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BEST PRACTICES OF SELF HELP GROUPS AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: A CASE OF BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM
Sanjay Kanti Das Head, Department of Commerce, Lumding College, Lumding, Nagaon, Assam - 782447, India. E-mail:- [email protected] ABSTRACT Self help groups (SHGs) have emerged as popular method of working with people in recent years. Since SHG based micro finance programmes cover a large number of women, it is expected that such programmes will have an important bearing on womens empowerment. Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have emerged in order to help poor women to secure inputs like credit and other services. Micro finance and SHGs are effective in reducing poverty, empowering women, creating awareness and ensure sustainability of environment which finally results in sustainable development of the nation. To avert such a situation, growth with quality has became the paramount agenda of today among different stakeholders, as there is an over reaching concern about sustainability of the SHG movement in India. Self-help groups have been instrumental in empowerment by enabling women to work together in collective agency. An effort is made in this paper to make a comparative analysis on the quality and performance of the SHGs and the impact of SHGs on women members in Barak Valley of Assam (Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts). It is observed that due to fast growing of the SHG-bank linkage programme in the State, the quality of SHG has come under stress. Some of the factors affecting the quality of SHGs are the target oriented approach of the government in preparing group, inadequate incentive to NGOs for nurturing their groups etc. Further, it is observed from the Table 17 that impact on decision making pattern ranks first followed by economic empowerment and then psychological aspects. Confidence building ranks fourth while Social empowerment ranks the fifth and so on. Keywords: Quality issues, Quality Assessment Tools, Self Help Group, SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, Women empowerment. Paper Type: Research Paper INTRODUCTION Micro finance through Self Help Group (henceforth SHG) has been recognized internationally as the modern tool to combat poverty and for rural development. SHGs have emerged in order to help poor women to secure inputs like credit and other services. The concept of SHG in India was introduced in 1985 and consequently a pilot scheme was started on Self-Help Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) by NABARD in 1992. SHGs are small, economical, homogeneous, affinity groups of rural poor who are voluntarily ready to contribute to a common fund to be lent to their members as per the group decision. They work for group solidarity, self group awareness and social and economic empowerment through democratic functioning. Many rural development programmes like SGSY which is a combination of six rural development programmes, are based on the self-help group strategy. It is a viable alternative to achieve the objectives of rural development and to get womens participation in all rural development programmes. Microfinance programmes like the SBLP in India have been increasingly hailed for their positive economic impact and the empowerment women. This is based on the view that women are more likely to be credit constrained, have restricted

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access to wage labour market and have limited decision-making and bargaining power within the household. This article argues that true women empowerment takes place when women challenge the existing norms and culture, to effectively improve their well being. While doing so, it carefully interprets the World Bank's definition of empowerment within the South Asian contexts and makes comprehensible distinctions between community driven development, efficiency improving activities that are culturally considered to be women's domain and activities which truly empower women. Based on this conceptual framework the results of the Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and interviews analyze the activities through which the SHG impact the lives of women in India. It is argued that only a fraction of these activities are truly empowering for the participating women, however, drawing inference from the household data, preliminary results indicate that SHGs could be leading to empowerment of women. Economic independence is essential for womens empowerment. Proper and long term training is essential for improving their skills in different income generating activities. One important indicator of empowerment is the ability to make decisions within the household. On this issue, in the field studies conducted under the IFAD gender mainstreaming review, many women interviewed indicated that they could decide on spending their own income, although men were often consulted. In some countries, where mobility outside the home is often restricted, women have reported increased mobility, simply having to inform male heads of households instead of soliciting their permission. In the realm of self-confidence and selfesteem, the feedback from the IFAD gender mainstreaming review has been very positive. Reports indicate that women are more able to articulate their views and were able to command attention and respect within the household, and often within the community. Increased self-confidence was especially pronounced when women had been exposed to training on womens rights and social and political issues. Women from self-help groups have also been elected to public office, their participation in such groups serving as an incubator for community leadership. However, these instances are still incipient and not widespread and self-help groups remain largely isolated islands of activity. SHGs have been instrumental in empowerment by enabling women to work together in collective agency. Womens networks do not usually obtain business or political favours as they command few economic resources and frequently rely on time and non-monetized labour exchange. However, SHG, when combined with savings and credit, have enabled women to benefit economically by monetizing their contributions and in the process have empowered them to become agents of change. A related aspect is that self-help groups have facilitated the formation of social capital, where people learn to work together for a common purpose in a group or organization (Putnam 2000). The ability to associate depends on the degree to which communities share norms and values and are able to subordinate individual interests to those of larger groups. Out of these shared values comes trust, with the potential for social, economic and political change. However, these groups are often narrowly focused on microcredit, which, although useful as an entry point, can also limit and confine these groups to very small-scale activities with limited impact beyond the immediate family. SHGs are playing a major role in removing poverty in the rural India today. The group-based model of self-help is widely practiced for rural development, poverty alleviation and empowerment of women. Self-help as a strategy for social development places emphasis on self-reliance, human agency and action. It aims to mobilize people, to give them voice and build peoples organisations that will overcome barriers to participation and empowerment. Central to the idea of self-help is the formation of groups, concept of a community and the development of egalitarian relationships that will promote peoples well being. SHGs serve as a medium of delivering micro credit to the members.

