Quest Journals

Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science

Volume 4 ~ Issue 9 (2016) pp: 31-38
ISSN(Online) : 2321-9467
www.questjournals.org

Research Paper

Self Help Groups (SHGs) – A Complete Understanding

Mrs. M. L. Shailaja1, Dr. Venkata Subrahmanyam C. V2, Dr. K. Nirmala3
1
Associate Professor, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Institute ofTechnology,(Affiliated To
VisvesvarayaTechnologicalUniversity) Nagarabhavi, Bangalore
2
Senior Data Scientist &Director, Center For Advanced Research In Social Sciences (CARISS), Bangalore
3
Associate Professor,Bangalore University, Bangalore

Received 15September, 2016; Accepted 24September, 2016 © The author(s) 2016. Published with
open access at www.questjournals.org

ABSTRACT: Poverty is one of the major problems in India. It is the root cause of many socio-economic
problems including population explosion, unemployment, and child labour and rising graph of crimes. Poverty
alleviation should be the main target of the nation so as to make it a prosperous and developed country.
For a multi-pronged and concerted attack on the poverty, the Government of India launched an
integrated program for self-employment of the rural poor, with effect from 1 April 1999, known as
Swarnajayanti Gram SwarozgarYojana (SGSY).
Self-Help Group refers to a group of 10-20 people who come from similar socio-economic
backgrounds for various development programmes or to solve common problems. Such groups are recognized
by the governments and banks and can open bank accounts in the name of the SHG.
This paper tries to explain all fundamentals and meticulous facts required to understand the SHGs
concept completely.

Key words: SHG; SHGs;Self Help Groups; SHGs in Karnataka; Origin of SHGs; Evolution of SHGs; State of
SHGs in India; State of SHGs in Karnataka;

I. INTRODUCTION
Poverty is one of the major problems in India. It is the root cause of many socio-economic problems
including population explosion, unemployment, and child labor and rising graph of crimes. Poverty alleviation
should be the main target of the nation so as to make it a prosperous and developed country. Thus, poverty
elimination is a matter of fundamental importance. Alleviation of poverty remains a major challenge before the
Indian Government. Acceleration of economic growth, with a focus on sectors, which are employment-
intensive, facilitates the removal of poverty in the long run. According to the 2011 Census of India has a
population of 1.21 billion people as of 2011. The figures provided by Population Census of India shows that the
country represents 17.31% of the world population. The latest poverty estimates by the Planning Commission
show that poverty in India has declined by 7.4 per cent. According to the latest data, 29.8 per cent or 360 million
Indians were poor in 2009-10 as compared to 37.2 per cent or 400 million in 2004-05. However, the decline is
based on a poverty line calculated at Rs.22.43 per person per day in rural areas, and Rs.28.65 per person per day
in urban areas, which is lower than the earlier Rs.32 a day mark.
Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia once stated, "I firmly believe that
when the final numbers of poverty till 2011-2012 come out in 2013-14, the actual decline in poverty would be
much larger than 1.46 per cent per annum as 2009 was a drought year." The only way to lower the risk that the
rural poor face would be to reduce their vulnerability through the use of microfinance to engage positively in
capacity building. The strategies used for capacity building through microfinance can be divided into Ex Ante,
that is, measures that are implemented before a disaster hits, and Ex Post, which refers to measures that are
implemented to deal with a disaster after it has taken place. Some ex ante strategies include the diversification of
income, the building up of assets in the form of cash, houses, livestock and land, and investments in education,
health care and social networks. Some ex post strategies in dealing with disasters are cutting down on
consumption, the mobilization of labour, the liquidation of personal assets, and the obtaining of loans from
informal and formal institutions.The micro finance revolution, a recent product of development, ensures the

*Corresponding Author: Mrs. M. L. Shailaja1 31 | Page

1
Associate Professor Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology
 Self Help Groups (SHGS) – A Complete Understanding

availability of institutional credit and financial inclusion to the poor, who were so for excluded from the
institutional credit system.
II. MICROFINANCE AND POVERTY
In developing economies and particularly in rural areas, many activities that would be classified in the
developed world as financial are not monetized: that is, money is not used to carry them out. This is often the
case when people need the services money can provide but do not have dispensable funds required for those
services, forcing them to revert to other means of acquiring them.The advocates of microcredit argue that
microcredit can help to substantially reduce poverty. According to the latest research done by the World Bank,
India is home to almost one third of the world‟s poor (surviving on an equivalent of one dollar a day). Though
many central government and state government poverty alleviation programs are currently active in India,
microfinance plays a major contributor to financial inclusion. In the past few decades it has helped out
remarkably in eradicating poverty. Reports show that people who have taken microfinance have been able to
increase their income and hence the standard of living.

