CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION
 CHAPTER-I
INTRODUCTION

Women, accounts half of the population is the most important part of the
society and playing major role in country's development. Women hold a
prominent position in the Indian society as well as all over the world. However,
since the prehistoric times women were denied opportunities and had to suffer
for the hegemonic masculine ideology. Our patriarchal societies have been
unwilling to accept their role and contribution in the progress of society. The
potentials of women were suppressed and they were treated as secondary
citizens in all the cultures. Until recently the role of women in development
was all but invisible and women and gender relations have been virtually
ignored within the theory and practice of development. In several ways women
were systematically excluded from various aspects of development, to the
extent that they were regarded as impediments to development.
The 'policies of exclusion' of the so called patriarchal societies
throughout the world, especially in the Least Developed and Developing
countries are primarily responsible for marginalization of women, both covertly
and overtly. The practise of exclusion is widespread and it encompasses every
sphere of society: political, social, and economic and so on. It makes resources
and organizations inaccessible to women. However, of late, it has been realised
that the best way to improve the overall condition of the woman-folk is to
adopt "policies of inclusion" in which every woman should get a chance to
participate in the decision-making process, express her view against
exploitation of her male counterpart and get herself involved in the group
activities meant for their socio-economic uplift. These strategies could not only
bring about a change in patriarchal outlook in the form of driving them out of
the forced confinement to the four walls but also encourage the male
counterparts to persuade them to participate in the earning activities, thereby

1
contributing to the family-income, which in turn could tackle poverty to a great
extent. It is true, as long as the disadvantaged suffer from economic deprivation
and livelihood insecurity, one cannot dream of achieving a prosperous and
vibrant society.1

EMPOWERMENT
The term 'empowerment' refers to a range of activities from individual
self-assertion to collective resistance, protest and mobilization that challenge
basic power relations.2 'Empowerment' is most significant is the control of
ideology, i.e., control over thoughts and perceptions that shapes individual
beliefs, values and attitudes-ways of perceiving, thinking, feeling and
analysing. This control in turn confers decision making power which increases
access to and control over resources.3 Although the definition of empowerment
is contested and the term is often used to cover any multitude of concepts, there
are a few elements that are widely agreed upon.
Most of researchers are agreed that empowerment involves an element
of control and choice in the context of power structures that exist in
households, communities, nations and also globally. Most of the researchers
are also agreed that empowerment is a process and therefore involves changes
in existing power structures and a move from a state of disempowerment to
empowerment. Finally, researchers agree that empowerment is
multidimensional, occurring at different levels, and in different ways
depending on individuals and communities and the environments in which they
live.4
Empowerment particularly includes control over resources and ideology.
According to Sen and Batliwala (2000) it leads to a growing intrinsic capability
greater self confidence, and an inner transformation of one's consciousness that
enables one to overcome external barrier. This view mainly emphasizes on two
important aspects. Firstly, it is a power to achieve desired goals but not a power
over others. Secondly, idea of empowerment is more applicable to those who

2
are powerless- whether they are male or female, or group of individuals, class
or caste.5
The word "Empower" means make one powerful or equip one with the
power to face the challenges of life to overcome the helplessness, suppression
and inequalities. Empowerment is an active multidimensional process, which
should enable women to realize their full identity and powers in all spheres of
life. It would consist in providing greater access to knowledge and resources,
greater autonomy in decision making, greater ability to plan their lives, greater
control over the circumstances that influence their lives and freedom from
shackles imposed on them by custom, belief and practice. The concept of
empowerment is defined as the process by which women take control and
ownership of their choices. The core elements of empowerment have been
defined as agency (the ability to define one's goals and act upon them),
awareness of gendered power structures, self-esteem, and self-confidence.6
According to the country report of the government of India,
empowerment means moving from a position of enforced powerlessness to one
of power. It would promote women's inherent strength and positive self-image.7
Kabeer's (2001) popular definition adds a layer of complexity to the
simple component of control and states that empowerment is "the expansion in
people's ability to make strategic life choices in a context where the ability was
previously denied to them."8 According to Malhotra et al. (2002)9, Kabeer's
conceptualization of empowerment is particularly relevant because it contains
both the element of process and the elements of human agency and choice, with
empowerment implying "choices made from the vantage point of real
alternatives" and without "punishingly high costs." Basu and Koolwal (2005)
add that choice must extend to the ability to choose not to do something
without fearing the consequences.10
Alsop and Heinsohn's (2005)11 presentation of empowerment utilizes
these essential concepts and broadens the definition of empowerment to agency
and the opportunities that are available to women. They define empowerment
as "a person's capacity to make effective choices; that is, as the capacity to

3
transform choices into desired actions and outcomes." They go on to say that
"the extent or degree to which a person is empowered is influenced by personal
agency (the capacity to make purposive choice) and opportunity structure (the
institutional context in which choice is made)". Agency is indicated by asset
endowments (psychological, informational, organizational, material, social,
financial or human), while opportunity structure includes things like the
presence and operation of formal and informal institutions, including the laws,
regulatory frameworks, and norms governing behaviour. Degrees of
empowerment are measured by existence of choice, the use of choice, and the
achievement of choice. Empowerment is a multi-faceted process which
encompasses many aspects i.e. enhancing awareness, increasing access to
resources of economic, social and political etc.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
All over the world, there is realization that women should empowered for
whole development of society. The word "women empowerment" essentially
means that the women have the power or capacity to regulate their day-to-day
lives in the social, political and economic terms, a power which enables them
to move from the periphery to the centre stage.12 So, the empowerment of
women is fundamentally about changing social institutions and practices about
changing rules, norms and rights and about changing the balance between
women obligations and responsibilities and their command over the resources
needed to discharge these obligations and responsibilities.
Women empowerment is also defined as a change in the context of a
women's life, which enables her increased capacity for leading a fulfilling
human life. It gets reflected both in external qualities (viz. health, mobility,
education and awareness, status in the family, participation in decision making,
and also at the level of material security) and internal qualities (viz. self
awareness and self confidence).13
Women empowerment refers to the conferring of leverage to women
who are otherwise deprived. This includes granting to women effectual
decision-making power/authority and the power to influence others decisions