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE In this section, an effort is made to review studies that have undertaken so far in respect to the various qualities, sustainability, performance and impact assessemnt related to SHGs in India. Sa-Dhan (2003) made a comparative study of assessment tools developed by various organisation viz. NABARD, BASIX, MYRADA, CARE, APAMAS etc. and have identified eight broad thematic areas with various indicators and their relative benchmarks. The study also felt that unless a tool could provide an instant and clear analysis of the state of affairs of SHG, it would not popular in practice. However, the study identifies eight broad major indicators viz. Group constitution, orgnisational discipline, organizational systems, financial management, credit policy external linkage etc. to access the quality of SHGs. Pattanaik (2003) emphasized the role of SHGs for socio-economic development of women in particular and society as a whole. Narasiah (2004) opined that micro credit plays crucial role in empowering women. Manimekalai (2004) also remarked that the SHGs have the enough potential for establishing capacity building and self-efficiency among women. Sinha (2005) in his work observed that micro-finance contributed significantly to saving and borrowing of the poorer section of the country. Suguna (2006) also remarked that the emergence of SHGs as silent revolution in the spread of rural credit for rural development. Lolheihzovi (2007) considered SHGs as best engine of growth of human resource. In addition, remarkable studies have been done by Ali-Akpajiak & Pyke (2000), Krishna (2003), Panda (2005), Jerinabi (2006) and Chen, Jhabvala, Kanbur and Richard (2007) regarding role of SHGs in development of poor. In the beginning, there was an effort to popularise SHG-Bank linkage among the bankers, without due emphasis on quality which needs to be given priority. While most of the grading tools were kept simple to encourage the field functionaries, the tool could not be administered with the seriousness as it was required. Some years back, Sa-Dhan has developed a SHG Performance Measurement Tool (Sa-Dhan 2005) based on its applied research with an objective of helping the SHPIs and Banks to understand the SHGs in required detail to assess its performance, including decision making for credit linkage. This tool helps the SHPIs to measure the quality of SHGs and to identify the areas of strengths and weaknesses of SHGs that would in turn help them to design their capacity building initiatives for SHGs in a more focused and cost effective manner. This tool also helps banks to understand and assess SHGs performance in the required detail for credit linkage. Reddy (2005) observes that the state of SHGs identifies key areas of weakness which undermine the sustainability of SHG movement. He identifies the major areas such as financial management, governance and human resource ranges from weak to average quality for a majority of SHGs. APMAS (2006) on the SHG-Bank-linkage programme in India, addressed a wide range of issues including cases of dropouts from SHGs, internal politics, issues of social harmony and social justice, community actions, book-keepings, equity, defaults and recoveries etc., and sustainability of SHGs. Singh (2006) conducted study about Peoples Education and Development Organisations SHGs programme and makes an attempt to evaluate social and economic impact on households of SHGs members. They observed that members involved in SHGs programme have increased involvement in decision making, awareness about various programmes and organisations. Moreover, the members get information about the different sources of credit and also reported that there are evidences of household income, food security and increased standard of living. 31

