Theories on the eradication of poverty abound. Self-help, self-reliance and self-sufficiency are touted as solutions, and are indeed critical to an economically stable life. Yet, for economically disadvantaged women (America’s poorest citizens), self-help is not as simple as grabbing sturdy boot straps or climbing elusive ladders. Creative ideas for self-sufficiency do not flower and flourish in environments that are void of resources. This book, first published in 1995, examines the questions raised around the concept of self-help by introducing microenterprise and exploring its relevance to poor women.
This 15-volume set of previously out-of-print tiles examines many aspects of women and business. Encompassing such as areas as women’s access to managerial positions, positions within trade unions, inequality, family life, role in family businesses and entrepreneurship, it is a remarkable collection and a vital business reference source.
Contents: Introduction, Growth of Self Help Groups in India, Review of Literature, Methodology, Performance of the Self Help Groups, Impact of Micro Credit on SHG Members, Summary and Conclusion.
All over the world there is a realization that the best way to tackle poverty and enable the community to improve its quality of life is through social mobilization of poor, especially women into Self Help Groups. Ever since Independence a number of innovative schemes have been launched for the upliftment of women in our country. Indian Government has taken lot of initiatives to strengthen the institutional rural credit system and development programmes. Viewing it in the welfare programmes of Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) and shifting the concept of Development to Empowerment. The Indian Government adopted the approach of Self Help Groups (SHGs) to uplift the rural women. The empowerment of women through Self Help Groups (SHGs) would lead to benefits not only to the individual woman and women groups but also the families and community as a whole through collective action for development. The book will be highly useful to students of social studies especially Women Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Economics and also to the students and research scholars specialising in Human Development and NGO s and also other functionaries dealing with women.
The general meaning of the term 'empowerment' is giving to individuals of power to take decisions in matters relating to themselves in relation to self-development1. Garden feels, 'the individual is an effect of power, and at the same time, repressively to the extent to which it is that effect, it is the element of its articulation. The individual with power has constituted, is at the same time its vehicle'2. According to Chandra Shanti Kohli (1997) empowerment in its simplest form means, the manifestation of redistribution of power that challenges patriarchal ideology and the male dominance.
Micro-finance has been holding the interest of researchers, scholars and practitioners for some time now because of its development implications and impact on women empowerment. Women micro-entrepreneurs in addition to facing serious bottlenecks like male domination and social taboos also suffer from dearth of capital to finance their economic activities. Micro-finance as a major development strategy provides a practical approach to attack the vices of poverty, especially for women. The book deals with - Concepts of micro-finance, systems of micro-finance delivery, i.e., the savings and credit linkages of Self Help Groups with banks, different likage models. - Activities of institutions like the NABARD and SIDBI in linking groups and the features of the SGSY launched by the Government. - The role played by a regional Rural Bank in North Bengal in formation and linking of SHGs. - The perception of women micro-entrepreneurs towards micro-financing schemes and SHGs, their activities in SHGs, their problems and constraints in dealing with banks and role and perception of bank officials. - Impact of micro-finance schemes on women using socio-economic indicators. - Policy implications for better administration of Micro-finance schemes. The book aims at attracting readership among: - Micro-finance practitioners - Government agencies engaged in Micro-financing Activities - NGOs - Banks and Funding Agencies - Students of Micro-finance and Developmental Studies as a supplementary text - Policy makers.
The book, "Take Off: The Blossoms of Women Empowerment" plays an important role in the area of focusing on empowerment, upliftment, enrichment and why not entrepreneurial enterprise owned by blossoming women of today.The empowerment of women is essential to development of nation and particularly for the reduction of poverty in real terms.Today women empowerment takes place in all levels through SHGs, entrepreneurship, business enterprise, inclusion of Information Technology, globalised scenario and informal sectors.The blossoms of women empowerment reached frontiers of political, economic, social and total personality of an individual. This book comprises achievement and participation of women from all walks of life.This book reiterates the famous saying of Kofi Annan "There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women".This book enhances the readers to realise the inherent potentials of women belonging to different sectors.
