. The
principle is "Savings first Building a Common Fund (Corpus): Individual savings are pooled into
a collective group fund. This builds a robust financial base that the group manages
autonomously.

Participation through making savings is a foundational principle of personal finance and

economic stability, both for individuals and the broader economy. By intentionally setting aside a
portion of current income for future use, individuals build a financial safety net that provides
peace of mind and resilience against unexpected challenges like medical emergencies or job
loss.
This disciplined habit of saving enables people to pursue significant long-term goals, such as
purchasing a home, funding higher education, or securing a comfortable retirement, which might
otherwise remain out of reach. From an economic perspective, personal savings deposited into
financial institutions are vital because they are recycled as investments by businesses, leading to
increased productive capacity, economic growth, and the creation of future opportunities. Thus,
the individual act of saving money extends beyond personal benefit, contributing to broader
financial security and overall societal well-being.
Internal Lending: The accumulated savings are used to provide micro-loans to needy members
for various purposes like emergencies, education, or starting small [Link] on loan
purposes, interest rates, and repayment schedules are made collectively by the group members,
fostering democratic functioning and shared responsibility.

Financial Discipline and Literacy: Regular saving and managing internal loans help members
learn financial management skills, budgeting, and record-keeping, which are essential for long-
term stability and success.

Participation in Self-Help Groups (SHGs) is strengthened through the practice of regular savings.
Members contribute small amounts on a weekly or monthly basis, which builds a collective fund
and instills financial discipline. This savings habit not only empowers individuals to manage
their resources better but also fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility within the group.
The pooled savings become a foundation for internal lending, enabling members to access credit
for household needs, income-generating activities, or emergencies. By saving together, SHG
members actively participate in decision-making, enhance mutual trust, and ensure the
sustainability of the project.

Participation through taking loans

Most Self Help Groups are formed by members who are in need of credit but lack
collateral security to access bank loans. Participation in SHGs has improved woman’s
access to credit, through pooling their financial resources in form of savings which is usually
done either weekly or [Link] savings are crucial in two aspects. First part of the
saving are loaned to members, the second part are kept in the account and can be used to access
bank loans. A loan register indicating members with loan and their status in regard loans. A loan
register indicating members with loan and their status in regard to repayment is kept by the group
officials but can be assessed by members.

Empowerment

The concept of empowerment refers to process of bringing about transformation in all works of
the life of every individual citizen in the country. Ability of people, in particular the least
privileged, to seize opportunities and control over productive resources that enable them
to increase their quality of life and obtain the goods and services they need as well as to
participate in the development process and to influence the decisions that affect them.
Empowerment is a process that gives a person freedom in decision making, empowerment
provides greater access to knowledge and recourses, more autonomy in decision making, greater
ability to plan lives, more control over the circumstances which influence lives and freedom
from customs, beliefs and practices Empowerment encompasses at least the following four basic
ingredients.

Women Empowerment

The subject of empowerment of women has becoming a burning issue all over the world since
last few decades. Many agencies of United Nations in their reports have emphasized that gender
issue is to be given utmost priority. It is held that women now cannot be asked to wait for
any more for equality.

Inequalities between men and women and discrimination against women have also been age-old
issues all over the world. Thus, women’s quest for equality with man is a universal phenomenon.
What exists for men is demanded by women? They have demanded equality with men in matters
of education, employment, inheritance, marriage, and politics and recently in the field of religion
also to serve as cleric. Women want to have for themselves the same strategies of change which
men folk have had over the centuries such as equal pay for equal work. A long struggle
going back over a century has brought women the property rights, voting rights, equality in civil
rights before the law in matters of marriage and employment. Women are playing bigger
and bigger role in economic field: as workers, consumers, entrepreneurs, managers and investors.

Concept of Women Empowerment

Women’s empowerment is a process that enables women 204. to realize their identity, status and
power in all areas of life. Empowerment provides greater access to information and resources,
greater freedom in decision-making, greater ability to plan their lives, greater control overevents
that affect their lives, and freedom from traditions, religions and practices. Empowerment
requires significant changes in marriage and family, relationships and attitudes towards
marriage. Empowerment is a way of giving people the freedom to make decisions. Women all
over the world have been struggling with gender inequality since the beginning of history. Self
Help Groups (SHGs) help the poor to get financial assistance, 216.
Membership in SHGs has facilitated the economic empowerment of women by granting them
control over resources, political empowerment by involving them in decision-making processes,
and social empowerment by improving their social status through enhanced economic conditions.
Women who work help the economy to expand and ensure that their families can live
comfortably. They are increasingly and gradually seen marching into domains which were
previously reserved for males . In spite of their increasing number in every field, women
still remain perhaps the world’s most underutilized resources.