4
along with economic, social and civil freedom. Empowerment implies an
increase in the ability to exercise power.14
The International Women's Conference at Nairobi (1985) defined
women empowerment as ''A redistribution of social power and control of
resources in favour of women. It is "the process of challenging existing power
relations and of gaining greater control over the sources of power.''
According to the UN Population Information Network (1995) women's
empowerment involves "their right to have the power to control their own lives,
both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of
social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and
internationally."15
Batliwala (1995) says that "women's empowerment is the process, and
the outcome of the process, by which women gain greater control over material
and intellectual resources, and challenge the ideology of patriarchy and the
gender-based discrimination against women in all the institutions and structures
of society."16 CIDA report (1999) emphasizes that "empowerment is about
people- both men and women- taking control over their lives: setting their own
agenda, gaining skills, increasing self-confidence, solving problems, and
developing self-reliance. It is both a process and an outcome."17
Women Empowerment refers to an increase in the strength of women
such as spiritual, political, social or economic. The most common explanation
of "Women's Empowerment'' is the ability to excise full control over ones
actions. Thus, women empowerment occurs in real sense when women achieve
increased control and participation in decision making that leads to their better
access to resources. It often involves the development of confidence in their
capacities.
To empower women does not mean to give them power to dominate
others or to use power to establish their superiority over others, as it may be
commonly understood. Akthar (1994) observed that ''We would not like
women's empowerment to result in women's taking over men's power within
the same exploitative and corrupt society''.18 Women's moving to a position of

5
power does not mean that she is going to abuse power to ill, treat and exploit
men. Women's empowerment in reality is to empower herself, and not to
overpower men. Griffen (1987) said that to her the word simply meant adding
to women's power, and power to her meant having control, being listened to,
being recognized and respected as equal citizens and human beings with a
contribution to make. Power for her meant, "Being able to make contribution at
all levels of society and not just in the home. Power also means having
women's contribution recognized and valued".19
The empowerment of the woman begins when she becomes aware of the
socio-psycho-cultural injustice that is being done to her and also how gender
inequality and inequity and gender and social-cultural, economic and political
forces are affecting her adversely in every sphere of her life. It starts when she
becomes fully aware of her positive self-image, self-esteem, positive rights and
duties, of her capabilities and potentialities.20
The empowerment of women covers both an individual and collective
transformation. It strengthens their innate ability through acquiring knowledge,
power and experience. Thus, to empower women in the real sense is to enable
them to flower their talents, facilities, abilities and capacities, and to realise
their full potentialities, and real identity as also freedom of thought, expression
and action, and strength to handle every sphere of their lives. It is not only to
make them aware of their capacities, but also to provide them with the
opportunities, facilities, and external and internal environment to utilize their
inherent qualities and to develop in them self-confidence, self-esteem and
social-psycho-economic self-reliance and self-dignity and the ability to raise a
voice and fight against injustice, exploitation and violence done to her.21
Women's political participation is one of the important issues in the
context of empowerment. In conventional analysis it means activities related to
electoral politics like voting, campaigning, holding party office and contesting
election. But in broader sense it encompasses all voluntary actions intended to
influence the making of public policies, the administration of public affairs and
the choice of political leaders at all levels of government. Political

6
interventions by women of India today range from movement for peace and
good governance to protest against dowry, rape, domestic violence, food
adulteration, price rise etc.22
Economic empowerment constitutes one of the fundamental building
blocks in efforts towards the overall empowerment of women. Participation in
formal economic activities on terms and conditions which reflect the
productive capacity of women, and their control over their own incomes, are
some of the important dimensions of economic empowerment. Access to
earned income improves women's position within the household substantially,
gives them greater control over the distribution of such earnings and household
resources, and generally improves their status and strength in society as well as
their own self-esteem. The ability to earn income from outside and to engage in
activities other than household-oriented ones can lead to significant social
change in the long run. Where women are generally denied the ownership of
property and control over assets, the ability to earn outside income can become
an important instrument for the transformation of gender relations and
challenge many traditional modes of social and economic relations.23
Rural women play a vital role in farm and home system. She contributes
substantially in the physical aspect of farming, livestock management, post
harvest and allied activities. Her direct and indirect contribution at the farm and
home level along with livestock management operation has not only help to
save their assets but also led to increase the family income. She performs
various farm, livestock, post harvest and allied activities and possesses skills
and indigenous knowledge in these areas.
Women empowerment generally has five components, i.e. women's
sense of self worth; their right to have the power of control; their own lives,
both within and outside home; and their ability to influence the direction of
social change to create a just social and economic order nationally,
internationally and universally. Educational attainment and economic
participation are the key constituents in ensuring the empowerment of women.
The economic empowerment of women is a vital element of strong economic

7
growth in any country. Empowering women enhances their ability to influence
changes and to create a better society. Other than educational and economic
empowerment, changes in women's mobility and social interaction and changes
in intra-household decision-making are necessary. They equal to men in all
aspects. Women are more perfectionists in the power to create, nurture and
transform.24

INDICATORS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Indicators are criteria or measures against which changes can be
assessed. They may be pointers, facts, numbers, opinions or perceptions, used
to signify changes in specific conditions or progress towards particular
objectives.25 Indicators can be used for advocacy and can help make the case
for action by highlighting key issues, backed up with statistics and other
evidence.
Empowerment literally means 'to invest with power' and in the context
of women's empowerment the term denotes women have increased control over
their own lives, bodies and environment. The literature in this regard clearly
places emphasis on women's decision making roles, their economic self-
reliance and their legal rights to equal treatment, inheritance and protection
against all forms of discriminations. It means that the evidence of
empowerment must be sought in terms of indicators that measure women's
control, both extrinsic and intrinsic, over various aspects of their lives and
environment. It is the quality of life, which must be measured not in terms of
rising money, incomes or longer life spans alone, rather by the autonomy and
security enjoyed by women everywhere. Researchers have identified several
indicators of women empowerment. Some broad indicators of women
empowerment are discussed below:
Decision Making Power: Decision making power of women in households is
one of the important indicators of women empowerment.26 Whether decisions
regarding health care, large purchases of household, savings and other financial
activities, family planning are taken by women or not determines the degree of
women empowerment.

8
Freedom of Movement: Free mobility of women is another indicator of
women empowerment.27 Women's mobility is affected by their background
characteristics like age, education, marital status, type of family etc.
Employment is associated with greater freedom of movement. Nuclear
residence and urban setting are also associated with greater freedom of
movement.
Acceptance of Unequal Gender Role: Women's protest against unequal
gender role in terms of their attitude towards preferences for son, wife beating
etc. is another indicator of women empowerment. More than half of women in
India justify wife beating for any of the specific reasons. It is to be noted that
even among the most educated women, at least one in three agrees with one or
more justifications for wife beating. In rural areas women are generally more
agreeable to wife beating than in urban areas. Agreement is lower among never
married women as compared to ever married women.
Access to Education: Education is one of the important factors that affects
greatly in women's control over earnings. Women's access to education which
is one of the important sources of empowerment can be measured by gender
gap in literacy rates and enrolment in different stages of school education.
Access to Employment: Women's access to employment is an important
indicator of empowerment. Employment provides them an opportunity to come
out of the four walls of their house and gives exposure to the outside world. It
leads to possession over income, knowledge, awareness and self-confidence.
Employment and cash earnings are more likely to empower women if women
make decisions about their own earnings alone or jointly with their husband
rather than their husband alone and if these earnings are perceived by both
wives and husbands to be significant relative to those of the husbands.
Place of Residence: Place of residence also affects women's control over their
cash earnings. Generally women in urban areas have more control over their
earnings than that in rural areas.
Household structure: Household structure has an important role to play in
affecting women empowerment. In non-nuclear family structure, influence of

