SHG Members Research Articles

Self-help Groups as Drivers of Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Karnataka and Odisha States

This paper has conceptualised and measured the graduation of a self-help group member as a two-dimensional index, combining savings and enterprise dimensions, that reflects the ability of SHG members to start their own enterprises/income-generating activities. The study has covered a sample of 240 SHG members drawn from four districts, viz. Khordha and Sambalpur (Odisha) and Dakshina Kannada and Koppal (Karnataka). It was found that about 27 per cent of the SHGs did not have any member having individual savings bank account. The less-developed districts (Sambalpur and Koppal) fared better compared to the developed districts (Khordha and Dakshina Kannada) in terms of savings bank account penetration. The SHG members opened savings bank accounts, mostly for pro-entrepreneurial purposes. They undertook multiple activities ranging from mere wage labour to income-generating/microenterprises. The membership in SHG helped about 40 per cent of the people in taking up two or more additional activities than before. Farming followed by wage labour have been found the primary activities among SHG members. The tendency for taking up additional activities was higher among members from less-developed districts. The members with higher accumulated savings and possessing a mobile phone or belonging to younger groups have shown higher probability of going for additional activity. The paper has identified personal factors, SHG-related aspects and environment-related factors that helped the graduation process. Savings have shown positive influence on graduation index. However, borrowings did not emerge as a positive factor behind graduation. Nor it stimulated members to take up additional activities. However, using loan for non-consumption use has encouraged higher level of graduation. The paper has suggested scale, scope, convergence of efforts by different agencies and training as important aspects for consideration and has recommended to start a registry to avoid duplication of efforts.

Performance Of Shg Linkage Models Adopted By Bankers

Economically and socially weak sections of the society lack collateral securities and identity requirements which are important to apply for loan from bank. So these sections of the people find it difficult to approach bank to avail financial services which will help in their economic development and social enrichment. Hence, the SHGs have been organized in which the group jointly takes the responsibility for group borrowing and group repayment. The study were analysed under the following objectives have been set for the present study. (i) To evaluate the Microfinance linkages of SHGs. The study measures the gap in the microfinance linkage by evaluating the three models of linkage. It was conducted in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu covering SHGs of three different models of linkage with sample size 175 SHGs. The primary data was collected through questionnaire. The interview schedule is prepared by discussing with the NGO officials and SHG leaders and SHG members. The results of the study indicate that SHGs have been performing better not only as providers of financial services in terms of augmenting savings, lending and ensuring loan recovery, but also in terms of awareness creation and empowerment.

A Study on the Role of Self Employment Training In Transforming Young Self Help Group Women's into Self Employed & Self Empowered

Women are still more likely to be disadvantaged when it comes to the access to employment and income. Targeted promotion of vocational skills can increase their chances to taking part in effectively in the job market. This calls for self employment training options that are specifically designed to meet women‘s needs. Women are disproportionately affected by unemployment. One reason for this is that they tend to have a lower level of education then men. Improved access to education and the acquisition of skills that have the way to an income generating occupations. Here researcher wants to study on importance of self employment training and its role in transforming SHG members into self employed & self –dependent through that how they became self empowered.

Development of Rural Entrepreneurship through SHGS: An Empirical Study

Entrepreneurship has been gaining greater significance at international stage under changing economic scenario. Indian economy is on the threshold of accelerated economic growth driven by entrepreneurship. The present study is an attempt to find out impact of microfinance through SHGs in development of rural entrepreneurship. The study shows that though microfinance through SHGs have helped in promotion of rural entrepreneurship but there are various problems which the rural enterprises are currently facing like insufficient transportation and storage services, lack of quality control measures, non-availability of right type of raw material, difficulty in selection of products, poor linkage with selling bodies, small scale of production, lack of trained workers and improper communication with other developmental agencies and most importantly long and complicated procedures to avail financial help. All these factors are restricting the rural enterprises from reaching their full potential. Activity wise analysis of the respondents suggests that selected SHG members are mainly involved in activities which require lesser amount of forward and backward linkages. The activities requiring more linkages and service inputs have not been successful to that extent.

Impact of Micro Finance: Perceptions of Direct Stakeholders of Self Help Groups

Self Help Group is a unique innovation of credit delivery technique and has produced positive impacts on two vital areas of national development, alleviation of poverty and women’s empowerment. Sixty five variables relating to impact of SHGs on members are identified from survey of literature and relevant perception of direct stakeholders whether the aspects like impact on members of SHG and its involvement in larger social issues should be peripheral or core components of quality indicators of SHG is perceived in this study. The study is conducted by using multi-stage random sampling method to collect primary data from the selected Development Blocks of Nagaon districts of Assam (India). It is observed that there was no significant effect of stakeholders on overall score on impact on members of SHG as Peripheral or Core issue. It is observed that different stakeholders believed that the impact on members of SHG and its involvement in larger social issues should be ‘somewhat core component’ as the mean value lies in between the scale range of 1 & 0 which represents the range of ‘somewhat core component’. It is further observed that Financial Institutions are less concerned about the social issues while Donor’s are more concerned about the social issues.

