Year: 2020 | Month: June | Volume 6 | Issue 1
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Women Empowerment: A Study in Cooch Behar District of West Bengal, India
DOI:10.30954/2454-4132.1.2020.1
Abstract:
Empowerment is an abstract, multi- dimensional and multi-level concept that can be both a process and outcome. It can be defined as the process of increasing the assets and capabilities of individuals or groups to make purposive choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. A Self Help Group (SHG) is a small economically homogenous affinity group of 10 to 20 persons who come together to save small amounts regularly, mutually agree to contribute to a common fund, have collective decision making, or resolve conflicts through collective leadership and mutual discussion. The present study was undertaken in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India to assess the impact of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) on empowerment of women. 60 SHG members and 30 non-members were selected from 10 villages from Cooch Behar-I and Cooch Behar-II blocks of the district. A pre-tested schedule was employed to collect the relevant information by personal interview method. To assess and compare between the SHG and non-SHG groups, an Empowerment Status Index (ESI) was developed for the study with different indicators of empowerment. Indicators were selected from the recommendations of different authors. From the study it was found that the empowerment status of the SHG members was higher than the non-members and empowerment is positively correlated with the efficiency of the group.
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