9
others is more. Residence in non-nuclear families is likely to affect women's
ability to access resources directly and to exercise decision making.28
Political Participation: Women's political participation is one of the important
issues in the context of empowerment. In conventional analysis it means
activities related to electoral politics like voting, campaigning, holding party
office and contesting election. But in broader sense it encompasses all
voluntary actions intended to influence the making of public policies, the
administration of public affairs and the choice of political leaders at all levels
of government. Political interventions by women of India today range from
movement for peace and good governance to protest against dowry, rape,
domestic violence, food adulteration, price rise etc.29
Many factors are responsible and decisive in the election of women
candidates such as literacy, financial position, liberal family background,
support of other members of the family, strong personality etc. Since most of
the women lack access to these, few women get tickets and even fewer get
elected from this handful of women candidates.
Exposure to Media: Media exposure can help to empower women by
equipping them with the information and the means to function effectively
especially in the modern world. Since it is an important source of
empowerment, greater proportion of women without having access to media
reflects the relatively disadvantageous position of women in relation to men
with regards to empowerment.

CONSTRAINTS TO WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Historically the world over, either by law or by custom the status of
women is undermined by asymmetrical power relationships in decision making
and personal and social rights. In fact the subordination of women in society is
an extension of their subordination in the family. In a patriarchal society, the
concept of equality and justice for women become meaningless in their relation
to males. Patriarchal control in all aspects of life severely limits the potential
and scope of women’s actual and defacto participation in public life.30

10
 Women empowerment is an active, multi-dimensional process which
enables women to realize their potential and powers in all spheres of life. The
process can materialize only when there is a conducive environment for the
enlightenment which is to be ensured first. Many of the barriers to women
empowerment and equity lie ingrained into the cultures of certain nations and
societies. Many women feel these pressures, while others have become
accustomed to being treated inferior to men. Even if men, legislators, NGOs,
etc. are aware of the benefits women empowerment and participation can have,
many are scared of disrupting the status quo and continue to let societal norms
get in the way of development. Several constraints that check the process of
women empowerment in India are listed below:
Social norms and family structures: Social norms and family structures in
developing countries like India, manifests and perpetuate the subordinate status
of women. One of such norms is the continuing preference for a son over the
birth of a girl child, which is present in almost all societies and communities.
The hold of this preference has strengthened rather than weakened and its most
glaring evidence is in the falling sex ratio.31 The society is more biased in
favour of male child in respect of education, nutrition and other opportunities.
The root cause of this type of attitude lies in the belief that male child inherits
the clan in India. Women often internalize the traditional concept of their role
as natural, thus inflicting an injustice upon them.
Poverty: Poverty is the reality of life for the vast majority of women in India.
It is another factor that poses challenge in realizing women's empowerment. In
a poor family, girls are the main victims; they are malnourished and are denied
the opportunity of better education and other facilities. But if they are
financially independent or they have greater control over the resources then
they exhibit greater autonomy both in the household and in public sphere and
are no longer victims of poverty.
Lack of awareness about legal and constitutional provisions: Lack of
awareness about legal and constitutional provisions and failure in realizing it, is
another factor that hinders the process of empowerment. Most of the women

11
are not aware of their legal rights. Even women, who are aware, lack the
courage to take the legal step. The legislation which affects women most is
their situation in marriage and inheritance. As far as the rights of inheritance
are concerned, women generally do not try to inherit land left by their parents if
brothers are alive. The traditional belief that land should not go outside the
patriarchal family operates. Although the legal rights are in place to create an
enabling atmosphere, these have not been very successful in realizing women's
empowerment.
Lack of Education: Studies confirm that female literacy has a significant
influence in improving social and economic status of women. The female
literacy rate is woefully lower than that of male. As compared to boys, few
girls are enrolled in schools and many of them are dropped out.
The literature on women's empowerment suggests that empowerment
involves choice and control; it is a process and an outcome that it occurs across
a number of domains and dimensions. Therefore, when thinking about
empowerment, we must think of where it occurs and the dimension in which it
occurs, we must consider the context in which decisions are made and the
power structures being challenged, and we must look at the characteristics of
the women or communities involved in the process. We must also be aware that
empowerment can occur in more than one domain and more than one
dimension at a time. We must think of empowerment as process, as the whole
story, from the awareness of power structures that subordinate women, to the
questioning of systems of control, to making active changes and asserting
power, and to empowerment as an outcome, as a state of being.32

MEASUREMENT OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment is a multi-dimensional concept and relates to the social
attainment, economical participation and political participation of people.
Further, empowerment being an ongoing process, there is no final goal. One
does not arrive at a stage of being empowered in some absolute sense. It is
always relative and situation specific in context. Because of its complex and
dynamic nature, defining and measuring empowerment is a challenge in any

12
development study. More over in case of women, who faced prolonged
discrimination that has resulted into gender disparity in the society. Hence, it is
a challenge to define what empowerment means in its own context and to
assess whether and to what extent women have been empowered. Some studies
suggest a linear cause-effect model while others resort to a more process-based
approach. The dynamic process might be broken into key components for a
comprehensive understanding of empowerment. Separating the process into
components (such as enabling factors/parameters, agency and outcomes) is
useful in identifying policy interventions to support empowerment, and for
evaluating the impact of such interventions. Success or failures in development
interventions may partly be attributed to approaches that recognise the
underlying factors/parameters responsible for empowering women. Therefore,
utmost attention needs to be taken in identifying the key empowerment
parameters.33
Conceptual frameworks for measuring women's empowerment at the
aggregate/macro level are less developed as compared to household level. The
accepted and most commonly cited are Gender-related Development Index
(GDI), a gender-disaggregated Human Development Index (HDI) and Gender
Empowerment Measure (GEM) by UNDP (1995).
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has identified
following three key areas of gender inequality in order to focus on gender
empowerment measure (GEM) These key areas include: (i) Political
participation and decision making power as measured by the percentage share
of seats in parliament held by women vis-a-vis men. (ii) Economic
participation and decision making power as measured by the percentage of
positions such as legislators, senior officials, managers, technocrats and other
professionals held by women vis-a-vis men; and (iii) Power over economic
resources as measured by relative share in estimated earned income held by
women and men.
Malhotra et al. (2002)34 point out that various empowerment
frameworks identify a number of unique dimensions, suggesting that

