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Author: Sowjanya Shetty Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 9
Book Description
In recent years financial inclusion has been given top priority as financial development and economic growth are interdependent. Women constitute almost half of country's population and their work participation is also increasing and diversifying and impacting her family, neighbourhood and the economy too. Notwithstanding their numerical strength women are still confined to a secondary status in social life, economic activities and decision-making processes. The Draft National Policy for Women in Agriculture (April 2008) prepared by National Commission for Women (NCW) stated that an estimated 20 per cent of rural households are defacto female headed due to widowhood, desertion or male-out-migration. This makes women economically vulnerable and both occupationally and socially, the victims of discrimination. Self-reliance through solidarity and productivity seems to be the way out of this human poverty. Financial inclusion therefore, could be a means to come out of poverty. Self-help Groups are considered to be the enabling mechanism in this regard. The most common group lending model under SHG movement in India at present is “SHG-Bank linkages”. Across regions and communities SHGs of women have improved their participation and saving capacity. When women have financial means, they invest that money back into their families resulting in better economic security. However, we need to know whether this impact translates to better social security in terms of health, education, equity etc. We argue that financial inclusion without social intermediation is a half attempt at women empowerment. Time has come to the 'nobleness' of group approach with 'ability' to cope with challenges and changes of the times. SHGs must be ready for new experiments for the sake of enhancing expertise in group management rather than be complacent with past experience. The objectives of this paper therefore, are to (i) critically examine the role and reach of SHGs towards empowerment, (ii) discuss the issues and initiatives in establishing linkages between the socio-economic dynamics and women's empowerment, and (iii) explore some strategies that may supplant or supplement the SHG initiatives and remove the imbalances that still remain in accomplishing total empowerment of women.
Author: Sowjanya Shetty Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 9
Book Description
In recent years financial inclusion has been given top priority as financial development and economic growth are interdependent. Women constitute almost half of country's population and their work participation is also increasing and diversifying and impacting her family, neighbourhood and the economy too. Notwithstanding their numerical strength women are still confined to a secondary status in social life, economic activities and decision-making processes. The Draft National Policy for Women in Agriculture (April 2008) prepared by National Commission for Women (NCW) stated that an estimated 20 per cent of rural households are defacto female headed due to widowhood, desertion or male-out-migration. This makes women economically vulnerable and both occupationally and socially, the victims of discrimination. Self-reliance through solidarity and productivity seems to be the way out of this human poverty. Financial inclusion therefore, could be a means to come out of poverty. Self-help Groups are considered to be the enabling mechanism in this regard. The most common group lending model under SHG movement in India at present is “SHG-Bank linkages”. Across regions and communities SHGs of women have improved their participation and saving capacity. When women have financial means, they invest that money back into their families resulting in better economic security. However, we need to know whether this impact translates to better social security in terms of health, education, equity etc. We argue that financial inclusion without social intermediation is a half attempt at women empowerment. Time has come to the 'nobleness' of group approach with 'ability' to cope with challenges and changes of the times. SHGs must be ready for new experiments for the sake of enhancing expertise in group management rather than be complacent with past experience. The objectives of this paper therefore, are to (i) critically examine the role and reach of SHGs towards empowerment, (ii) discuss the issues and initiatives in establishing linkages between the socio-economic dynamics and women's empowerment, and (iii) explore some strategies that may supplant or supplement the SHG initiatives and remove the imbalances that still remain in accomplishing total empowerment of women.
Author: Kartick Das Publisher: ISBN: 9788177083392 Category : Self-help groups Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Women's lack of economic empowerment not only impedes growth and poverty reduction, but also negatively impacts education and health outcomes for children. Thus, it is extremely important to ensure that women are economically empowered. Financial inclusion may be defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit - where needed by vulnerable groups, such as women - at an affordable cost. India's Self-help Group (SHG)-Bank Linkage Program was launched in 1992 as a flagship program by the country's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. The objective is to meet the financial needs of the poor by linking SHGs with the formal credit agencies. Financial inclusion of India's women can be best ensured through SHGs. This collection contains papers that provide valuable insights into the importance and functioning of SHGs to ensure financial inclusion and hence economic empowerment of women in India.