III. THE CONCEPT OF SELF HELP GROUP

For a multi-pronged and concerted attack on the poverty, the Government of India launched an
integrated program for self-employment of the rural poor, with effect from 1 April 1999, known as Swarnjayanti
Gram SwarozgarYojana (SGSY). The scheme is an amalgamation of six earlier programs, viz. (1) Integrated
Rural Development Program (IRDP), (2) Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM), (3) Supply
of Improved Tools for Rural Artisans (SITRA) (4) Ganga KalyanYojana (GKY), (5) Million Wells Scheme
(MWS) and (6) Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA). The objective of the scheme
is to bring the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organizing them into Self Help Groups (SHGs)
through the process of social mobilization, training and capacity building and provision of income generating
assets through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.

The concept of SHG is based on the following principles:

 Self-help supplemented with mutual help can be a powerful vehicle for thepoor in their socioeconomic
development;
 Participative financial services management is more responsive and efficient;
 Poor need not only credit support, but also savings and other services;
 Poor can save and are bankable and SHGs as clients, result in wider outreach lower transaction cost and
much lower risk costs for the banks;
 Creation of a common fund by contributing small savings on a regular basis;
 Flexible democratic system of working;
 Loaning is done mainly on trust with a bare documentation and without anysecurity;
 Amounts loaned are small, frequent and for short duration;
 Defaults are rare mainly due to group pressure; and
 Periodic meetings non-traditional savings.
Self-Help Group refers to a group of 10-20 people who come from similar socio-economic
backgrounds for various development programmes or to solve common problems. Such groups are recognized
by the governments and banks and can open bank accounts in the name of the SHG. These groups tend to be
autonomous and tend to involve themselves in various activities, including social causes. So if a group of fifteen
women in a village would like to apply for a loan start a small enterprise selling bags and cushions, they would
be considered an SHG. These SHGs, by way of enterprise tend to create more employment opportunities and
inspire others to get involved in small enterprises as well.

IV. THE SHG SYSTEM

The members form a group of around twenty members. The group formation process may be facilitated
by an NGO or by the MFI or bank itself, or it may evolve from a traditional rotating savings and credit group
(ROSCA) or other locally initiated grouping. The process of formal „linkage‟ to an MFI or bank usually goes
through the following stages, which may be spread over many years or which may take place within a few
months.

 The SHG members decide to make regular savings contributions. These may be kept by their elected head,
in cash, or in kind, or they may be banked.
 The members start to borrow individually from the SHG, for purposes, on terms and at interest rates
decided by the group themselves.
 The SHG opens a savings account, in the group‟s name, with the bank or MFI, for such funds as may not be
needed by members, or in order to qualify for a loan from the bank.

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 Self Help Groups (SHGS) – A Complete Understanding

 The bank or MFI makes a loan to the SHG, in the name of the Group, which is then used by the Group to
supplement its own funds for on-lending to it members.
The SHG need never go through all these stages; it may satisfy its members‟ needs quite effectively if
it only goes to the second or even to the first stage, saving money and possibly not even withdrawing it (Harper
M 2000, pp. 39-42).The SHG carries out all the same functions as those required by the Grameen system, but
they do this on their own behalf, since the SHG is effectively a micro-bank, carrying out all the familiar
intermediation tasks of savings mobilisation and lending. The MFI or bank may assist the SHG in record
keeping, and they may also demand to know who are the members and impose certain conditions as to the uses
of the loan which they make to the SHG, but the SHG is an autonomous financial institution in its own right.The
members have their accounts with the SHG, not with the MFI or bank, and the MFI or bank does not have any
direct dealings with the members.

V. THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF SHGs

Self-help groups (SHGs) first emerged in MYRADA in 1985. In 1986/87 there were some300 SHGs in
MYRADA‟s projects. Many had emerged from the breakdown of the largecooperatives organized by
MYRADA. In these areas, a number of members askedMYRADA to revive the credit system. They usually
came in groups of 15-20. Whenreminded of the loans they had taken out from the cooperative, they offered to
returnthem to MYRADA, but not to the cooperative, which in their experience was dominated bya few
individuals. MYRADA staff suggested that they return the money to themselves – inother words to the members
who had come in a group to present their case to MYRADA.After some hesitation, they decided to continue
meeting in these smaller groups.MYRADA staff realized that they would need training: how to organize a
meeting, certain agenda, keep minutes, etc. Efforts were made to train the members systematically. Onanalysis it
emerged that the members were linked together by a degree of affinity based onrelationships of trust and
support; they were also often homogeneous in terms of incomeor of occupation (for example, agricultural
laborers), but not always. Caste and creedplayed a role, but in several groups affinity relationships and economic
homogeneity werestronger; as a result, several groups included different castes and creeds.From the time that
the first SHGs emerged in 1985 to the inclusion of the SHG strategyin the annual plan for 2000/01 (Government
of India, 2000), several important steps weretaken by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD), theReserve Bank of India (RBI) and leading NGOs, as well as by multilateral agencies,particularly
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The SHG strategy is an important component of the
Government‟soverall thrust to mitigate poverty and has been included in every annual plan since 2000.This
period of 20 years can be divided broadly into two phases.

PHASE I: FROM 1987 TO 1992

During this phase – largely omitted in recent studies – NABARD focused on supporting NGO
initiatives to promote SHGs and on analyzing their potential and performance. In 1987 NABARD first put funds
into the SHG/SAG4 movement (in response to a proposal from MYRADA submitted in 1986). In 1987 it
provided MYRADA with a grant of 1 million Indian rupees (Rs)5 to enable it to invest resources to identify
affinity groups, build their capacity and match their savings after a period of 3-6 months. The grant was based
on MYRADA‟s experience in promoting SHGs since 1985 and the initiative of the NABARD chairperson at
that time, Shri P.R. Nayak.
As a result of the feedback from this initiative, in 1989 NABARD launched an action research project
in which similar grants were provided to other NGOs. After an analysis of this action research, and owing to the
efforts of successive NABARD chairpersons and senior management, in 1990 RBI accepted the SHG strategy as
an alternative credit model. NABARD (1992) issued guidelines to provide the framework for a strategy that
would allow banks to lend directly to SHGs. Based on these initial experiences, the SHG-Bank Linkage
Programme was launched in 1992 (this second phase is described in Section III). Since then – and on the basis
of its extensive network of officers – NABARD has promoted and monitored the SHG programme, provided
funds for capacity building and innovation, and helped change policy to create an enabling environment.
The Tamil Nadu Women‟s Empowerment Project, an IFAD-supported project implemented through
the Tamil Nadu Women‟s Development Corporation, was the first project in the country, in about 1990, to
incorporate the SHG concept into a state sponsored programme. MYRADA was asked to play a lead role, which
it agreed to do in Dharmapuri District. This was a year or more before the launch of the SHG-Bank Linkage
Programme. The empowerment of women was sought through both SHG strengthening, with capacity-building
modules, and through the provision of credit for income-generating activities.Although an enabling policy
framework was not yet in place for the SHG-BankLinkage Programme, RBI nevertheless decided to extend
credit to the groups, with somemodifications in the design and paperwork. As a result, this became the first
statesupportedproject to initiate the SHG-bank linkage strategy. This experience alsocontributed to the

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 Self Help Groups (SHGS) – A Complete Understanding

initiatives undertaken by NABARD to shape policy on microfinancemodels, which resulted in the launching of
the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme througha pilot project.