13
empowerment must occur along economic, socio-cultural, familial/
interpersonal, legal, political, and psychological lines.
The approach of addressing issues related to empowerment of women
from a holistic and macro-point of view acknowledging the cross cutting
linkages between economic, social and political identity of woman presents a
new hope. There is increasing recognition that these factors are deeply
intertwined and if efforts in any one dimension remains absent or weak, the
outcome and momentum generated by the other components cannot be
sustained, and that it is only when all these three factors are addressed
simultaneously and made compatible with each other can women be truly
empowered.35
Measurement of progress towards women empowerment at the state
level needs to be defined in such a manner that is standardisable, and has a set
of indicators that are observable, objective and measurable. In this way a
mechanism could be developed to measure empowerment of women, which
would be comparable across Indian states and over time.36
It is evident from above discussion that women's empowerment can be
measured by factors contributing to each of the following i.e. their personal,
economic, familial, and political empowerment. Household and interfamilial
relations are to be included which is believed to be a central locus of women's
disempowerment in India. To understand the change women undergo in
becoming empowered we look at the above aspects. Various studies show that
the women have been empowered based on factors such as income,
households, political, decision making etc.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA

In the ancient period of Indian History, birth of a daughter was not
unwelcome. Gradually preference for a male child led to the unwelcoming of a
girl-child, it brought sorrow to the family. On the contrary, birth of a son was
always desire, looked forward to and celebrated. Marked preference for sons
led to the neglect of female children. Marriage is an important institution, in

14
India, and a woman's child bearing potential is valuable, but she is more
respected if she bears a son. So in the Medieval and Modern periods, a general
societal prejudice was prevalent against women and that is why coming into the
world of a female infant meant disappointment to the parents/family. Status of
girl child is related to her mother's status which has been low in rural India. The
birth of a daughter is unwelcome. Marked preference for sons has led to the
neglect of the girl child. Nonetheless, a woman's child bearing potential is
valuable.37
There are many socio-religions-economic reasons for the biased attitude
of family/society with regard to the birth of a daughter. Socially, parents of a
daughter feel humiliated when her marriage is to be settled. The reasons for this
could be hyper gamy. In case of arranged marriage, which is still the socially
accepted type of marriage, parents wish to marry their daughter into a family
which has higher socio-economic status. This must have been giving them a
sense of satisfaction and security. This cannot hold true anymore because of the
rising dowry demands which have acquired a sense of competition. Socially,
sons are preferred for continuation of family's line, for looking after parents in
their old age, for performing their last rites. Economically, sons are an asset as
they look after the land; help in farming and in settling the local disputes.
Daughters are an economic liability-bringing them up, spending a little money
on their education and a lot of it on their marriage and husband's family even
after the marriage ceremonies are over.38
In the nineteenth century the position of women suffered in a big way
with the share of education declining to almost nothing. The existence of
widespread network of elementary schools and higher educational institutions
is commented upon the foreign observers but girls' attendance in them is not
mentioned. It is possible that due to constant internecine warfare, it was not
safe to send girls to schools. Contemporary European writers have commented
upon the piety, chastity and modesty of Indian women and also mentioned the
absence of insecurity in their movement. Purdah was observed in the north,

15
very widely among Hindus and Muslim of the higher classes, though it was not
prevalent among the poor. Maratha women moved freely and so did women in
south except for the landed classes in Andhra Pradesh and Moplah women in
Malabar. Sati and selling into slavery of girl children and young women in
times of distress was prevalent though they were, in general, treated kindly.
Exceptional women, both among the Hindu and the Muslims, asserted
themselves politically.39
The nineteenth century was to be a watershed for women's history.
There were both political and social movements which impacted on their
situation. The change in the country's polity brought India inevitably closer to
the western world particularly to Great Britain in many ways. Although social
contact with the British was limited to the highest class of Rajas, Maharajas
and Zamindars at one end and to the local cooks, bearers, gardeners, tailors and
ayahs at the other end, a better view of gender equality was there for all to see.
Similarly, western education was limited to a few in India and of those few an
infinitesimally small number who went for education to England were exposed
to nineteenth century liberal thought. Colonial historians would have us believe
that everything good come to us through becoming a part of the British Empire.
The perspective of hindsight is even now not available to fully assess the
imperial factor but some influences are definitely visible.40
The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution
in its preamble, fundamental rights, fundamental duties and directive
principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but also
empowers the state to adopt measures, a position; indiscrimination in favour of
women. Within the framework of democratic polity, our laws, developmental
policies, plans and programmes are aimed at women's advancement in different
spheres. India has also ratified various international conventions to secure
rights of women. The women's movement and a widespread network of Non-
Government Organisations (NGOs) having strong grass-root presence and deep
insight into women's concerns have contributed in inspiring initiatives for the

16
empowerment of women. Women today are trying to understand their position
in the society. Women have become increasingly aware of sexual inequalities
in every sphere of life and are seeking ways to fight them.41
Since independence, the Government of India has been making various
efforts to empower women. In various plan periods, the issues regarding
women empowerment has been given priority. From fifth five year plan
onwards there has been a remarkable shift from welfare oriented approach of
women empowerment to development approach. The National Commission for
women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights' of
women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India provided
opportunity to women to take part in active politics. The year 2001 was
declared as the year of women's empowerment for enhancing their status. To
achieve the goal, the government introduced different programmes, identified
strategies, established different institutions and made various legal provisions.
In spite of all these efforts and actions, women in India still lag behind the men.
The incidence like early marriage, female feticides and infanticide, dowry,
bride burning, rape, molestation, kidnapping etc are very frequent. In recent
times, the record of crime against women indicates an increasing trend. The
position of women in the country in the social, economic and political fields is
by no means equal to that of their male counterparts. Besides low female
literacy, there are many other factors that have contributed to gender biasness.
Girl child is still given less priority in certain parts of India. Past studies
indicate that it is the people's perception in general that the birth of a girl child
is less desirable and evokes less happiness than that of a boy child.42 It is
ingrained in the Indian psyche, cutting across religion, caste and region. Since
her birth she is victimized in all spheres including education, employment,
nutrition and social status.
In India, as in most developing countries, women are believed to be and
treated as inferior to men. Moreover, as the lives of women and men are
embedded in a matrix of unequal gender relations, a decrease in the gender

17
inequality is necessary for an outcome of ‘empowerment' for women. In other
words, changes such as increased income, skills and self-confidence, may be
better understood as enablers that promote women's empowerment. However,
the women, in order to be significantly empowered to achieve their perceived
goal, firstly need authority at home, which in most cases they do not have. The
process should, therefore, be carried out concurrently at home and outside.
Within the family they must have equal say as men and so should be the case at
work. The most extensive element of women empowerment is providing them
with social rank, status and justice. Major attributes that contribute to women
empowerment are education, social equity and status, improved health,
economic or financial stability and political participation. In India, a whopping
56 percent of the women are illiterate as against a considerably 24 percent in
case of men, evincing the striking inequality. This has to be significantly
enhanced in a five year time-frame. Educating the girl child is now an integral
part of the Right to Education Act in force which should, therefore,
significantly enhance the women literacy level at par with men in a five year
time-frame. This apart adult literacy programmes should be initiated in villages
to contribute to the education in female literacy.43
As far as India is concerned, the principle of gender equality is
enshrined in the Constitution and finds a place in the Preamble, Fundamental
Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only
grants equality to women but also empowers the States to adopt measures of
positive discrimination in favour of women. Historically the status of Indian
women has been influenced by their past. There is evidence to show that
women in the Vedic age got most honoured positions in the society.44 They had
the right to education. They were free to remain unmarried and devote their
whole life to the pursuit of knowledge and self realization.
Women have been identified as key agents of sustainable development
and women's equality is as central to a more holistic approach towards
stabilizing new patterns and process of developments. The contribution of