Author: Stijn Claessens Publisher: World Bank Publications ISBN: 0821368656 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
This study investigates the relationship between financial sector development and progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It assesses the contribution of countries' financial sector development to achieving the MDGs. The focus is on the relationships between financial development and economic welfare and growth, and the following four MDG-themes: Poverty, Education, Health, and Gender Equality. In doing so, the book reviews the theoretical channels, surveys existing empirical evidence - both cross-country and case study evidence, and provides new evidence. Financial Sector Development and the Millennium Development Goals finds that financial development is an important driver for economic welfare in that it reduces the prevalence of income poverty and undernourishment. In addition, new evidence is provided of a positive association between financial development and health, education, and gender equality.
Author: Kumar, Neha Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst ISBN: Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 53
Book Description
Women’s self-help groups (SHGs) have increasingly been used as a vehicle for social, political, and economic empowerment as well as a platform for service delivery. Although a growing body of literature shows evidence of positive impacts of SHGs on various measures of empowerment, our understanding of ways in which SHGs improve awareness and use of public services is limited. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper first examines how SHG membership is associated with political participation, awareness, and use of government entitlement schemes. It further examines the effect of SHG membership on various measures of social networks and mobility. Using data collected in 2015 across five Indian states and matching methods to correct for endogeneity of SHG membership, we find that SHG members are more politically engaged. We also find that SHG members are not only more likely to know of certain public entitlements than non-members, they are significantly more likely to avail of a greater number of public entitlement schemes. Additionally, SHG members have wider social networks and greater mobility as compared to non-members. Our results suggest that SHGs have the potential to increase their members’ ability to hold public entities accountable and demand what is rightfully theirs. An important insight, however, is that the SHGs themselves cannot be expected to increase knowledge of public entitlement schemes in absence of a deliberate effort to do so by an external agency.
Author: Sujit Kumar Ghosh Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing ISBN: 9783659631061 Category : Languages : en Pages : 140
Book Description
I have observed that women in rural West Bengal are full of wisdom as well as enthusiasm. What they need is some guidance and support to improve their economic condition so as to earn a better living. The rural co-operatives are better placed to support the Self-Help Groups of women folk in providing forward-backward linkages in procuring raw materials for their produce and marketing the finished products. The importance of training in acquiring technical skill for some critical vocations cannot be looked aside. The rural employment programmes of the Government alongwith financial inclusion mooted by banks can provide required support in economic regeneration of the rural families.
Author: Sowjanya Shetty Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 12
Book Description
In India financial inclusion has been given top priority in recent years in the philosophies and plans of both financial development and economic growth. Financial Inclusion is the delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast section of the disadvantaged and low-income group. Financial inclusion intends to provide finance to the weaker sections of the society enabling better social development which in turn facilitates investment and economic growth in the country. Inclusive growth is meaningless without including the marginalised sections of society. Excluding women, who represent half the population, makes development process and outcomes unjust and unacceptable, leave alone unfinished. Studies show that over 70 per cent of beneficiaries of the financial inclusion agenda are women. SHGs are one of the essential means to include women in the process of financial inclusion, and they are the prime driver for the financial movement in India. Our study found many shared efforts and experiences to prove motivated and mobilised women's capability and confidence turning to capital resulting in a brighter future for the women themselves and their communities as a whole. India's newfound philosophy of 'inclusive growth' includes a route for enabling women in the growth process - of the self and the society. The objectives of this paper are: to examine the role and reach of SHGs towards empowerment; to discuss the issues and initiatives in establishing linkages between the socio-economic dynamics and women's empowerment; and to explore specific strategies and practices that may supplant or supplement the SHG initiatives and remove the imbalances that remain in accomplishing total empowerment of women.