A Qualitative Study on Role of Self Help Group In Tribal Women Empowerment In Rayagada Block Of Gajapati District Of Odisha,India

Background: Women empowerment is an essential precondition for elimination of poverty. Many International and National bodies have stressed on women empowerment giving attention to their participation in society, decision-making, education and health. In India, Self Help Group intervention has brought tremendous change in the life of women at the grass root level. Currently around 50 SHGs exist in Rayagada block of Gajapati district of Odisha and are successfully managed by women. Aim: To assess the role of Self-Help Groups in empowerment of tribal women of rural of Rayagada block. Methodology: It was a community based qualitatively study. Ten SHG groups were selected on feasibility basis. The SHG members’ perception of improvement in different pre determined domains were assessed. Content analysis was done manually and the key findings were noted. Results: The key responses were ‘increased participation in household decision making’, ‘gaining respect in family’, ‘increased savings’, ‘meeting family expenses’, ‘improved political knowledge’, ‘independence’, ‘confidence’ etc. They said to have gained respect and trust in society and were able to plan for the future of their families. Conclusions: Self Help Groups played very important role in Women empowerment and should be promoted for economic development of the country.

Comparative Study of the Financial Independence, Self-Confidence and Decision-Making Power, Awareness of the Social Resources and Mental Health in the Women Members of SHG and Non-Member of SHG

The main objective of the present paper was the evaluation of the program of the self help groups in the Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Hamadan and Western Azerbaijan in Iran. The Casual-comparative research method has been used in this research and statistical population was all the women members of SHG and Non-Member of SHG. The statistical samples were included 289 the women members of SHG (137) and Non-Member of SHG (152) due to the size of the population, more than /90 of population has been selected. Three different research instrument have been used which are included Demographic features questionnaire, Questionnaire of the evaluation of the self help groups’ empowerment, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The reliability of the questionnaire of the evaluation of the self help groups’ empowerment was /80 and General health questionnaire (GHQ-28) was /92. According to the research results, there are significant relationship between the amount of the financial independence, self confidence, the decision making power and the amount of the awareness of women members of SHG and Non-Member of SHG. Also, there were no significant relationship between the amount of cutting dependency to direct financial supports and mental health the women members of SHG and Non-Member of SHG.

Model of Maturity (MOM) : Lessons for New SHG'S

This article analyses the problems and constraints faced by the matured n SHG members in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu. The researcher collected responses from 450 women respondents from two blocks in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu and the study concludes that rotation of leaders, lack of cooperation and family member criticism are the major problems experiences by the matured SHGs which will be a lesson to the newly formed SHGs. Discriminant analysis was used in analysing the data collected from the women respondents. The study will be helpful to the Self Help Promoting Institutions (SHPI) rural development practitioners and NGOs to ensure that these problems do not recur or and in evolving an efficient mechanism to handle the issues.

Impact of Micro Finance on Housing - A Study on Narshingpur Development Block of the Cachar District of Assam

For the past three decades, micro finance has come to be considered by many development practitioners as an important tool for eradication of poverty throughout the world. It extends financial services to the poor hitherto unreached by the financial institutions, and has its root in poor countries like Bangladesh. By looking into the positive impact of this service on the rural poor, it has been replicated in many other countries of the world duly adjusting it to the socioeconomic conditions of that particular country. Accordingly, in India also, initiatives have been taken in the late 1980s, and has been formally launched with the introduction of the Self-Help Group - Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) of NABARD in 1992. Since then the programme has grown rapidly in India with some regional imbalances. The programme got a boost with the introduction of the government sponsored self-employment programme, i.e., Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) in the year 1999. So in India, micro finance has almost completed two decades of journey. Many research studies have been conducted by the public as well as private agencies, universities, research institutions, etc., to see the impact of this programme on socioeconomic conditions of the beneficiary households. Similarly, the present study has been undertaken to gain an insight into the impact of micro finance on the housing conditions of the SHG members. The area of the study is Narshingpur Development Block of the Cachar District of Assam. The study is based on primary data collected during August to September of 2010 from the beneficiary households, who had been under the SGSY programme for more than three years. The size of the sample households is 100. Before and after methodology has been used for measuring the impact. The different parameters based on which the impact study has been carried out are: type of roofing material used, type of external walls, type offlooring, structural conditions of the main dwelling, type of toilet facility available, electricity, cooking fuel and source of drinking water.