PHASE II: FROM 1992 ONWARDS – THE SHG-BANK LINKAGE PROGRAMME

The programme began in 1992 with a two-year pilot project to link 500 SHGs. It wasindeed the pilot of
the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, although not of the SHGmovement, with which NABARD had already
been involved since 1987. Without that1987 investment, the SHG movement would not have had official
recognition andownership. The SHG-Bank Linkage Programme was slow to take off, but has beenspeeding
along since 1999. It has received unstinting support from RBI, the central andseveral state governments of India
– notably Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtraand Karnataka– and thousands of NGOs and the banking
sector, as well asmultilateral agencies, notably IFAD.
Although the data are difficult to verify, reports indicate that as of March 2006 therewere about three
million SHGs in India. Of these, about 1.6 million are linked tobanks. NABARD (2005) provides data on the
SHG-Bank Linkage Programme. It is anofficial publication into which NABARD has invested much work and
care and it will be used as a reliable source of information, with the following clarifications. The reportprovides
information only on the 1.6 million SHGs/SAGs linked to banks. Its data onlycover cases in which refinancing
is requested by the banks. The report also focuses,understandably, on the financial management of
SHGs.However, SHGs are also an instrument for the empowerment of poor andmarginalized sectors. They have
proved to be an effective instrument for changingoppressive relationships in the home (gender- and tradition-
related) and in society.This is especially true for those relationships arising from caste, class and politicalpower,
which have made it difficult for poor people to build a sustainable base for theirlivelihoods and to grow
holistically.
Owing to this social impact, MYRADA has pointed out that the SHG movementdoes not focus on the
provision of credit rather it focuses on the management ofsavings and credit. It is the experience of managing
finance that gives poor people theconfidence and skills to initiate and manage change in society. The SHG
movementarises from the belief that it is not enough to teach people to fish when they cannotreach the river.
There are hurdles in their way (class, caste and political) that the SHGshave been able to overcome. NABARD
has also financed case studies focusing on thesesocial issues and on the changes that SHGs have been able to
initiate.The SHG-Bank Linkage Programme is the major component of the SHG movementfor which official
data are available. Such data give a reliable overview of the progressof the movement in India. One can assume
that the majority of well-functioning SHGshave been advanced loans by banks; however, this may not be the
case in parts of thecountry in which banks have been slow to initiate the linkage.

VI. IMPACTS OF SELF-HELP GROUP IN INDIA

 Saving and Financial Decision Making: One of the primary benefits of participation in a SHG is the
opportunity to save regularly, accessformal savings institutions and participate in the management of these
savings. They save regularly, have theirown bank accounts and make deposits into these accounts. SHG is
having a good impact on members, in theirability to save their hard earned money.
 Access to credit: A corollary of participation in SHGs is an improvement in a woman‟s access to credit.
Since theproject is perhaps too early in its implementation to directly improve women‟s access to credit. The
financialmobility due to participation in the SHG has led to an improvement in the quality of life, according
to some ofthe successful groups. Overall, many families were able to address their basic needs better than
before. Some ofNGOs reports have shown that the record on the repayment of loans by women was often
better than that ofmen, and that women were also more likely to spend the income earned, on their families,
leading to improvedhealth and nutrition of the poor population and for improving the quality of their lives.
 Employment: The implementation of SHG has generated Self-employment opportunities for the rural poor.
Theprogress of the program since inception assisted in formation of 35.7 lakh SHGs; assisted 1.24 Cr.
Swarozgarisin establishing their own micro-enterprises. The Government of India released Rs.11, 486
Crores under theprogram; bank credit mobilization is Rs.19, 017; Total subsidy provided is Rs.9, 318 Cr.
The program helpedmany participants in improving their economic conditions. Another good
accomplishment of the program is thatit has adopted the SHG strategy. The number of assisted SHG/ group
Swarozgaris has increased from 35,000 in1999 – 00 to 1.15 million in 2007 – 08. At the same time the
number of assisted individual Swarozgaris hasdeclined from 586 thousand in 1999 – 00 to 254 thousand in
2007 – 08. The National Bank for Agriculture &Rural Development (NABARD) will create a Rs.15 billion
fund to cater to women's Self-Help Groups ineconomically weaker districts in the country, After joining the
self-help group the women are economically and socially empowered. Thisempowerment cannot be
transformed or delivered it must be self-generated such that it enables those who areempowered to take
control over their lives.