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Roy (2007) undertaken quality assessment of SHGs in West Bengal and this was done by using twenty indicators like group meeting, members participation, group discipline, savings, micro-credit, financial management, economic and social initiatives and linkages with institutions. Factor analysis was done based on twelve indicators like cohesion in the group, initiative of the NGO, facilitation by PRI institutions, support of the bank, assistance of the line department, own initiative, livelihood opportunity, skill, infrastructure and market. Kumar (2010) while comparing the differences in quality of SHGs between SHGs under the umbrella of federations and other SHGs which are not part of federation observes that federation type SHGs are functioning well. He assesses the quality of SHGs by using NABARD CRI and also advised all banks to access the quality of SHGs using the CRI before every credit linkage. Sahu (2010) assessed the quality of SHG in Northwest India based on the 13 indicators of the 200 SHGs, 27 percent of the groups are found to be strong and stable. A majority of the groups (62.5%) are found to be moderately stable. 10.5 percent groups are found to be poor. Sharma (2007) shows that the SHG movement has not successful in some north-eastern states because of some peculiarities prevailed in the region. The study observes the banking constraints as a factor that hinders the quality of SHG in Northeast India. In another study conducted by Haryana Community Forestry Project, (Govt. of Haryana, 2007) assessed the quality of SHGs in a self style way which comprises nine broad indicators which includes organisational capacity, saving and credit, financial management, micro-enterprises, skill development, awareness & attitudes, empowerment & influence, networks & linkages and plans & visions. Another recent study (APMAS 2009) reported that the SHG programme has resulted in social and economic benefits to a significant percentage of the sample groups. Despite of all round support from the Government of Assam, NABARD, NGOs, RRBs and active participation of primary members, the condition of SHGs in the state is far from satisfaction. The study also reveals that the proliferation of SHG has posed a serious challenge to sustain this movement by maintaining quality of SHGs and hence, the quality assessment of SHGs is now being considered as a key concern. The study also articulated some serious challenges like uneven growth of SHGs in different parts and uneven quality of SHGs across the country and issues related to their sustainability. Hence in group formation, homogeneity in economic status should be given due weightage. Continuity in the perusal of social causes and issues, group processes, and other social parameters should be considered while fixing determinants of group quality. Rating of SHGs assumes importance as it not only a pre-appraisal tool but as well a self evaluation which is a continuous process. Quality assessment of SHGs has come to be accepted as an important tool to ensure standards in SHGs. In the enthusiasm to ensure monitoring of SHGs every stakeholder had their own innovation in designing a new tool for grading of SHGs. This has resulted in flooding of market with rating tools with slight variation here and there (Devaprakash 2005). The present study differs from earlier studies as it covers comparative study on quality of SHGs in three districts of Assam. Further, this paper tries to explore the common and normal practices relating to quality assessment of SHGs, to identify the performances of SHGs and its impact on women members in the study area and to put forward some suggestions based on quality assessment.

