Women Empowerment through Self Help Group: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

Most of the great works accomplished in the human civilization can be attributed to the groups rather than a single individual. Group approach to decision making and programme implementation has long been employed in various areas including politics – almost all the difficult matters are referred to committees. Most of the successful functioning organisations be it at micro level ( a single firm ) or at macro level ( parliament, as for instance ) reinforce the significance of group approach to problem solving. This paper explores the impact of participation in Self Help Groups on the empowerment of women in the context of the great importance being given to the group approach while conceptualizing any programme for rural women. The present paper looks at various dimensions of empowerment – political, material, cognitive, perceptual and relational. Access to credit can help in expansion of material base of women by enabling them to start and expand small businesses, often accompanied by market access; the women also experienced ‘Power within’: feelings of freedom, strength, self- identity and increases in levels of confidence and self-esteem.

However, gender discrimination is most deeply entrenched in the family, evident in bias attitudes towards the fairer sex. At the social level, an encouraging trend is that women have been able to challenge the norm of purdah. Besides, involvement in SHGs has enabled women to have a voice in the community affairs and they have been able to tackle problems which not only tend to impoverish the lives of women but the society in general.This paper sets the stage for argument and discussion that whether the SHGs can also be used as a tool to motivate the women to increase their role in political arena or not. Though women face handicaps to their involvement in politics, their participation in SHGs has a great potential to alter this trend and these women can be prospective leaders in the political field. Democracy has the greatest role to play but which role it continues to be vague. It may be comparatively easier to ensure material change than to cause a change in power structures and the ideologies and attitudes which accompany them. However, no milieu is static, and some of the recommendations for a way forward include providing a convergence of inputs, ensuring a proactive involvement of women in the program, changing social norms and perceptions and anchoring with wider movements of political and social change.