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 Self Help Groups (SHGS) – A Complete Understanding

 Decision-making within the household: The social impact of the SHG program increased involvement in
Decision-making, awareness aboutvarious programs and organizations, increased access to such
organizations, increased expenditure on Health andMarriage events,there is a Change in the attitude of male
members of the families, now they are convinced aboutthe concept of SHG and encourage women to
participate in the meetings and women reported that they havesavings in their name and it gives them
confidence and increased self-respect. Within family the respect andstatus of women has increased. Children
Education has improved significantly. Especially girl education wasvery low but now SHG members are
sending their children including girls to school. The Sanitation inmembers‟ households has improved and it
has led to better health in members‟ families. Now women are takingtreatment from qualified doctors, even
if they have to travel to nearby towns. Members are now confidentenough to raise social status.
 Participation in local government: Because of SHG, women know about their local political institutions
such as the Gram Panchayats andhave better knowledge of where to report certain types of grievances. As
part of the political empowermentprocess, it is a pertinent fact that many women have not only been elected
to the GramaPanchayats but havebecome the role holders too.In a majority of the cases, the women
perceived themselves as now having some influence overdecisions in the political life of village, and in a
smaller number of cases, the women named their participationand influence in village political life as an
important and note-worthy change. However, in general, theopportunities available to the women to
participate in village life were limited, as most of the village processeswere still being male-dominated and
patriarchal. Though the SHGs generate positive impact on the ruraleconomy through empowering women
and enhancing the rural income of those participant households, the issueof group size has been of long
standing concern.
 Communication Level of Members: Microfinance movement is having a good impact on members, in their
ability to express their feelingsand has made people more confident to express themselves.
 Self Confidence among Members: The group formation brought out the hidden talent and leadership
qualities among the members.Therefore, it can be concluded that after joining the SHG the members have
improved their status in family,become helpful in family finance and sometimes helped others too.Now,
most of the SHG people feel that they get more respect; not only in the village, but our ownfamily members
treated us more respectfully. People of the village now invite us for social and communityfunctions. Now
our family members value our opinions whereas earlier they had no use for it. They encourageus and support
us in our activities. Now they get respected in the village society and have a definite identity insociety.
Family members think of them as a working woman and encourage them in their work. Improve
theirknowledge of banking, of how to undertake the different banking transactions, as also of dealing
withgovernment officials. They now feel confident about these things. They too feel an improvement in their
socialstatus. Family members changed their attitudes towards them after they started participating in the
SHG. Theynow regard them brave women. The people of the village too give much more respect than
before. Familymembers seek her opinion in many of the family decisions. Moreover, people from the society
in general respectthem.
 Change in Family Violence: Involvement with SHG has reduced this violence in 25 per cent cases
especially due to reduction ineconomic difficulties. In most of cases the members revealed that their
husbands should also be involved inSHGs.
 Frequency of Interaction with Outsiders: Members generally, got lesser opportunity to interact with
bankers, Government officials, NGOs and others in the Pre-SHG period. It can be seen that in the Pre SHG
period 25 per cent of the members were not interacting with officials whereas after associating with SHGs,
91 per cent members had interacted with the outsiders and out of total 44 per cent have interacted more than
4 times with outsiders. This interaction helped them to articulate their problems and improved their self-
confidence.
 Status of Access to Amenities: Since SHG programme has economic as well social implications. It can be
seen that there has been an increase of 40 per cent in SHG members in terms of their status of access to
amenities factors. Therefore, it can be concluded that after joining the SHG the members have improved in
getting access to amenities like medical, sanitation, education, market, water supply, transport.
 Community Participation: SHG members undertook a lot of community activities which they earlier could
not have imagined themselves to have done. They distributed school uniforms to poor students; they
undertook a plantation drive, distributed pen and notebook sets to poor students and donated some money to
a charity during a national calamity. They participated in several social initiatives like the “Clean Village
Drive” and other such social upliftment programmes since their involvement in the SHG. They organized a
small function on India‟s Republic day. Perspective of the Social Worker Women who have participated in
this have benefited economically. They are now able to buy household goods like televisions, furniture,
telephones, jewelry and most importantly are able to save for the future. Now they are much more confident
in their dealings with government officials, bank officials, electricity board officials, Medical officers, the

