Impact of self-help group on socio-economic status of women: An empirical study of Jehanabad District of Bihar

Abstract

In developing countries, women are pivotal as risk managers and drivers of development, particularly in regions of severe poverty.In Bihar SHG is a great platform for poverty alleviation under the umbrella of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) of the government of India and in Bihar as Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (BRLPS) locally known as JEEVIKA.The present crosssectional study aims to find the socio-economic status of women after joining SHGs and comparative analyses with non-SHG women.A total of 600 samples (300 SHGs and 300 non-SHGs) were collected by random sampling method from two blocks of Jehanabad District of Bihar-Kako and Makhdumpur respectively new and old blocks in respect of SHG formation through a combination of semi-structured interview schedules.Collected data were statistically analyzed by IBM SPSS 2020.More than 90 percent of respondents were from matured SHGs with a life span of more than two years and they were involved in interloaning bank linkages, and many more implementations with government entitlements.All SHGs and individual members have their accounts in Banks and SHGs also have credit linkages with banks.Nearly 90 percent of women had taken various amounts as loans.The loan was majorly taken for Business /entrepreneurship development followed by children's education and, the daughter's marriage.In comparison to SHG, more than 80 percent of non-SHG women did not have any financial stability and only a few percent of women have investments and loans from banks/post offices, moneylenders, and other financial institutions.