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OBJECTIVES The objectives of this paper are 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To make a comparative study on the quality of SHGs in Barak Valley of Assam. To identify the normal practices of SHGs in Barak Valley of Assam To identify the quality issues of SHGs in Barak Valley of Assam To study the impact of SHGs on its women members in Barak Valley of Assam To outline conclusions based on the findings of the study and to put forward some suggestions in the context of quality assessment. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY The research design and methodology devised in this paper is being presented which has been designed keeping in mind the focused objectives and with the aim of acquiring accurate and authentic data. The methodology of research for preparation of this paper may be categorized into two parts viz. methodology applied for descriptive analysis about SHGs and methodology applied for its impact assessment in case of women empowerment. The first one is the theoretical part whereas the second is of practical part. Hence, some further segments of study have been done for convenience. The study was restricted to only to Barak Valley of Assam (Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts) out of twenty three districts of Assam. Three development blocks from each district were selected under first level of random sampling. Again, from each development block four revenue villages were selected under second level of random sampling mostly those revenue villages which are featured with high proliferation of SHGs. Further, from each revenue villages ten SHGs are selected under third level of random sampling. Data has been collected from primary sources. Only SHGs under SGSY which are enlisted with Directorate of SHGs under SGSY, for the year 2008-09 & completed one years of existence are covered in the study and primary data are collected during the first half of 2011. Initially, 360 (120 SHGs from each district covering both male and women) SHGs are randomly selected from selected revenue villages out of which researchers could collect 150 (50 SHGs from each district) useful filled questionnaires from the selected districts, due to time shortage, apathy of group members, defunct SHGs and distance constraints. A set of questionnaires are being prepared for assessing the quality of the SHGs and its impact on women members of the study area. These questionnaires are framed suitably by studying the existing literature of quality assessment and women empowerment. The enlisted quality assessment variables are identified and tabulated as below. TABLE 1: SELECTED QUALITY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS Sl. No. Indicators I Organizational Capacity 1 Kind of rules and regulation for running the group 2 Practice of update rules 3 Attendance in meeting 4 Selection of group leaders Weight Oral = 1 ; Written = 2 No = 0; Yes = 1 < 50% members = 1 , 50- 75% members = 2 , > 75% members = 3 Nominated by SHPI/NGO/bank staffs = 1, Nominated by members = 2, By election = 3

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5 6 7 8 II 9

Practice of rotating leadership Decisions take by consensus No major disagreement that divides members Transparency in operation Savings and Credit Regularity in savings

No = 0 ; Yes = 1 No = 0 ; Yes = 1 No = 0 ; Yes = 1 No = 0 ; Yes = 1 < 50% members contribute regularly = 1, 5075% members contribute regularly = 2, > 75% members contribute regularly = 3 No = 0 ;Yes = 1 House-to-house to get the contribution = 1; Deposit in Accounts/ SHG =2 By group representative or NGO/Bank/ Promoter = 1; By all group members meeting =2 Uniform = 1 ; According to purpose = 2 As decided by group representative or NGO/Bank staffs or upper caste member (not elected) = 1, Through group meeting = 2 No = 0 Yes = 1 Below 50% =1; 50% - 75% = 2; Above 75% = 3 No= 1 ;Yes = 2

10 11 12

Revision of mandatory savings Members deposit savings Fixation of rate of interest

13 14

Rate of Interest Decision on who is to be given loan Keeping emergency funds Loan recovery Group loans is only for productive purposes Financial Management Record/Book keeping Level of maintenance of records Micro enterprise Development Acquired vocational skills Started new micro-enterprises Awareness and Attitudes Social and community action by SHG Aware about issues of social harmony and social justice Networks and Linkages Organise community events Linkage with Banks/ Other agencies Empowerment and Influence Self Reliance in managing Social affairs Self Reliance in managing economic affairs

15 16 17 III 18 19 IV 20 21 V 22 23 VI 24 25 VI 26 27

Representative of outside SHG = 1; Group representative or a literate member = 2 Not maintained at all = 0; Incomplete & irregular = 1; Regular, accurate & update = 2 25% = 0 ; 25- 50% = 1 , 50- 75% = 2 ; > 75% = 3 No = 1; Yes = 2 No = 1; Yes = 2 25% = 0 ; 25- 50% = 1, 50- 75% = 2 ; > 75% = 3 No = 1; Yes = 2 No = 1; Yes = 2

No = 1; Yes = 2 No = 1; Yes = 2

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Self Reliance in managing group affairs Source: Compiled from survey of literature.

