Women empowerment is a global issue now drawing scholarly intervention. Sen argues, “Indeed the empowerment of women is one of the central issues in the process of development for many countries in the world today” (Sen, 1999: 2). It is necessary not only for their own development but also for the development of the society and mankind as well. Women must be empowered in order to develop a household. Empowerment of women is also essential for establishing gender equality in the society. So, women empowerment is the call of the hour. The contributions of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and various women organizations in women empowerment movement cannot be ignored. Within this set of organizations, women self-help group (SHG) is one towards empowering women. However, in reality, it is found that mere membership of women in SHGs is not a sufficient condition in empowering women, especially those women who belong to the marginalized section of society. There are many problems associated with it. Keeping this in view, the present study attempts to explore a research question: Whether SHGs can be a factor in empowering women? It is followed by another question: Is there any problem associated with the SHGs? Using a qualitative approach and in-depth interview method, this study interviewed 50 women from two selected villages in the district of Nalbari (Assam, India) who have membership in SHGs. The study argues that being member to SHGs on the part of the women-members is often guided by short-term needs rather than long term plans restricting scope of SHGs to empower women. Other socio-economic and political factors also determine viability of SHGs to empower women.
Education, Empowerment, Gender, Government, Self-Help Groups, Women
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