Micro Finance, SHGs as a tool of poverty alleviation and women empowerment

One of the powerful approaches to women empowerment and rural entrepreneurship is the formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) especially among women. This strategy had fetched noticeable results not only in India and Bangladesh but world over. Women being central to the entire development process and at the precursor of social transformation can be demonstrated with many examples that could include Grameen Bank's success, SHGs of ICICI Bank, Shakthi Ammas at HLL, Cemex, Amul, the success of Avon, Mary Kay, and Tupperware in US and other parts of the world Micro Finance as a tool of poverty alleviation and women empowerment has gained acceptance in development dialogue the world over. There is an acute need among the poor for credit, both for consumption and production, which often forms the declining line between survival and succumbing to poverty. It has been found that besides food, credit is also needed for health, housing education. These needs are also critical for survival (Zeller, 2000). The success of SHGs as a development tool depends on the availability of Micro Finance. This paper tries to link all the pertinent points discussed above namely Micro Finance, SHGs, Women Empowerment and Women Entrepreneurship.