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No = 1; Yes = 2

Further, for suitability of the quantitative study under the selected Assessment Tool, the following scale is used keeping conformity with the above cited weighted scale. TABLE 2: RATING GRADE SCALE Aggregate Weighted Score 50 & above 30-50 20-30 Below 20 Source: Author RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions are framed to study the quality and performance of SHGs in the study area. 1. 2. 3. 4. Whether all the SHGs in the study area are equally qualitative? Whether all the SHGs in the study area are performing and functioning in a same manner? What are the major problems of SHGs in normal functioning? What are the major reasons for forming SHGs in the study area? The following research questions are designed to get suitable information form the women participants about SHGs impact on economic, social and psychological empowerment. Does participation in SHGs increase the womans influence over economic resources and participation in economic decision making? Does participation in Self Help Groups influence the individual development and growth of a woman i.e. confidence building? Is there an increase in a womans influence in decision making in the household? Has participation in SHGs increased womans image in society and at home? Does participation in SHGs increase a womans capacity building? Does participation in SHGs increase a womans awareness and knowledge? Does participation in SHGs increase a womans participation and influence in social, community and other activities? Is there any change in the attitude of the husband/household/community regarding womens empowerment? Has participation in SHGs increased a womans mobility, development of networks and interactions with other members of her group and community? SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Quality assessment of SHGs is still now a challenging issue and the area under study bears the same imprint. The state ranks very poor as per HDI, 2008 in the state of country and the SHG movement in the state is also not remarkable at par with other states of the country which are relevant matter of study. However, introduction of SHGs for improving well being 35 Grade A B C D Analysis Grade Good Average Poor Very Poor

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

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of rural and urban poor have recently got impetus for poverty-stricken families of the district. This innovative idea has benefited poorer section of the society significantly and the women folk for their empowerment. SHGs are now emerging as the predominant model for poverty eradication, women empowerment and development agencies (Panda, 2005). The application of the strategy through UNs MDGs (Millennium Development Goal) has made provision of financial support to the poor or low income people by realizing the fact that instead of targeting individual development, it would be more useful to apply this idea in case of group development and interesting the result found in most cases is as very positive. In India, the SHGs constitute a widely accepted development strategy for poverty reduction as they are perceived as powerful vehicles for the promotion of microcredit and microfinance especially for women (Chen et. al, 2007). Therefore needless to say that microfinance provided by rural banks through participation in work in SHGs is the best way of challenging poverty, unemployment, and women empowerment both in rural and urban areas. Only a few quality assessment studies were made in the country in general and Assam in particular. But the assessment tools are devised by different agencies for different purposes and different sets of users. Several rating systems for micro-finance interventions and SHGs have been developed in the past. But most of these were restricted to understanding the creditworthiness of SHGs and employed indicators on performance on basic group functions and credit absorption capabilities. Social, empowerment and behavioural aspects of SHG functioning rarely found a place in the rating system. Further, these rating tools speak different languages in assessing the quality of SHGs. Here, an effort is made in this paper to assess the normal quality practices and performance of the SHGs vis- a vis its impact on women members i.e. women empowerment in the study area. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AREA The Barak valley is the southernmost region of Assam composed of three districts viz, Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi, covers an extensive area of 6922 sq. kms in Assam. The topography of the valley is heterogeneous composed of high hills, low lands. The economy of the valley had been a periphery to the economic mainstream of Bengal during the British rule. The partition of the country in the wake of independence and the consequent emergence of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) not only had shattered the traditional cheapest and quickest lines of transport and communication but also had snapped the age old channels of trade, commerce and transactions. The post independence phase did not adequately compensate the valley for all the loss inflicted on it by partition. The population of the valley was 40.10 lakhs persons as on March 2011. The valley is characterized by thickly populated area with density of 360 persons per sq. km and urban population comprises about 9 per cent of total population. The valley is agrarian biased. About 49 per cent of the geographical area is under agriculture and 36.9 per cent are under forest. The institutional finance is essential for economic development of any area. But unfortunately, the rate of growth of flow of institutional finance in the valley has not shown significant rise. The valley has 12.5 per cent of the total bank offices of state Assam. The analysis of the aforesaid indicators revealed that the valley is economically and industrially backward. The socio-economic backwardness of the valley is discerned by the symptoms like under utilization of resources, agrarian bias of population, low level of industrialization, fragility of prevailing infrastructure and high incidence of unemployment. 36