18
women and their role in the family as well as in the economic development and
social transformation are pivotal. Women constitute 90 per cent of total
marginal workers of the country. Rural women who are engaged in agriculture
form 78 per cent of all women in regular work. Experience of NIRD action
research projects reveal that the operational aspects, such as the extent of
enabling that goes into the community self help processes and sharpening the
mind set of women.
Women have shifted traditional assumptions about their roles and
capabilities. There has been a marked change, and it has been for the better.
Many of its benefits however have yet to touch the majority and all of us
continue to experience various forms of gender discrimination. If laws
designed to address the concerns of women are to have a dramatic and positive
impact on women's lives, they must be sensitive to the social, economic and
political disempowerment of women throughout the world. The most important
measure of their success should be the extent to which they enable woman to
interpret, apply and enforce laws of their own making, incorporating their own
voices, values and concerns.45
While a large part of the world continues to look at women's issues in
terms of paternalism and well-being, the concept of women's empowerment in
the social, political, and economic order as a pre-requisite of human
development is hardly given the priority that it deserves. The welfare approach
introduced in the 1950's and followed through the 1960's may be considered
the earliest policy approach concerned with women in developing countries.
Here, women are seen as passive recipients of development, rather than
participants in the development process. The reproductive role of women is
recognised and policy seeks to meet practical gender needs through that role by
top-down handouts of food aid, measures against malnutrition, and family
planning. As such it did not include women in participatory planning processes.
However by 1970, the limitations and the critique of the welfare approach
became obvious and resulted in the development of a number of alternative

19
approaches based on equity, poverty alleviation, efficiency, and empowerment.
These approaches are not entirely mutually exclusive and have been
categorised, in general as the women in development (WID) approach.
The empowerment approach is the most recent and is aimed at
empowering women through greater self-reliance and internal strength. It seeks
to meet strategic gender needs indirectly through bottom-up mobilisation
around practical gender needs. When the first welfare approach recognises only
the reproductive role of women and utilises women's organisation as a top-
down means of delivering services, the empowerment approach recognises the
triple role of women and seeks through bottom-up women's organisations to
raise women's consciousness to challenge their subordination. A diverse range
of women's organisation including Self-Help Groups (SHGs) has developed in
this context conveying a multitude of issues and purposes.46
SELF HELP GROUPS (SHGs)
SHG is defined as a voluntary group valuing personal interactions and
mutual aid as a means of altering or ameliorating the problems perceived as
alterable, pressing and personal by most of its participants.47 These groups are
voluntary associations of people formed to attain certain collective goals that
could be economic, social or both.
Social scientists have forwarded various definitions for SHG. Gregory
and Marry (1994) defined SHG's as being cost free, member governed, peer led
group made up of people, who share the same problems or situations.48 Kurtz
(1997) has defined SHG as a supportive, educational, usually change oriented
mutual aid group that addresses a single life problem or condition shared by all
members.49 Gupta (1996) has described SHG's as the voluntary response in the
form of informal groups, of poor, to their social, economic and political
marginalization.50 Similarly Singh (1995) has defined SHG's as voluntary
associations of people formed to collectively perform certain activities of their
common interest.51 Nanda (1995) has defined SHG's as informal groups of

20
people who have a common perception of need and impulse towards collective
action.52
The origin of SHGs is the brainchild of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh,
which was founded by Mohammed Yunus. SHGs were started and formed in
1975. In India, NABARD formed in 1986-87. But the real effort was taken
after 1991-92 from the linkage of SHGs with the banks. SHGs are usually
formed by peers who have come together for mutual assistance in satisfying a
common need, overcoming a common handicap or life-disrupting problem and
bringing about desired social or personal change. Today, in India, Self Help
Groups (SHGs) represent a unique approach to financial intermediation. This
combines access to low-cost financial services with a process of self
management and development for the women who are SHG members. SHGs
are formed and supported usually by Non-Governmental Organizations and
Government agencies.
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 on terms decided by the group.53 They practice collective
decision-making and resolve conflict through collective leadership. These
groups try to empower the previously deprived and powerless mass (mostly
women) socially, economically and politically. SHGs emphasize face-to-face
social interactions and personal responsibilities by its members.54 The mutual
trust is the spirit of the organization. It has its own set of rules and regulations.
There is transparency and accountability in SHG transactions55 because each
one in the small group keeps an eye on the other. The transparency and
accountability enhance the trust and solidarity among the members of the
groups which sociologists term as social capital.
Improvement in the quality of life being the ultimate objectives of
planning, various policies and programs floated by the Government are aimed
at promotion of growth with equity and social justice. However, the main

21
approach of promoting SHGs among rural poor have been to facilitate activities
based on long terms goals rather than for short-term pecuniary gains.
Thus, some of the critical long-term goals of SHG include56:
• Sustainable access to financial services
• Strong livelihood support systems
• Enhancement of collective bargaining power
• Self reliance and sense of dignity
• Improvement in overall standard of living and empowerment
The broad objectives of WSHGs are:
• To inculcate a habit of thrift among the women community and to
encourage small saving habit among them,
• To enhance the socio-economic condition of women through different
income generating activities,
• To mobilize the women groups for other developmental work of the
community,
• To empower the women groups to take decision for their income
utilization,
• To train women groups for maintaining their own account, records,
saving
• registers and proper utilisation of generated fund for profit making
activities,
• To train women for participation in development of micro plan of
villages,
• To capacitate the WSHGs for immediate recovery after any natural
calamity,
• To federate the WSHGs for Swarn Shahayak Bank, and
• To mobilize the women groups for other development activities i.e. girl
child enrolment, health and sanitation problems and other social issues.