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 Self Help Groups (SHGS) – A Complete Understanding

revenue officer, health scheme officials etc. They also participate in elections. Moreover, they make use of
the various government welfare schemes available.
 Increased Nutritional status: They find positive impacts on empowerment and nutritional intake. Female
social and economicempowerment in program areas increased irrespective of participation status. Evidence
of higher consumption isnot income or asset formation. The program's main economic impact had been
through consumption smoothingand diversification of income sources rather than exploitation of new
income sources.
 SHGs and Environmental Management: Research and policy has tended to focus on the relationship
between poverty and environmentaldegradation in terms of pointing out that the poor are both victims and
agents of environmental degradation.They are victims in that they are more likely to live in ecologically
vulnerable areas, agents in that they mayhave no option but deplete environmental resources thus
contributing to environmental degradation.As a result of increasing awareness, social conditions and poverty
alleviation, are necessary to supportenvironmental sustainability (SIDA 1996; Leach and Mearns 1991;
UNEP 1995).Today SHGs have a role toplay in poverty alleviation through empowerment of women in
India. Moreover, women tend a greaterinvolvement in environmentally sustainable activities and
environmental management than men. Therefore,involvement of women in development programmes
through SHGs can effectively increase awareness ofsociety to ward environmental sustainability.

VII. MAJOR CHALLENGES OF SHGS:

Women as compared to men have always been delicate and therefore they have toface many problems
when they come out of the house to work with men. Women indeveloped economy do not face the problems
which are faced by the Indian women. Despitemany achievements, women get trifled by many difficulties.
Some being common for bothmale and female and some are the curse only to the women. There are many
psycho-socialfactors which hinder the path of women empowerment and her stepping towardsentrepreneurship.
Women have always been criticized by the male dominant society for theirout of home activities. Indian women
are confronted with many such problems. Indiansbelieve in the philosophy that “Women should never be left
independent she should be underthe control of her father in childhood, under the control of her husband after
marriage andunder the control of her son in old age”. Some of the major difficulties in this respect can
beillustrated as below.

1. Family discouragement: As women in India have to work amidst social taboos,restrictions etc., they are not
supported much to undertake entrepreneurship by their familymembers.
2. Social Barriers: Women SHG in India are always seen with suspicious eyes, particularly in rural areas, they
face more social barriers.
3. Caste and Religion: Though India is a secular country in practice, caste and religious systems dominate
with one another and it hinders women SHGs.
4. Lack of self-confidence and risk bearing capacity: Women lack self-confidence and always feel that they
may not be successful and hence hesitate to take risks.
5. Psychological factors: Always women feel that she is „women‟ and less efficient than men and hesitates to
take risks. She has to play a dual role if she is employed or engaged in work. She has to strive hard to
balance her family life with care hence feels better to be housewife.
6. Lack of practical knowledge: Though women may be educated and have qualified knowledge, she lacks
practical knowledge and hence hesitates to establish her own venture.
7. Problem of finance: Women entrepreneurs lack property in their own name and hence banks and financial
institutions may hesitate to finance women based projects.
8. Lack of information: Women SHG lack knowledge of availability of raw materials, finance facilities and
government help and subsidy etc.; they lack knowledge of advanced technology also and hence cannot
widen their markets.
9. Problems of middlemen: Women SHG have to face the problems of middlemen more, as they generally
depend more on them. Their margin of profit will be more and hence cause for higher selling price, which
affects consumer‟s attraction towards women‟s products.
10. Problem of Marketing: As generally women SHG will have small scale business they have to strive hard to
sell their products in the modern competitive world. Their marketing knowledge will be less and lack of
marketing skills as compared to men.
11. Delay in obtaining credit facilities: Loan facilities, though extended by banks and other financial
intermediaries, quite often there is delay in getting the loan sanctions and receiving the disbursement of
such facilities.
12. Female child discrimination: Most of the Indian families treat female child as a curse. There is biasness in
case of promoting education and business opportunities for a girl. Although a girl is well in studies, she is