Author: Sultana Jehan Begum Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing ISBN: 9783846558546 Category : Languages : en Pages : 156
Book Description
The women's SHG model is a home grown Indian model.Based on the principles of self-help, self-management, self-responsibility and self-reliance, the groups were mobilized by promoting institutions (often NGOs).The self help promoting institutions found that saving and loans could be the binding factor for groups to remain active and pursue their own agenda. NABARD launched a pilot to link SHGs to banks in 1992 which provided these institutions with a boost. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted banks to open saving accounts in the name of informal SHGs and lend to those groups without cash collateral and without asking for the purpose of the loan. Since 1996, SHG banking has been recognized as regular banking activity. In the process SHGs emerged as mass movement across the country and the largest community based micro finance model in the world.Two decades of the SHG movement has demonstrated positive impact on poverty. The model offers great potential to have millions of member-owned, member-managed and member-used organizations of the poor. In a nutshell this book is highly useful for those who want to do further research on SHGs & women empowerment.
Author: David Brady Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199914052 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 937
Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Poverty builds a common scholarly ground in the study of poverty by bringing together an international, inter-disciplinary group of scholars to provide their perspectives on the issue. Contributors engage in discussions about the leading theories and conceptual debates regarding poverty, the most salient topics in poverty research, and the far-reaching consequences of poverty on the individual and societal level.
Author: Mara van den Bold Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst ISBN: Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 80
Book Description
Many development programs that aim to alleviate poverty and improve investments in human capital consider womens empowerment a key pathway by which to achieve impact and often target women as their main beneficiaries. Despite this, womens empowerment dimensions are often not rigorously measured and are at times merely assumed. This paper starts by reflecting on the concept and measurement of womens empowerment and then reviews some of the structural interventions that aim to influence underlying gender norms in society and eradicate gender discrimination. It then proceeds to review the evidence of the impact of three types of interventionscash transfer programs, agricultural interventions, and microfinance programson womens empowerment, nutrition, or both. Qualitative evidence on conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs generally points to positive impacts on womens empowerment, although quantitative research findings are more heterogenous. CCT programs produce mixed results on long-term nutritional status, and very limited evidence exists of their impacts on micronutrient status. The little evidence available on unconditional cash transters (UCT) indicates mixed impacts on womens empowerment and positive impacts on nutrition; however, recent reviews comparing CCT and UCT programs have found little difference in terms of their effects on stunting and they have found that conditionality is less important than other factors, such as access to healthcare and child age and sex. Evidence of cash transfer program impacts depending on the gender of the transfer recipient or on the conditionality is also mixed, although CCTs with non-health conditionalities seem to have negative impacts on nutritional status. The impacts of programs based on the gender of the transfer recipient show mixed results, but almost no experimental evidence exists of testing gender-differentiated impacts of a single program. Agricultural interventionsspecifically home gardening and dairy projectsshow mixed impacts on womens empowerment measures such as time, workload, and control over income; but they demonstrate very little impact on nutrition. Implementation modalities are shown to determine differential impacts in terms of empowerment and nutrition outcomes. With regard to the impact of microfinance on womens empowerment, evidence is also mixed, although more recent reviews do not find any impact on womens empowerment. The impact of microfinance on nutritional status is mixed, with no evidence of impact on micronutrient status. Across all three types of programs (cash transfer programs, agricultural interventions, and microfinance programs), very little evidence exists on pathways of impact, and evidence is often biased toward a particular region. The paper ends with a discussion of the findings and remaining evidence gaps and an outline of recommendations for research.
Author: Sowjanya Shetty
Author: Sowjanya Shetty
Author: Kartick Das
Author: Isabelle Guérin
Author: Stijn Claessens
Author: Kumar, Neha
Author: Sujit Kumar Ghosh
Author: Sowjanya Shetty
Author: Sultana Jehan Begum
Author: David Brady
Author: Mara van den Bold