22
GENESIS OF SHGs
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 have been recognized as useful
tool to help the poor and as an alternative mechanism to meet the urgent credit
needs of poor through thrift. SHGs enhance the equality of status of women as
participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries in the democratic, economic,
social and cultural spheres of life.57 The basic principles of the SHGs are group
approach, mutual trust, organization of small and manageable groups, group
cohesiveness, spirit of thrift, demand based lending, collateral free, women
friendly loan, peer group pressure in repayment, skill training capacity building
and empowerment.
Self help in essence is forging 'collaborative' ties between individuals
who need each other's co-operation in solving their day-to-day crisis. Lawson
& Anderson (1996) have defined collaboration "as a process of pooling
resources, linking and allying with one another to develop innovative, new
responses for tackling social problems including poverty".58 Weil (1996)59 and
Parsloe (1990)60 have pointed out that collaboration is necessary to address
social issues that require multi-agency approach to alleviate them. SHGs are
one such medium to achieve social collaboration. Graham & Barter (1999)
have described collaboration as a relational system in which two or more stake
holder pool together resources in order to meet objectives that neither could
meet individually.61 'Collaboration' differs from 'co-operation' in the sense that
cooperation facilitates support and assistance for meeting the goals that are
specific to an individual stake-holder, whereas collaboration insists on goals
that are mutually agreed upon based on an established value base to which all
stake-holders have a commitment. According to Hord (1986) collaboration
proposes joints sharing and decision making in the interest of change, as well
as changes in relationships to facilitate these ends.62 He has also indicated that

23
motivations to engage or refrain collaboration are necessarily influenced by
differences among stakeholders in expertise, status, empowerment and access
to external and internal resources.

FORMATION & DEVELOPMENT OF SHGs

According to Rao et. al. (1999) a systematic and scientific approach in
the formation of SHGs is of paramount importance to the long term
sustainability of these informal community based organizations.63 Fernandes
(1992)64 observed that SHGs formed and promoted for limited purposes of
availing subsidy laced bank loans, grants and other materialistic benefit
generally disintegrate, while according to Srinivasan & Rao (1996) the SHGs
developed for genuine purpose of self help in the wake of needs had much
better chances of long term sustainability.65
The formation of a Women Self Help Group (WSHG) requires catalyst
(s), either from within the community or from outside who is/are trained to
mobilise the women in convincing them or their male counterparts of the
possible earnings of the former through group activities. Since the women lack
the basic capabilities and self-confidence to counter and challenge existing
disparities and barriers against them, it is always required that their males must
be convinced first to allow them to get exposed to different resources and
organisations outside the home, be that independently or with the help of their
male counterparts. Further change agents, if any associated in the process of
mobilization are needed to catalyze social mobilization consciously, for any
challenge to the primordial social loyalty could complicate the situation. For
example, in selecting the members, a homogenous community, say a definite
caste group should be chosen. In mixing up different caste groups would
definitely raise the eyebrows of the so called upper caste people. Second, the
process of social mobilization needs to be accompanied and complemented by
economic security.66

24
 A self-help group is a small voluntary association of poor people
preferably from the same socio-economic background. They come together for
the purpose of saving for their common problems through self-help. The
number of members in one SHG does not exceed 20.67 The size is limited to 20
because any group larger than this would need to be registered under the India
legal system. Voluntarily coming together to save small amounts regularly.
They mutually agree to contribute to a common fund and to meet their
emergency needs on mutual help basis.
The group member use collective wisdom and peer pressure to ensure
proper end use of credit and timely repayment thereof. Infect peer pressure had
been recognized as an effective substitute for collaterals. An economically poor
individual gains strength as part of a group. Besides, financing through SHGs
reduce transaction costs for both lenders and borrows while lenders have to
handle only a single SHGs account instead of a large number of small sized
individual accounts. Borrower as a part of a SHG cut down expenses on travel
(to and from the branch and other places) for completing paper work and on the
loss of workdays in canvassing for loans.68
The concept of Self Help Groups (SHGs) is proving to be a helpful
instrument for the empowerment of women. It is an important institution for
improving life of women on various social components. In recent years,
empowerment of women has been recognized as a central issue in determining
the status of women. Empowerment is an active process of enabling women to
realize their full identity and power in all spheres of life. It can serve as a
powerful instrument for women to achieve upward social & economic mobility
as well as power & status in society.69
Self Help Group (SHG) is a process by which a large group of women,
with common objectives are facilitated to come together voluntarily to
participate in the development activities such as saving, credit and income
generation thereby ensuring economic independence. SHG phenomenon
definitely brings group consciousness among women, sense of belongingness,

25
and adequate self confidence. In fact, what she cannot achieve as an individual
can accomplish as a member of group with sufficient understanding about her
own rights roles privileges and responsibilities as a dignified member of
society in par with man when she becomes a member of SHG, her sense of
public participation, enlarged horizon of social activities high self-esteem.
Self-Help Group is a group of about 20 people from a homogeneous
class, who come together for addressing their common problems. They are
encouraged to make voluntary thrift on a regular basis. They use the pooled
resource to make small interest bearing loans to their members. The process
helps them imbibe the essentials of financial intermediation including
prioritization of needs, setting terms and conditions and accounts keeping. This
gradually builds financial discipline and credit history for themselves, as the
money involved in the lending operations is their own hard earned money
saved over time with great difficulty. Once the groups show their mature
financial behaviour, banks are encouraged to make loans to them in certain
multiples of the accumulated saving of the SHG. The bank loans are given
without any collateral and at market interest rates. Banks find it easier to lend
money to the groups as the members have developed a Credit history.70

SHGs AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

It is through SHGs that the women get an exposure to outside world.
The resources and organisations which were unseen earlier become accessible.
Weekly meetings, weekly savings, internal lending, repayment of loans on
regular basis, not only promote thrift among the members, but also encourage
oneness among the group members. It is seen that for updating the records, the
members very often take the help of their literate daughters or sisters and it is a
good sign that some members learn the art of book keeping from them. It
indirectly promotes literacy among the illiterate women. Participation of
women in SHGs increases their influence over economic resources and
participation in economic decision-making.71

26
 Formation of SHG is a viable alternative to achieve the objectives of
development and to get community participation in all development
programmers. SHG is also a viable organized set up to disburse micro credit to
the women and encouraging them together into entrepreneurial activities. The
SHGs are characterized in empowerment of women through focusing attention
on women to provide self employment, improving their status in the family as
well as in the society, creating better awareness in health, education and
environment among people, promoting and ensuring human rights of women at
all stages of their life. It offers not only economic opportunities, but also a
change to learn new skills, make wider social contacts and experience.72
It is not only the same social background, but also the same economic
status of the members which is required for a successful formation of SHG.
Women living below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL) should
not be expected to come together. One of the reasons for failing SHGs is due to
their faulty selection of members from different economic and social strata of
the society.73
SHG's micro credit mechanism makes the members to involve in other
community development activities. Micro credit is promoting the small scale
business enterprises and its major aim is to alleviate poverty by income
generating activities among women and poor. Now-a-days economic
development is one of the factors that have changed the entire scenario of
social and cultural environment within the country especially for the women.
The women are engaged in small-scale entrepreneurship programme with the
help of SHGs and through these they are attaining status in family and
community. Self-respect and fulfilment in life enhances the status of women as
participants, decision makers and beneficiaries in the democratic, economic,
social and cultural spheres of life. In other words, we can say that SHG is an
effective instrument to empower women socially and economically which
ultimately contributes in the overall development of the country like India

27
wherein still large segment of women population is underprivileged, illiterate,
exploited and deprived of basic rights of social and economic spectrum.