Economic Empowerment: - implies the provision of training and employment-cum- income

generation activities with both “forward” and “backward “linkages with ultimate. Economic
empowerment is the expansion of individual choice and capacities for self- reliance in
terms of having access to and control over the means to make a living on a sustainable
and long term basis, and receiving the material benefits of this access and control. It
also involve broadening their skills and knowledge (N. Kabeer, 2005).Various studies
conducted have focus primarily on quantitative aspect in measuring economic
empowerment.

Political Empowerment: - means conferring the right to decide the priorities of development
best suited to the individuals, groups of people or to the society and to the people
themselves. Power in such an event would flow “bottom-to top “with weaker sections having
equal say in decision making.

Cultural Empowerment:- is a complex area that revolves around the believes,values, languages,
art and customs which characterizes the society.
Constitutional Provisions for SC/ST Women:
The important Constitutional safeguards for SCs & STs are mentioned below:
Directive Principles of State Policy Article 46: -"The State shall promote with special care the
educational and economic interests of the weaker sections, of the people, and in particular, of the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all
forms of exploitation".

Social Safeguards

Article 17. "Untouchability" is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The
enforcement of any disability arising out of "Untouchability" shall be an offence punishable in
accordance with law.

Article 23. Prohibits traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour
and provides that any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in
accordance with law. It does not specifically mention SCs & STs but since the majority of
bonded labour belong to SCs/STs this Article has a special significance for SCs and STs. In
pursuance of this article, Parliament has enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,
1976. For effective implementation of this Act, the Ministry of Labour is running a Centrally
Sponsored Scheme for identification, liberation and rehabilitation of bonded labour.
Article 24. provides that no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. There are Central and State laws
to prevent child labour. This article too is significant for SCs and STs as a substantial
[Link] Empowerment:“Rural” is considered to be non metropolitan areas outside the
limits of any incorporated or unincorporated city or villages.

Historical Background of SC/ST Women

The situation of SC/ST women in India needs special attention. They are one of the largest
socially segregated groups anywhere in the world, and make up 2% of the world’s total
population. SC/ST women are positioned at the bottom of India’s caste, class and gender
hierarchies. They are placed at the absolute bottom of the social hierarchy as they face systemic
and structural discrimination threefold: as SC/ST s, as poor, and as women. The caste system,
estimated to affect 260 million people globally, declares SC/ST women to be intrinsically impure
and, untouchable‟, which sanctions social exclusion and exploitation.
According to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the majority
of the educated people are of the upper caste, many of which may practice caste-based
discrimination. Therefore, SC/ST girls feel discouraged to enter education and we see the lowest
literacy rate for SC/ST girls compared to the Total population of educated upper caste girls
(National Commission) Lack of educational development is another important problem. In 2000,
the literacy rate among SC and ST rural females (aged 15 and above) was 24 per cent and 23 per
cent respectively, compared with 41 per cent for nonSC /ST women. The literacy rate among SC
women in urban areas was 48 per cent, compared with 54 per cent and 70 per cent for ST and
non-SC/ST women respectively. The dropout rate among SC and ST women is also relatively
high at every stage of education. The high dependence on casual labour, with relatively low
earnings coupled with inadequate exposure to education, among SC and ST women induced a
high degree of deprivation and poverty among them.
The main reasons for the very low literacy rate among SC/ST women could be some or all of the
following:

The Lack of educational resources especially in rural areas.

Privatization of schools and colleges.
Extreme poverty, because of which they cannot afford the expensive fees for the private schools.
The demand for an increase in the Dowry for educated girls.
Humiliation and bullying by the high caste students and teachers.

