A Self-Help Group (SHG) is a socially and economically homogenous group of 10 to 15 people who voluntarily come together to achieve common goals. For the past five decades after independence,the State is the planner and the implementer of anti-poverty programs. The working of the political system and administrative machinery have been inadequate and the number of people below the poverty line has not been appreciably reduced. The focus has shifted to local participatory micro-development organizations known as SHG. In India, 22 million SHGs were financed by the banks up to March 2006. A total of 165 million poor people have gained access to bank credit. More than 90% of the members involved are women.
In Orissa, 1.8 lakh SHGs had credit linkage with banks as on March 31, 2006. They had been financed about Rs. 452 cr. State Bank of India (SBI) has credit-linked about 11 lakh SHGs, most of them are women SHGs, and provided an assistance of Rs. 279 cr. The Institute of Management & Information Science (IMIS), Bhubaneswar, has undertaken a survey of SHGs, incidentally, all women SHGs, in Puri District (Orissa).
To study the changes that took place in the
economic status of the SHG members after credit-linkage
with the bank.
To examine the nature of the economic activities undertaken
by the SHGs before and after credit-linkage. To examine the efficiency of credit provided
by the bank. The study is based on the primary data collected
through a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists
of different aspects. General Information about SHGs: Initial credit-linkage
and subsequent repeat finance.
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