Enabling Tribal Women with Microfinance-Based Initiatives? Evidence from Tribal Populated Dahod District

Abstract

This study is based on field evidence and relevant databases to understand impact of microfinance-led initiative on tribal women. In India, tribal women tend to face the brunt of societal discrimination in the house and outside, leading to disempowerment. Microfinance model meant to empower women to have positive impact on household and society but filed evidence from Dahod suggests that microfinance initiatives has experienced limited success in tribal areas with some positive impact on the tribal women. This means there are positive linkages between microfinance initiatives and tribal women’s empowerment. The study further shows that microfinance interventions tend to empower women economically, socially, psychologically, and politically with some adverse implications.