Development: Development implies overall positive change in the physical quality of life. This
positive change for the better encompasses economic as well as social aspects. Therefore,
development not only calls for economic growth but also the equitable distribution of the gains
made from economic growth. In other words, development implies growth with justice.
Rural Development: Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and
economic well-being of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated
[Link] development aims at finding the ways to improve the rural lives with participation of
the rural people themselves so as to meet the required need of the rural area.
 The Impact of SHG Loans on Enhancing Economic Empowerment

The loans advanced to members by Self Help Group have been instrumental in micro enterprise
development such as income generating activities. Some members have used the loan to
start business; some use it to scale up the existing business, others use it to add a new
business. Loans have enable women to own assets, for example in the World Bank report 2008,
it found out that for every 10% increase in borrowing by Grameen bank it had led to an
increase in women non-land asset by 2%. A study conducted by Mohanasundari noted
that the loans from SHG has enable them purchased paddy, start cow rearing, petty business,
purchased van, opened tea shop, leased land, taking up collective projects.

The Impact of SHG Meetings and Trainings in Enhancing its Members

The successes of members businesses are attributed to groups,regular meetings and
trainings where members gain skills and share business experiences which help them to
overcome day to day hurdles. It has also helped members without any experience of running a
business who are usually nervous and wary of starting their own business, to overcome such
fear (Subramaniam, 2012). Self Help Group (SHG) has also improved technical and
practical skills on entrepreneurship through training exposed to members and sharing of
businesses experiences

(Das, 2012).This has enhanced managerial skills such as; planning; decision making, ability to
facilitate a group meeting and managing the enterprise. A study conducted by Swain noted that
women after joining SHG were able to resolve conflict among themselves in the group even
without the leaders. In another study conducted by Swain, Wallentin and Varghese they found
out that the training of members provided by the SHG program has enhanced their
entrepreneurship skills as well as their ability to perceive and process new information, evaluate
and adjust to changes, which has in turn increased both their productivity and self-
confidence.

Challenges Facing Self Help Groups

Though Self Help Groups (SHGs) have contributed in enhancing women empowerment,
some gaps were noted during the literature review. Some of capacity gaps facing SHG include
both the internal factors which are within their control and also the external factors which are
beyond their control .The most common internal factors are the management and the
technical skills. The management skills include lack of governance structure, strategic
plan, financial management, constitution, and poor monitoring and evaluation tools. The
technical skills include poor marketing skills, accounting skills and financial planning skills.

Some of the external factors include lack of control over policies making such as to gap
exploitative markets, enable them have access to good roads, friendly bank lending rates.
The greatest absurdity is that most government officials who make these policies are
thousands of miles away continually shaping new solution to problems they have never
experienced for the people whom they have never consulted and thus some of the policies
developed to alleviate the poor do not work (Durning & Institute, 1989).

DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY

Methodology

Research Philosophy

This study adopts a Positivist paradigm. The rationale for this choice is the belief that social
reality can be measured objectively through quantitative instruments. By using standardized
surveys, the researcher remains independent from the subjects, ensuring that the findings are not
biased by personal interpretation.

Research Design

A Cross-Sectional Quantitative Design was employed. This allowed for the collection of data
from a large population at a single point in time, providing a "snapshot" of the current state of AI
integration in universities.

The data revealed that 82% of students use Generative AI at least once per week. The most
common use case was "Summarizing long readings followed by "Brainstorming essay outlines .
Since the district Guto Gida is situated at an altitude above 1350 to 2450 meters above
sea level the dominant climatic condition is a sub tropical type. As a result this area is
experienced mean annual temperature of slightly greater than 15 c and mean annual rainfall of
1600 to 2000mm.

Study Design

This study focused on capturing the socio-economic characteristics such as demographic

data, economic status, social benefits, and entrepreneurial activities of members of different self-
help groups. Therefore the study adopted mixed research method where both qualitative
and quantitative data were used for the research process and the researcher employed
exploratory approach in organizing the research findings. As mentioned earlier, the objective of
this research is to explore the role and contribution of Self Help Groups for social and
economic empowerment of poor women by gathering primary and secondary data from the
selected Kebeles of Guto Gida district. It was very important to use a variety of quantitative
and qualitative methods in order to collect comprehensive data such as open and close
ended questions, in-depth interview, observation and document review. It also helps to get
detailed information to explore and understand the main achievements of the group members .
The selected study design is case study, since the study is
focused in only SWDA program office in Nekemte. The participants of the study were interested
in exploring and describing the impact of the project in their economic, social, emotional,
cultural and political life. The rationale for choosing a case study is with the intention
of intensely explore the contributions of SHG program by using various kinds study
mechanisms. This was in line with Yin whereby case study is to study a case with clear
boundaries which the researcher explores a bounded system (a case) or multiple bounded
system overtime through detailed and in-depth data collection involving multiple sources
of information .

