OPERATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF WOMEN SELF HELP GROUPS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BELAGAVI AND DHARWAD DISTRICTS

Promotion of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) is instrumental in empowering poor women. In almost all the societies, women have less power than men, have less control over resources and receive lesser wages for their work. Self-help groups enable women to make decisions, increase self-confidence, self-esteem, better status and role in household activities etc. It is a known fact that poor women can be exploited easily, and have been underestimated and discriminated against in all phases of life. The economic development of the country is inseparably linked with the status and development of women. One of the powerful and effective tools to empower women is the formation of Women- Self-Help Groups. At present more than 100 schedule banks, 349 District Co-operative Central Banks, 27 State Rural Livelihood Missions and over 5000 NGOs are engaged in promoting SHGs as per the report of NABARD. This paper focuses on the operational dimensions of the Women Self-help groups in Belagavi and Dharwad districts of Karnataka. An attempt is made to analyze the impact of operations of WSHGs on the respondents in both Belagavi and Dharwad districts.