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Thus, development of infrastructure like transport, communication, power, education and banking network etc is urgently needed in the direction of industrial and agricultural development for overall development of the districts under study. QUALITY OF SHGS IN BARAK VALLEY Under selected assessment tools (Table 1), the selected SHGs of Selected districts are assessed by using the rating scale found that there are 3 (6%) sample SHG in Cachar, 4 (8%) sample SHG in Hailakandi and 2 (4%) sample SHG in Karimganj which are found Good . Further, 9 (18%) selected SHGs in Cachar, 15 (30%) selected SHGs in Hailakandi and 8 (16%) selected SHGs in Karimganj are found Average. Moreover, 11 selected SHGs in Cachar, 15 selected SHGs in Hailakandi and 13 selected SHGs in Karimganj are found Average. Further, 27 (54%) selected SHGs of Cachar, 21 (42%) selected SHGs in Hailakandi and 27 (54%) selected SHGs in Karimganj are earmarked as poor. Finally, 11 (22%) selected SHGs in Cachar, 10 (20%) selected SHGs in Hailakandi and 13 (26%) selected SHGs in Karimganj are found Very poor (Table 3). This above categorization is made by using rating marks fixed as per Table 4.2 and numerical score is fixed as was stated in the research methodology. TABLE NO. - 3: QUALITY OF SHGS IN BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM. Grade Good A Average-B Poor C Very Poor D Cachar Districts 3 (6%) 9 (18%) 27 (54%) 11 (22%) Hailakhandi Districts 4(8%) 15 (30%) 21 (42%) 10 (20%) 50 Karimganj Districts 2 (4%) 8 (16%) 27(54%) 13 (26%) 50

Total 50 Source: Field Study

NORMAL PRACTICES OF SHGS IN SELECTED DISTRICTS The variations in practices at SHG level have been spurring innovations in terms of products, systems and methodologies and encouraging new standards in SHG promotion and practices; nevertheless it has brought lot of incongruity in the established practices. However, from the present study in Barak valley of Assam, it is observed that each and every SHGs are performing some common practices which are depicted in as below:

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TABLE - 4: ANALYSIS OF SOME EXISTING PRACTICES FOLLOWED BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM. Sl. Nos 1 2 3 Details of Quality Assessment Parameters Group Meetings Subsidy dependence New financial services Normal Practices SHGs take it as a rigor to meet frequently. SHGs deriving more subsidies and more and more are moving on towards subsidy regime. SHGs are comfortable only with credit and savings and consider other services as not falling within the mandate for which they etc., and need not directly deal with such are established. SHGs remain, as stand-alone piece without any affiliation to SHG-upstream like clusters/ federations and more often feel their role will be limited in a federal set up. SHGs do not lend to other groups as a matter of policy though more of idle funds are locked an up within SHG, as the scope of lending within the group is limited beyond certain extent. Rotation of leadership is seriously taken, with the result clients with poor leadership qualities come to manage the SHGs very often on turn basis. Sometimes, promoters find it easy to include members from the same family for easy management of groups. Common economic activity is preferred in some cases like SGSY groups due to project compulsions. SHGs believe that visitors may borrow their own concepts and keep certain things within as tricks of trade and do not encourage visitors.

Affiliation to federation

Inter group lending

Rotation of leadership

Multiple membership within the family Common economic activity Encouraging visitors

8 9

Source: Self compiled

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Socio-economic profile of the respondents The respondents of the study mainly belong to the age group of 30-40 yrs as 60.5% of the respondents belong to that group. The respondents in the study cover all sections of society wherein representation of Hindu (64%), Muslims (35%) and Christian (1%) are ensured. Moreover, out of 150 respondents 55 belong to general caste, 49 belong to SC community, 14 belong to ST and 32 belong to OBC and MOBC. Further, 67% of the respondents have completed I-V standard category of education level. Moreover, majority of the respondents are married and they live in nuclear family. The duration of membership of the respondents varies from 3 years to 8 years. However, 47 % of the respondents are members for a period of 4 years, 32% for a period of 5 yrs and respondents belonging to 2 yrs and 3 yrs category are insignificant.