Participants of the Study

In selecting the participants of the study, group maturity and member’s period of stay in
the group were critical factors considered. Target populations were fifteen (15) SHGs and
its 280 registered members who participated in SHG in a regular basis for 2 years and
above in Guto Gida district. The 280 registered members were the total number of members
from the 15 Self Help Groups.

Sampling Techniques

A list of the women Self Help Groups (SHGs) was obtained from the SWDA Wollega
coordination office. Self Help Groups (SHGs) with 2 years and above was purposely
selected and women with 2 years and above participation in the group were sampled; the
choice of 2 years bracket was to analyze the SHG contribution to empowerment since it is
highly correlated with the time of involvement in SHG. The research focused on those SHG
members who benefited from participating in SHG and only those that explored empowerment
from the perspectives of women participants in self-help group programs.

The Qualitative Sample Size

The sample SHGs in the study were identified through systematic random sampling every
3rd group was sampled until the desired sample size of 5 groups attained which is 33.3% of 15
[Link] the in-depth interview part, a total of 84 individuals were randomly selected and
participated in the study. While case research employ mostly face-to-face interviews to collect
most qualitative data, the potential and value of collecting quantitative data should not be
ignored. The case interviewer can record numeric quantities such as how many months it
took to make certain savings, how much have been saved and how often the members took
loan, how many people were involved in that decision process, and how many decision
alternatives were considered, which can provide valuable insights not otherwise available from
interviewees narrative responses. Irrespective of the specific research design employed, the
goal of the researcher should be to collect as much and as diverse data as possible that can
help generate the best possible insights about the phenomenon of interest (Bhattacherjee,
2012). Therefore the qualitative data were supported with quantitative information where
the researcher found gap in addressing the research objective. Accordingly those 150
respondents were used in gathering the quantitative data.

Methods of Data Collection

Data collection in case study research is typically extensive, drawing on multiple sources
of information such as observation, interviews, documents and audiovisual materials. The
interview helps the researcher to explore and deeply understand how the interviewee view the
issues raised and her understanding about the contributions of SHG project. In addition,
it helps to enable the research participants to talk and express their feelings and opinion
freely. Interview guide questions were used to get the appropriate and the needed
information for the study. In order to observe the impacts of SHG, the researcher
observed their training sessions, discussions, interactions and their emotional intelligence as
participant observer. Participants- observer was selected as specific method in which the
researcher was revealed his status as an observer to the group members who were studied.
The researcher was participated in their weekly meetings and trainings frequently, and
discussed, asked simple questions and make interaction with the group members.

Document Review

The other source of data for the study was depended on reviewing different documents
of the project and the documents of SHGs. These were magazines of the project, annual and
quarter reports about the progress of poor women in the groups, cases of some women of the
group, the financial transaction of SHGs, attendance of the members and other data documented
in the past years that show the contributions and challenges of SHG project in the life condition
of poor women were assessed and reviewed. Members registration books, Minute books
and boxes used for depositing money with their locker keys were also observed by the
researcher. The researcher used a check list to pick up the needed specific information from the
documents.

Quantitative Data
Quantitative data were analyzed and coded according to research objectives. The analyzed data
were presented using tables and figures. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was done
to test association between predictor variables and outcome [Link] quantifiable
metrics helps ensure groups follow core operational guidelines known as "Panchasutra" (five
cardinal principles):

Weekly meetings (attendance records).

Weekly savings (amount saved per member).

Regular internal lending (number and value of loans).

Regular repayment (repayment rates/percentages).

Good book keeping (completeness and accuracy of financial records).

Measuring Financial Inclusion and Performance: Key metrics track financial health and outreach:
Total number of SHGs and members (e.g., as of June 2025, India had 91 lakh SHGs with 10
crore women members). Bank linkage data (number of groups linked, total loan amounts availed
from formal institutions). Interest rates on internal loans compared to local moneylenders (e.g.,
24% annual rate in SHGs vs. 60-120% in informal sources).Assessing Socio-Economic Impact:
Researchers use quantitative studies to gauge the measurable effects on members' lives: Changes
in household income (percentage of members reporting increased income). Evaluating Program
Effectiveness and Sustainability: Data on loan recovery rates, per capita savings, and the number
of groups achieving microentrepreneurship status helps evaluate program success and long-term
viability. SHG monitoring cells are recommended to collect both quantitative and qualitative
information to assess overall performance.