Role of Micro Finance in Economic Empowerment of Women – A Case Study of Self Help Groups in Haryana

INTRODUCTION

Microfinance is a popular term in the present money related market situation. As its name demonstrates, microfinance alludes to small scale credit or microloan. Microfinance implies a banking or money related help which is given by banks or some other monetary associations to individuals who have a place with oppressed areas of the general public. It tends to be as advances, sparing stores and protection. Microfinance is extremely helpful to little measured undertaking holders just as business people who are having low capital. There are such huge numbers of individuals on the planet, particularly crosswise over in India, who doesn't have any entrance to money related help. There are numerous individuals of country zones and urban territories of India who doesn't have appropriate information and access to get help from traditional sources like banks and financial specialists. Microfinance is an incredible key to assist people with making them monetarily free. These assets gave by the banks at extremely low loan costs. These assets can be utilized by the individuals to begin their very own little adventures or to make their fantasies work out as expected. Numerous oppressed individuals of our country don't have any thought how to set aside cash and how to deal with their accounts. At the point when individuals take microfinance from a dependable establishment, at that point it will get uncover to them, that how they can deal with their cash and how they can utilize it in a reasonable way. It is likewise offered to that individuals who need to buy hardware or vehicles which are costly and are required to maintain their business exercises. These supplies can be tractors for their horticulture, machines for material assembling, and transportation trucks and so on.

There are numerous male individuals in different families who don't center and add to set aside cash for the family. They burn through cash pointlessly on those things which are a bit much. A large number of them don't consider the family costs; they burn through cash to satisfy their own needs like liquor and betting and so on. In these sorts of families, Female are increasingly mindful. Female individuals utilize even the little measure of cash cautiously and they likewise ensure the cash ought Remembering these conditions, SHGs made by lady, NGOs, Banks, and other microfinance foundations give monetary assistance to lady as microfinance for lady strengthening. These ladies recipients treat microfinance as their life guardian angel and they use these assets cautiously.

SHG is a relationship of financially homogeneous gatherings of rustic poor which are sparing limited quantities consistently and contribute towards a typical reserve to its individuals regarding crisis needs. It is a little gathering of around 10 to 20 individuals. For the dispersal of smaller scale credit to the poor women, on at risk association has been set up named as self - help Groups. It is women driven association and works upon the regions including how to malevolence and oversee units, linkage support with banks, evaluate credits needs and furthermore the authorization of money related self-pupils. The status of women as members, leaders and prisons in the social, monetary, law based and social parts of life have been upgraded by SHGs. Women are urged to effectively take an interest in the financial advancement of the general public.

The women‘s strengthening is particularly acknowledging in freedom from and stresses quality for women autonomously without having any help from guys. This strengthening approach, needs to master vided accentuation in both on the present moment and long haul game plans. Self improvement gatherings have given that they could in arrangement realize an adjustment in the outlook of the traditionalist and custom bound, unskilled and denied women in country regions. The SHGs (Self-help Groups) are the significant asset of motivation for women' welfare. In an endeavor towards the advancement of women, the legislature has started Women welfare programs improvement focuses, rustic offices, banks and so forth. In India, the majority of the SHGs are started by women with advantages of financial foundation

Das, Sanjay Kumar (2012) examined the performance of SHG members and also highlighted the way that how to increase the women participation in all rural development programe. The study was contained field survey during the period of the first half of 2011. The study used simple statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation, rank to analyzed data of survey. The study observed that micro-finance is an efficient instrument to promote empowerment of women in Assam. The research study suggested that there is need of innovative micro-finance division which can contribute some new norms in women empowerment. Narang, Uma (2012) examined the current situation of women in the society and the research study also examined the economic-status of respondents after joining Self-Help Groups. The research study was relied on secondary data taken from various sources such as Books, newspapers, journals, published literature, websites and annual reports. The study revealed that in the period (2005-10), SHGs has got great support from respondents and from financial corporations and mostly SHGs were of women. SHGs also support in their contribution in savings. Modi Shari (2018) examined the role of microfinance institutions in India. It was reveals that microfinance is a important useful technique for improvement in socioeconomic conditions of poor people in developing country. The main aim of the research study was to inspect the role and position of micro-finance institutions. The study was concluded that micro-finance institutions are doing significant performance in poverty reduction and growth of India. Mansour Esmaeil Zaei, Parchi Kapil, Olha Pelek and Azadesh Teeimoury (2018) observed that does micro credit empower the women with the help of SHGs. The study also examined the levels of women empowerment after joining SHGs and using microfinance program. It was found that microfinance services increased the capability of the poor women to control their savings and generate income activity. The study was concluded that they have a greater decision-making power in their family and in society.

