Social Justice

IAS Parliament 7 years

KEY POINTS

Self Help Groups (SHGs)

· SHGs are voluntary associations of people formed to attain certain collective goals that could be economic, social or both.

· A SHG is a small economically homogeneous affinity group of the rural poor voluntarily coming together to save small amount regularly, which are deposited in a common fund to meet members emergency needs and to provide collateral free loans decided by the group.

· They consist of 10-15 members.

Role in transformation

· Women suffer a vast range of socioeconomic disadvantages in India.

· This includes being denied basic rights that range from the freedom to engage in economic activities to the right to choose their calling in life.

· However, the access to credit through the SHG channel helps women to break through these barriers.

· SHGs act as a powerful institution of participation and can contribute to India’s growth trajectory.

· Women SHGs can be an avenue for achieving the goal of financial inclusion by making women’s access to the banking system easier and hassle-free.

· By bringing women into the financial net, SHGs act as potent agents of change that go a long way in empowering them and, consequently, their families as well.

· Financially empowered, they find themselves in a better position to assert themselves in family matters such as family planning, child education, financial investments and everything in between.

· SHGs enhance the equality of status of women as participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries in the democratic, economic, social and cultural spheres of life.

· SHGs have the potential to address multitude of issues such as menstrual hygiene, sanitation, domestic violence and higher education.

Road to future

· SHGs are a realistic, viable and sustainable option for achieving rural development objectives.

· A greater push for the creation of more SHGs in rural India is needed.

· This will help reduce the dependence of women borrowers on informal sources of credit and help work towards their continual inclusion into the formal financial system.