NEED OF STUDY
The position of women and their status in any society is an index of its
civilization; entrepreneurship has been considered as the backbone of economic
development the contribution of women entrepreneurs to economic activity and
employment has increased over time. Women entrepreneurs have created a
variety of new ventures and contributed to the development of a range of
services and products; they are not only employed but are a reason for others
employment by proving them job.74
Since women comprise the majority of the population living below the
poverty line and are very often in situations of extreme poverty. Given the
harsh realities of intra-household and social discrimination, macro economic
policies and poverty eradication programmes should specifically address the
needs and problems of such women. There should be proper implementation of
programmes which are already women oriented with special targets for rural
women. Steps were taken for mobilization of poor women and convergence of
services, by offering them a range of economic and social options, along with
necessary support measures to enhance their capabilities. In order to enhance
women's access to credit for consumption and production, the establishment of
new and strengthening of existing micro-credit mechanisms and micro-finance
institutions such as Self-Help Groups were already functioning so that the
outreach of credit is enhanced. Other supportive measures would be taken to
ensure adequate flow of credit through the existing financial institutions and
banks, so that all women below poverty line have easy access to credit.
Women's perspectives should be included in designing and implementing
macro-economic and social policies by institutionalizing their participation in
such processes. Their contribution to socio-economic development as
producers and workers should be recognized in the formal and informal sectors

28
(including home based workers) and appropriate policies should be framed
relating to employment, wages and working condition.75
Since Independence, a number of innovative programmes have been
launched for the uplift of women. But the result seems to be far from
satisfaction, the prime reasons being improper identification of beneficiaries,
lack of participation of women due to strong resentment by their male
counterparts in many cases, high dependence on formal sector credit agencies
which are yet to reach the vast majority of rural poor, and the lack of follow up
action by the government itself. The problem required a complete paradigm
shift where the flexible and responsive system meets the needs of the rural
poor. Viewing it in the welfare programmes of ninth five year plan and shifting
the concept of "development to empowerment" the Indian Government adopted
the approach of ‘Self Help Groups (SHGs)' to uplift the rural poor.76
The logic of group approach in micro-finance can be explained in the
following words: "Individually a poor person feels exposed to all kinds of
hazards, whereas membership in a group given him a feeling of protection.
Individually a person tends to be erratic and uncertain in his behaviour but
group membership smoothen his behavioural pattern and makes him more
reliable". It has been established that group approach is an effective tool for
empowering the poor. The groups act as an institutional framework for
cooperative and collective action on a continuing basis. The groups gradually
move to a collective entity facilitating social and financial intermediation.77
Organizing and strengthening of women's Self-Help Group through collective
action of members develops their ability to interact and communicate with each
other. Thus, it is bringing about integrated development of women. With this
collective action with the ideology of empowerment, SHG are fast emerging as
women movement throughout the nation especially in Andhra Pradesh where
50 per cent of such SHGs in the country are formed.
According to Lalitha and Nagarajan (2002) empowerment literally
means ‘becoming powerful'. Empowerment of women demands that members

29
of community should have their own organisation, which shall exclusively
serve their own economic needs and interest. Moreover sufficient knowledge
about the needs and problems of women has not been supplied to the policy
making agencies. If SHGs are promoted, the group members can articulate the
problems in a better manner.78
Karl (1995)79 studied the role of SHGs of women on decision-making
and concluded empowerment as a multifaceted process, involving the pooling
of resources to achieve collective strength and countervailing power and
entailing and the improvement of manual and technical skills, administrative,
managerial and planning capacities and analytical reflective abilities of local
women.
Dogra (2002)80 has presented in his article "Women Self Help Groups"
that almost all these women are from poor families, mostly from Dalits and
Backward classes; while the increase in income is important, it is not the only
aspect of these SHGs which is emphasized. Several existing problems of
villages and ways of overcoming them are also discussed. It is important for the
long-term success of Self Help Groups that loans should be returned promptly.
Gurumoorthy (2002)81 in his work "SHGs Economic Empowerment
through self-reliance", studied the micro credit funding agencies and the
amount sanctioned by them out of the 27000 self help groups in Tamil Nadu,
54000 are linked with banks and the banks advance credit to them to the extent
of Rs. 9 crores. In this view, self-help groups have the power to create a socio
economic revolution in the rural area of the country. In this opinion, members
of self help groups must be prepared to undertake entrepreneurial activities at a
smaller level with minimum capital requirements.
Chiranjeevulu (2003)82 in his article "Empowerment of Women Through
Self Help Groups "has revealed that the multi-pronged strategy including local
marketing to export has been contemplated. The product will be thoroughly
popularized among all the SHGs in the district and channels for distribution of
product to all the strategic marketing locations will be developed. He has also

30
highlighted that network with other marketing enterprises of SHG women in
neighbouring districts will be established. Consumption points under the
control of government like hostels and devasthanams would be approached for
bulk orders. Product will also be marketed through PDS and Gruhamithra
supply channels.
Sinha (2004)83 in her article, "Micro finance for women empowerment:
A perspective", puts forward a debate on micro-credit for discerning policy
makers researchers and development practitioners. She says that understanding
the viability of microfinance requires a comprehensive analysis from the right
perspective. Micro finance can contribute to solving the problem of inadequate
housing and urban services as an integral part of poverty alleviation
programmes. The challenge lies in finding the level of flexibility in the credit
instrument that could make it match the multiple credit requirements of the low
income borrowers without imposing unbearably high cost of monitoring its end
use upon the lenders. According to her a promising solution is to provide
multiple purpose loans or composite credit for income generation, housing
improvement and consumption support.
According to Parande (2005)84, empowerment is an active process of
enabling women to realize their identity, potentiality and power in all spheres
of their lives. There are several indicators such as participation in crucial
decision-making process, ability to prevent violence, self-confidence and self-
esteem, improved health and nutrition conditions and at the community level,
existence of women's organisation, increased number of women in designing
development tools and application of appropriate technology etc. Improvement
in economic status is a more visible indicator of women empowerment. There
are several factors that affect empowerment of women, for instance education
research document, campaigns and networking training, conscious raising
campaign, mind-full media, drawings, on burning issues, etc. are all important
means of empowerment yet, in particular, education and training are very
effective means but also sustain empowerment process in the long run.

