AN EVALUATION OF EMPOWERMENT OF POOR TRIBAL WOMEN IN BANKURA DISTRICT IN SHGS A CASE STUDY

At present Self Help Groups (SHGs) are being considered as an important tool for the empowerment of the poor women throughout the globe. Participation in the group activities helps them increase their self-confidence, consciousness, and bargaining power. SHGs also help in the alleviation of poverty through empowerment of the poor and underprivileged section of the society by involving them in various income generating activities. But at the moment the poor women participate in income generating activities through the SHGs they face some problems of varied nature. Keeping this in view, our paper attempts to analyse the nature of the problems faced by the poor tribal women members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) while participating in the income generating activities through Self Help Groups (SHGs). Our study identifies the occupational life of the poor tribal women of the study area. It also identifies some special types of problems generally faced by the poor tribal women of the study area. Finally, the paper concludes with some suggestions for the socio-economic empowerment of the poor tribal women needed for the eradication of poverty through the efficient and effective functioning of the SHGs as well as for accelerating economic growth of the study area.