Measurement of Attitudes of Rural Poor Towards SHGs in Bihar, India

Self help groups emerged as an effective mechanism for empowerment of rural poor. It is an efficient mode of promoting group action. Initiatives were undertaken at ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna (Bihar) to assess the attitude of SHG members in the Bihar state. A Likert type scale consisting of 26 items developed by Meena et al. (2008) was applied for measuring the attitude construct. The survey instrument contained five section namely; socio-economic upliftment, educational and training, marketing and entrepreneurship qualities, technology adoption and participatory research, and, credit aspect. This empirical study indicates that most SHG members had favorable attitude towards SHG activities. This positive attitude of SHG members paves the way for success. Hence, for addressing the issues of rural poverty, enrichment of the system with social capital through empowerment and formation SHGs; provision of financial and credit support; creation of market-driven and decentralized extension system; use of media-mix for technology transfer, informal education at rural level; conduction of need-based training and strong political will need to be emphasized.

Social Impact of Microfinance on SHG Members: A Case Study of Manipur

Manipur is one of the economically backward states and is located at the easternmost remote corner of India. Although microfinance movement is comparatively new in the state of Manipur, it is becoming increasingly popular in the rural areas of Manipur as well as in the other parts of the country. Formation of SHGs has become a movement in rural areas. There are 602 NGOs, out of which 70 NGOs are directly associated with microfinance and are involved in the socio-economic development of the rural and backward people of Manipur. These NGOs have been playing important role in giving both financial and nonfinancial support to poor people for taking up various income-generating activities. This paper attempts to highlight the social impact of microfinance on SHG members in terms of self-confidence level, ability to take decisions, social awareness and social responsibility, skill development, access to better health services and other social infrastructure facilities after joining the microfinance programme of the NGOs in the state of Manipur.

Social Impact of Microfinance on SHG Members: A Case Study of Manipur

Manipur is one of the economically backward states and is located at the easternmost remote corner of India. Although microfinance movement is comparatively new in the state of Manipur, it is becoming increasingly popular in the rural areas of Manipur as well as in the other parts of the country. Formation of SHGs has become a movement in rural areas. There are 602 NGOs, out of which 70 NGOs are directly associated with microfinance and are involved in the socio-economic development of the rural and backward people of Manipur. These NGOs have been playing important role in giving both financial and nonfinancial support to poor people for taking up various income-generating activities. This paper attempts to highlight the social impact of microfinance on SHG members in terms of self-confidence level, ability to take decisions, social awareness and social responsibility, skill development, access to better health services and other social infrastructure facilities after joining the microfinance programme of the NGOs in the state of Manipur.

An Impact Assessment of Microfinance: A Case Study of Socio-Economic Empowerment of SHG Members in Manipur (India)

PurposeMicrofinance holds a big promise to generate income and employment and alleviate poverty in developing countries. NGOMFIs have significant contribution in building capacity of SHGs and shaping them to grow for self sustainable. This paper attempts to assess the economic empowerment of SHGs, the social empowerment of SHGs and the overall socio-economic empowerment of SHGS due to microfinance intervention of NGO-MFIs in Manipur State which is in the North-Eastern corner of India. Design/methodology/approachA sample size of 120 SHG members of 60 SHGs from 20 NGOs is considered for the study. Socio-economic empowerment index before and after microfinance intervention is used for assessing the socio-economic empowerment of SHG members. Recall method is used for assessing the impact of microfinance as it is cost effective and less time consuming. However, cross verification is also done with records of SHG members maintained by NGO-MFIs and thereafter data is normalized to give near accurate result. Findings – It is found that after joining the microfinance programme, there is a significant improvement in overall economic empowerment index and the social empowerment index of the sampled SHG members. Further, findings also reveal that there is a significant improvement in overall Economic and Social Empowerment index of MFI’s clients after joining the microfinance programme. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to only NGOs & SHGs who are involved in micro-finance activities. The study does not attempt to cover other organizations or voluntary organizations who are involved in social development activities. Since recall method is used, some SHG members cannot remember properly and have responded on assumptions and approximation. However, this limitation has been normalized by comparing records maintained by NGO-MFIs. Practical implications – This finding of the study will be beneficial to many NGO-MFIs to understand how their microfinance intervention helps poor women empower economically as well as socially. The techniques and tools used in this study are very simple and easy and very practicable for the NGO-MFIs who want to evaluate the socio-economic change of their beneficiaries because of their microfinance programme. Originality/value – Study is purely based on the primary data collected from the field survey as well as from records maintained by NGO-MFIs. The findings and feedback given to the sample NGO-MFIs are highly beneficial to them and they are surprised to know that microfinance programme have significant contribution in the improvement of socio-economic status of SHG members.

