Womens Empowerment - Great Ideas, Great Minds - A Special Focusing on Self-Help Group (SHG) For Womens Empowerment as Well as Rural Development of Khejuri CD Blocks in Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India

The budding social consciousness from corner to corner of the globe has brought a number of issues to the fore among which gender impartiality and empowerment of women are very noteworthy. Discrimination against women in the form of male-female segregation reflects the core of the gender-biased structure. The education is the biggest therapeutic power and the rise in the levels of education which nourishes progressive stance and the beginning of industrialization and modernization have effected a sea change in the attitudes and thinking prototype of the citizens. The empowerment is not fundamentally political singlehandedly in fact; political empowerment will not be successful in the deficiency of economic, socio-cultural and environmental empowerment. Women empowerment is a progression in which women confront the presented norms and culture, to efficiently encourage their well being. The involvement of women in Self Help Groups (SHGs) made a momentous impact on their empowerment both in social and economical aspects. This study addresses women empowerment as well as rural development through self help groups of Khejuri CD Blocks in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. The information requisite for the study has been collected from both the primary and secondary sources. A multistage random sampling method has been followed. Average and percentage analysis was accepted out to draw significant interpretation of the results. Factor analysis was used to measure the relationship between the observed variables. The outcome of the study revealed that the SHGs have had greater impact on both economic and social aspects of the beneficiaries.