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 Self Help Groups (SHGS) – A Complete Understanding

not given an opportunity for higher studies. However this perception is lowering down day by day. It is also
advisable that we should start the task of promoting a girl child from our own self. The integrated effort by
all of us will definitely lead to women entrepreneurship at the top level.
13. Lack of financial and family support: Indian SHG women also suffer from the problem of acquiring venture
capital and other financial resources for starting a business. Further, they also lack a moral support from
their family members including parents, husband etc. They are enclosed within their personal and family
obligations, which are greater barriers to them. They play various role at the same time (i.e., mother, wife,
daughter, etc.) so they also face problem of role conflict.
14. Problems inherited in women: Indian women also fight, with the perception of the society. They are not so
easily accepted as a business organizer by the people in the society. Women lack courage and self-
confidence in starting a new venture. They even do not have access to entrepreneurial training and lack
confidence from within. Moreover they lack role model and experience, thus being a problem for lower
confidence of finances and suppliers.
15. Market risk and uncertainties: Women are not fully aware about market uncertainties and they also lack the
skill of boldly facing the market risks. They are afraid of such risks and uncertainties. They face difficulty
in capturing market and enhancing product sales. There is a need for training to women entrepreneurs so
that they are able to fight with the uncertainties very well.
16. Lack of technical knowhow: Most of the Indian women do not have much knowledge about the latest
technologies used in business. Due to this problem they fail to grow along with the flow of the economy.
There is a need of technical training for them.
17. Lack of self-confidence, will-power, strong mental outlook and optimistic attitude amongst women creates
a fear from committing mistakes while during their piece of work. The family members and the society are
reluctant to stand beside entrepreneurial growth of SHG members.
18. Women in India lead a protected life. They are less educated, economically neither stable nor self-
dependent which reduce their ability to bear risks and uncertainties involved in a business unit.
19. The old and outdated social outlook to stop women from entering in the field of entrepreneurship is one of
the reasons for their failure. They are under a social pressure which restrains them to prosper and achieve
success in the field of SHG entrepreneurship.
20. The greatest deterrent to women entrepreneurs is that they are women. A kind of patriarchal male dominant
social order is the building block to them in their way towards business success. Male members think it is a
big risk financing the ventures run by women.
21. Male chauvinism is still prevalent in many parts of the country yet. Women are looked upon as “abla” i.e
weak in all respects. In a male dominated society women are not treated equal to men that acts as a barrier
to women entry into business.
22. Indian women give more emphasis to family ties and relationships. Married women have a make a fine
balance between business and family. The business success also depends on the support of the family
members extended to women in the business process and management.
23. Women‟s family obligations also bar them from becoming successful entrepreneurs in both developed and
developing nations. The financial institutions discourage women entrepreneurs in SHG on the belief that
they can at any time leave their business and become housewives again.
24. Unlike men, women mobility in India is highly limited due to many reasons. A single women asking for
room is still looked with suspicion. Cumbersome exercise involved in starting with an enterprise coupled
with officials humiliating attitude towards women couples them to give up their spirit of surviving in
enterprise altogether.
25. Women SHG entrepreneurs have to face a stiff competition with the men entrepreneurs who easily involve
in the promotion and development and carryout easy marketing of their products. Such a competition
ultimately results in the liquidation of women SHG entrepreneurs.

VIII. CONCLUSION
India is fiercely diverse as a nation, and most communities are also diverse in caste, opinion and
religion. Indians are also known for their sense of personal independence, which is often translated into
indiscipline, whether on the roads, in political assemblies or elsewhere. The SHG system reflects this
independence and diversity. It allows people to save and borrow according to their own timetable, not as the
bank requires, and SHGs can also play a part in a whole range of social, commercial or other activities.
SHGs can be vehicles for social and political action as well as for financial intermediation. This
flexibility and freedom also has its price. Politicians are driven by their need for popularity and power, and
bureaucrats by their need to achieve numerical targets.SHGs can provide both with a ready-made vehicle. If
their members can identify and resist the disadvantages of being „used‟ by outsiders, and can exploit them rather
than be exploited, the movement may in time play an important role in the reduction or even the elimination of

*Corresponding Author: Mrs. M. L. Shailaja1 37 | Page

 Self Help Groups (SHGS) – A Complete Understanding

India‟s main claim to fame, its leadership in world poverty. If not, however, they will become no more than
another milestone in the nation‟s long list of failures.

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*Corresponding Author: Mrs. M. L. Shailaja1 38 | Page