Entrepreneurial Behaviour of SHGs Members towards Dairying in Eastern Uttar Pradesh: A Gender Analysis

The present study was conducted in purposively selected two blocks, namely, Milkipur and Heringtonganj, of Faizabad district in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Data were collected from 208 members of 52 SHGs comprising 50% male and 50% female groups, through structured interview schedule, incorporating relevant dimensions. The study revealed that the mean values of entrepreneurial characteristics of male SHG members were significantly higher than females, before joining the SHGs, but after joining the groups non-significance difference was observed between male and female members with respect to their achievement motivation, knowledge level, leadership ability and cosmopoliteness. Majority of the group members (43.75%) fell under medium category of their entrepreneurship behaviour followed by low (34.62%) and high (21.63%) categories. Male and female group members differed significantly for all of the entrepreneurial characteristics before joining the groups. The significant differences, however, were found only for innovativeness, decision making, information seeking, risk taking ability and ability to coordinate dairy farm activities after joining the self-help groups, revealed that the difference between the male and female members with respect to their entrepreneurial characteristics became closer due to the impact of SHGs.

Micro-finance: Problems and Constraints in Vellore District, Tamil Nadu, India

This article analyses the problems and constraints faced by women SHG members in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu. The causes of the problems may arise from within the family or their own or ganization (SHG) or emanate from out of the external environment and their community. The study has used 13 key variables that affect the performance of micro- finance and tries to analyse the chief variables among them that poses problems and act as a constraint to the ef fective functioning of the SHG. The researcher collected responses from 450 women respondents from two blocks in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu. Delay in getting the loans followed by marketing of products emer ged as the chief problems and constraints to the micro- finance through SHGs. The paper provides the framework of the problems and constraints and also the approaches of how the members manage them. Simple statistical tools were used to analyze the data to arrive at solid conclusions.

Influence of Trainings on the Knowledge Level of Self Help Group Members

The study was conducted during November-December, 2005 in Sandur taluk of Bellary district in Karnataka state, covering 100 SHG members to obtain impact of training programme on knowledge level and improvement in their economic status. The socio-economic profile revealed that majority of the members were middle aged (59 %), married (73.28%), illiterate (69 %), with nuclear families (78 %) and the main occupation was agricultural labour (62%). Many of them were below poverty line. The overall knowledge level of respondents before training was 48 per cent and the overall knowledge level after training was 56 per cent of medium knowledge category. Knowledge level on individual practices such as animal husbandry, goats and sheep rearing before training program was more than 50 per cent. Further , after training it was 67 per cent. S tudy also revealed that adequate credit and knowledge about the animal breeds ware the major constraints expressed by the respondents.

How Empowering is Micro Entrepreneurship Developed through Microfinance?

Stimulating entrepreneurship among women especially from lower socio-economic strata is seen as an effective tool to alleviate poverty, reduce gender bias and empower them by many micro finance institutions. This paper tries to find the relationship between micro-entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women by looking into actual utilization of loan taken by SHG members through microfinance programme. The study is based on primary data analysis of 217 SHG members of the microfinance programme launched by Forbes Marshall Company in India. Based on Kabeer's analogy of empowerment i.e resources, agency and outcomes, certain parameters of economic empowerment were selected to judge the level of economic empowerment of SHG members. The study involves the comparative analysis of empowerment of SHG members, who were classified into micro entrepreneurs and non entrepreneurs to check the hypothesis whether productive loans are more empowering than non productive loans.

Micro Finance — A Tool for Elevation of Social Entrepreneurship through Women Empowerment

The economic development of any country aims at bringing out changes in social life rather than modernization. Micro finance as a strategy involves the provision of a broad range of financial services, such as loans, deposits, payment services, remittances, pension and insurance to poor and low-income households. This study ventures to understand and assess the role that micro finance plays as a tool for elevation of social entrepreneurship through women empowerment. A sample study has been conducted on the self help groups in Thanjavur District of Tamilnadu, which is covered by agricultural occupation with both urban and rural areas. This study covers 10 villages with a sample size of 174 SHG members. Survey method has been followed to collect the primary data by administering an interview schedule. The result shows that irrespective of age, marital status, family size and number of members, the SHG members are able to venture any business and earn the income.