31
 Kamble and Sonar (2006)85 in his work, "The Role of SHGs in Women
Empowerment study on selected SHGs promoted by voluntary organization in
Gulbarga District of Karnataka" studies that the role of socio-economic
empowerment of women. The socio-economic conditions of the SHG women
are increasing to a significant level irrespective of different backgrounds.
Earlier they used to be home and not exposed to the society and were part of
the system. Now they can come out and approach the government machinery,
conduct meeting, to signature & more importantly have a good amount of
money in their hand. SHGs are mostly focused from financial aspects rather
social one this trend is more in the SHGs promoted under government
programme. The fact that self-help groups, are increasingly attracting younger
generation, this generation not only needs social and economic empowerment
but also assertive capacity, freedom from atrocities and a new self image to
claim themselves as fully human.
Venkatesh and Kala (2010)86 identified self-help group model as a
potential pathway to alleviating poverty. The number of poor women and men
who are enrolling in SHGs all over rural India has been increasing remarkably.
They are not only active in thrift and credit management but are also taking up
their activities, such as natural resource management and development,
literacy, knowledge management, nutritional security etc. SHGs lay the
foundation for self reliance through building up of institutions, which have the
capacity to generate employment opportunities for the rural poor and the
poorest and lead to job led economic growth.
The group is the perfect environment for consciousness-raising, for
mutual help, for developing social skills, for exercising problem-solving, and
for experiencing inter-personal influence. It was only natural that the
professionals who in the seventies developed the concept of the self-help group
would add the concept of empowerment to it in the eighties.87 When the
empowerment process is undergone by the individual in a group, it also
includes the enabling influence of a peer group within a collective-

32
organizational structure, and also relations with a mentor that enrich the
experience. The conjunction of empowerment with mutuality broadens people's
possibilities of controlling their lives. It has been found that people in self-help
groups who have both provided and received help have gained more
satisfaction from their participation in the group and more self-esteem than
people who only received help or only provided help.88
Participation in a self-help group is considered an ideal (though not
exclusive) means of encouraging individual empowerment, for such a group
produces empowerment beyond the individual as well: people receive
emotional and social support in the course of a change process in which they
provide concrete help to others and acquire new skills, including development
of ability for future public action.89
A modern woman has indeed risen above the past nations, about her
inferior status. She fears no authoritative men; she strives to stand parallel to
men and is independent. Education has given women enlightenment and a
vision. They have realized that they aren't mere puppets in the society but a
pillar without which the foundation of society is incomplete. It has traditionally
been accepted that the thread of family weaves the fabric of Indian society.
Women are considered as the hub centre of the family. Still, in the era of
political domination by foreigners, the women in India suffered most. Women
Empowerment is most vital system to strengthen the future of women in India.
It is a systematic approach which needs to develop more seriously in India. The
Government of India came up in the new millennium by declaring the year
2001 as 'Women's Empowerment Year' to focus on a vision "where women are
equal partners like men". This process has been further accelerated with some
sections of women becoming increasingly self-conscious of their
discrimination in several areas of family and public life. They are also in a
position to mobilize themselves on issues that can affect their overall position.
Empowerment would become more relevant if women are educated, better

33
informed and can take rational decisions. A woman needs to be physically
healthy so that she is able to take challenges of equality.90
Not-withstanding the remarkable changes in the position of women in
free India, there is still a great divergence between the constitutional position
and stark reality of deprivation and degradation. Whatever whiff of
emancipation has blown in Indian society, it has been inhaled and enjoyed by
the urban women, their population belonging to the rural areas are still totally
untouched by the wind of changes. They still have been living in miserable
conditions, steeped in poverty, ignorance, superstition and slavery. There still
exists a wide gulf between the goals enunciated in the Constitution,
legislations, policies, plans, programmes and related mechanisms on the one
hand and the situational reality on the status of women in India, on the other.
The human rights scenario in the country continues to be dismal and
depressing. Women are being brutalized, commodified, materialized and
subjected to inhuman exploitation and discrimination.91
Women being marginal and powerless do not indicate a population's
numerical weight in the society. Although women constitute half of the world's
population, they are discussed in the present context because like the elderly,
children, and disabled people, many women are powerless. At times it seems
that the only population in the Western world that does not need empowerment
is that of healthy, white, male members of the upper classes. This is also a
superficial but quite comprehensive description of the decision and policy
makers in Western democratic society who shape the social and physical
environment and allocate resources, leaving the majority feeling worthless and
marginal.
There is a steady improvement in the enrolment of women in schools,
colleges and even in profession institutes. Many laws have been enacted to
protect women from various crimes. Empowerment of women could only be
achieved if their economic and social status is improved. This could be possible
only by adopting definite social and economic policies with a view of total

34
development of women and to make them realize that they have the potential to
be strong human beings. Women have proved themselves as equals in many
professions as well as proved themselves even better suited than men in some.
The situation for the changing role of Women is improving fast. Women are
educated; they have achieved great stature in all industries. Bureaucracy,
sports, media, women have become a familiar sight.92
The issue of empowerment has been placed firmly on the agenda of
development studies especially since eighties of the last century. The term
empowerment is related to the poor, backward class people and women
particularly the women of disadvantaged group of people. In short,
empowerment is all about social transformation and all about the disadvantaged
people. Empowerment is related to the development of a group of people or the
section of people in terms of education, health, nutrition and employment.
Empowerment is also related to the participation of marginalized group of
people including women in political bodies. A person is said to be empowered
if he or she attains considerable education and gets employment and plays vital
role in decision making. To a women empowerment is the restructuring of
gender relation within the family, community and society. Empowerment is in
fact, a process in which a person assumes an increased involvement in defining
and promoting his own agenda for development in respect of social, economic
and political matters.93 The word women empowerment essentially means that
the women have the power or capacity to regulate their day- to- day lives in the
social, political and economic terms 'a power which enables them to move from
the periphery to the centre stage'.94
The self-help group model has been identified as a potential pathway to
enhance women empowerment at every sphere. The number of poor women
who are enrolling in SHGs all over India have been increased remarkably.
These groups have shown positive sign, as a result the whole scenario of the
women is changing; but many scholars opined that pace of empowering women
through SHGs programmes has not attains required aims.

35
 Considering the above facts, present research entitled "Self-Help
Groups and Women Empowerment : A Sociological Study of Lucknow
city" investigates the role of Self Help Groups in Empowerment of Women
with respect to women in North Indian society. From the point of view of
indicators of women empowerment, study explores the relationship between
role and strength of SHGs and women empowerment.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The present study seeks to evaluate the role of Self-Help Groups in
empowerment of women. In the study, reasons for poor status of women in
socially and economically deprived classes is explored and role of government
schemes, impact of efforts made by non-government organisations towards
upliftment of women and role and functions of SHGs have been analysed.
Apart from these, various socio-cultural constrains towards empowerment of
women have been examined. The study would contribute to establish gender
just society. It would also help to eradicate subordinating position of women in
typical Indian society and it would also help in formulation of new guidelines
for SHGs amplifying the awareness of the society about magnitude of power
and importance of women. The study is an attempt to analyse SHGs
programmes concerning women empowerment and to bring them into the main
stream. Present study addresses the gap in terms of theoretical, practical and
normative consequence of women empowerment. Therefore, this study would
be significant and it would also add to the academia.

36
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