► To study the role of the microfinance and SHG‘s in socio-economic conditions of beneficiaries.

both primary and secondary data. The primary data means i.e. interview of all the respondents and collected the information. The sample for the field survey has been drawn by adopting multi stage random sampling and purposive sampling techniques for selecting districts, blocks, villages and beneficiaries. The district Bhiwani, Mewat, Rohtak and Ambala have been selected on the basis of one district from four different administrative zone of Haryana. So the 320 respondents of the study have been selected from 1 state, 4 districts, 8 blocks, and 16 villages.

Table-1.1 and figue-1.1 depict age-wise classification of the respondents. The age-wise distribution of respondents shows majority of the beneficiaries 45.31 percent belong to the age group of 30-40 years. 25.94 percent of the respondents belong to the age group of 40-50 years. 20 percent of them belong to the age group of 20-30 years and only 1.56 percent of the respondents belong to the age group of above 60 years. It was found that people who belong to age group 30-40 years were more interested to join the group.

Figure No-1.2 Table-1.2and figure-1.2 depicts religion of the respondents, most of the beneficiaries 85.31 percent belongs to Hindu religion. 9.69 Percent of the respondents belongs to Muslim religion and only 5 percent belongs to Punjabi religion.

Figure No-1.4 Table-1.3 and figure-1.3 reveals that out of the total number of respondents 39.69 percent belongs to schedule caste, followed by 36.87 percent belongs to OBC and 23.44 percent belongs to

Figure No-1.4 Table -1.4 and figure -1.4 shows educational qualification wise distribution of the respondents. Majority of beneficiaries 32.19 percent were illiterates, 23.12 percent of the respondents have done primary education, 15.62 percent of the respondents have done middle class education, followed by 14.69 percent was having high school education and 3.75 percent of the respondents was having graduation. Only 0.63 percent of the respondents belong to other education.

percent of the respondents were unmarried followed by only 0.31 percent of the respondents were divorcee.

Table-1.6 and Figure-1.6 indicates the classification of the respondents according to their families. In the study it was found that 66.87 percent of the respondents belong to the nuclear families and 33.13 percent belongs to the joint families. It was observed from the above table that members of nuclear families were more interested in the formation of self-help groups.

Table-1.7 and figure-1.7 represents occupation of the household of the respondents. The data in this table shows that people of rural area were engaged in a various occupations for their livelihood. The majority of the respondents 18.44 percent were involved in labor work. 16.25 percent of the respondents involved in agriculture, followed by 15 percent of the respondents belong to shopkeeping.10.63 percent of the respondents were involved in buffalo rearing and only 1.56 percent belongs to Government Jobs. 3.13 percent of the respondents were not employed.

Figure No-1.8 Table-1.8 and Figur-1.8 indicates the headship of the household or family, it is found in the study that husband of beneficiaries was holding headship in 63.75 percent households. Whereas they self was having in only 16.88 percent. Head of the household were their father-in-law of 9.69 percent families, and followed by in 7.50 percent head are Mother-in-law.

Table-1.9 and figure-1.9 represent the type of house of the respondents. It is observed form the table that 42.50 percent of the respondents was having pucca house and 35.63 percent of the respondents was having semi-pucca house. And only 21.87 percent of the respondents was having kutcha house .It is concluded that the majority of the respondents have pucca house.

The women self-help groups, having tremendous confidence among themselves have brought about a transformation in the social outlook of its members. Self-help group in a backward region emerged as a new force for eradicating poverty. Hence, self-help groups have proved that they could indeed bring about a change in the mindset of the very conservative and tradition bound illiterate women in rural areas. The emergence of self-help is an innovative step for women empowerment. Financial resources if effectively delivered to women can help them make meaningful improvement in their economic and social condition and reduce gender inequality in rural area. Thus we can say that the empowerment of poor women is an essential pre- requisite for economic development and social progress of the nation self help group plays an important role in the empowerment of rural women. The concept of

• Many of SHG members are using the credit for consumption purpose only. This may not be provided additional returns from credit. Hence, possible efforts must be prepared by the concerned authorities to take up income generating activities at least with half of sanctioned credit. • Strict supervision is needed by the concerned bank officials for proper utilization of finance on productive purpose; it can avoid diversion of funds for other useless purposes. • The banks should provide sufficient time to repayment of loan and they must be supervising the economic activities. Because better monitoring of SHGs will yield better results. • Micro credit cannot push the rural into debt traps. It should come in the form of a participatory model and not as a profit model. It should be bottom up and not top down. The effectiveness of SHGs would be considerably enhanced if a symbiosis could be worked out between them and panchayat Raj Institutions. The given policy implications many help to further improvement through micro credit of the women.

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Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Economics, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana sumaneconomics1990@gmail.com