Impact of Self Help Group – Bank Linkage Programme and it’s Role in the Upliftment of the Poor

By : K. Fayaz , K. Venugopal Rao

Page No: 316-325

Abstract
Development with social justice has been the fundamental target of development planning in India since independence; it has been evident that women have always been given very respectable position in the society. Gender equality in different socio-economic spheres has always been the top priority among policy makers, decision makers and the government. In the present socio-economic scenario, notions of women empowerment and their security can always be observed in the manifestos of all the political parties and this is the need of hour too for sustainable development. Despite making myriad efforts for women empowerment, the present socio economic status of women in India is very miserable. In this context, NABARD came ahead to launch Self Help Group (SHG) and bank linkage programme in 1992. These programmes have become a very effective tool of uplifting the socio economic status of poor women. There are ample facts across the globe to show, how the SHG and bank linkage programme through its functioning can provide productive employment opportunities, safe credit facilities, saving opportunities and thereby can eradicate poverty. The studies on the Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) of the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) underline that the programme has done extremely well in rural India in terms of its outreach, generating income, reducing poverty levels and empowering people both economically and socially. This paper evaluates the impact of SBLP on Self Help Group (SHG) members at the household level from a gender perspective. This is mainly because female SHGs are doing extremely well in terms of recovery of loans and per capita income and savings. Micro financing through self-help groups has proved to be a strategic measure for organizing poor people in groups and promoting savings habits to gain to access to institutional credit for their socio-economic development and empowerment.

Authors :
K. Fayaz : Ph.D., Faculty of Systems, SKIM, S.K. University, Ananthapuramu
K. Venugopal Rao : Ph.D SKIM, S.K. University, Ananthapuramu
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/PROD.2019.60.03.9