Impact of Microfinance on Women Empowerment with Special Reference to District Aligarh (India)

As women are the integral part of the society, their empowerment is very important for the growth and development of a country. But, the participation of women in decision making and in other activities of social life is very low. Over the years numerous efforts have been done by many government and Non-Government organizations to encourage women empowerment. One such effort is the microfinance intervention. Microfinance programs have noteworthy potential for contributing to women's socio-economic empowerment. Microfinance institutions aim to provide financial services to the poor who have no access to conventional banks. Many leading public and private sector banks are offering schemes exclusively designed for women to set up their own ventures. Even the unorganized sector has been heading into microfinance movement. In this paper the role played by Microfinance in women's empowerment are considered into two dimensions namely social and economical. To check the various schemes under which the micro finance tool is applied and the progress of this program with the help of various data provided by the government and other institutions is included in this study. Mainly on the basis of primary data analysis, this paper attempts to highlight the impact of Microfinance in the empowerment of women in Aligarh district.