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Reasons for Forming the SHGs The reasons for forming the Self Help Group in the study area are presented in Table 5 TABLE - 5: REASONS FOR FORMING THE SHGS IN BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM. Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Reasons Improve Social Status Improve Economic Status Promote Saving Habit Obtain Financial Support Initiate Group Activities Community Development Activities Influenced by friends and relatives Total Source: Primary Data It is found from Table 5 that 51 (34 %) groups are formed to obtain the financial support from the government, the NGOs and the financial institutions. Some 25 (16.67%) groups are formed to improve their economic status. Another 11 (7.33 %) groups are formed to improve social status while 23 (15.33%) groups are formed to promote saving habit among the members. Yet another 16 (10.67%) groups are formed to initiate group activities, only 11 (7.33%) groups are formed to take up community development activities and 13 groups (8.67%) are formed by the influence of friends and relatives. Homogeneity of the Group Self Help Groups become cohesive in the long run only if they are homogenous. Social mobilization is an important step in the formation of self-help groups. It requires a high degree of motivation, morale and management skill. The individuals possess a distinguishing character and conduct of their own. They establish their individuality in their personal and social life. The heterogeneity behaviour of the members makes the management of the SHGs difficult and hence members with homogeneous character are to be identified. Homogeneity of members enables the SHG to select economic activities, which are common to many members. For the efficient functioning of the SHGs homogeneity of the members is essential. The members in each group can take collective decision because they are likeminded. Among the 150 sample groups selected for the study, a majority of the members in each group are below poverty level. The homogeneity of members has been measured in terms of the percentage of the below poverty level to the total members. This is measured by the following formula: No. of SHGs 11 25 23 51 16 11 13 150 Percentage 7.33 16.67 15.33 34 10.67 7.33 8.67 100

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Number of people engaged in agriculture in the Group = ---------------------------------------------Total Number of Members of Group Table 6 shows the distribution of the sample SHGs based on the percentage of the people engaged in agriculture to the total members. TABLE - 6: DISTRIBUTION OF SHGS ACCORDING TO PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE IN BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM. Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 Level Homogeneity Below 40% 40% 60% 60% to 80% Greater than 80% Total Number of SHGs 32 45 39 34 150 Percentage 21.33 30.00 26.00 22.67 100.00 x 100

Source: Primary Data

It could be seen from Table 6 that 32 (21.33%) of the sample SHGs had reported that the percentage of homogeneity was up to 40per cent while 45 SHGs had reported that the percentage of homogeneity was in between 40 % and 60 %. In case of 39 sample SHGs, they had reported that the percentage of homogeneity was in between 60% to 80%. Further, 34 sample SHGs had reported that the percentage of homogeneity was above 80 %. Frequency of Meetings The main activity of the SHGs is conducting group meetings in a common place at fixed intervals. Group meeting is very essential for all groups. They have to discuss their savings, common problems, performances and so on in the meeting. In addition to this, the occasion is used to discuss their economic and social problems and other issues that need to be sorted out through intervention of the group or its members. Hence, the frequency of conducting meetings is considered an important factor for judging the performance of the SHGs. The allotment of the sample SHGs on the basis of the regularity in conduct of meetings is given in Table 7 TABLE - 7: DISTRIBUTION OF SHGS BASED ON FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS Sl. No. Frequency of Meeting No specific interval Once in a Week Fortnightly Monthly Total Source: Primary Data 40 1. 2. 3 4. Number of SHGs 47 38 48 25 150 Percentage 31.33 25.33 32.00 16.67 100.00

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Table 7 indicates that 47 (31.33%) SHGs do not have any specific interval regarding the holding of group meetings. 38 (25.33 %) conducted their meetings once in a week whereas 48 (32 per cent) groups conducted their meetings once in a fortnight. Further, the table reveals that 25 (16.67%) SHGs conducted their meetings on monthly basis. Regularity in Attendance The SHG members are required to attend the meeting of the SHGs and other meeting organized by the NGOs and the government to know more about the SHGs and government schemes. Hence the more the attendance of the members the more will be the utilisation of the SHGs. In the study the level of attendance is identified as one of the indicators for measuring performance. TABLE 8: DISTRIBUTION OF GROUPS ACCORDING TO REGULARITY OF ATTENDANCE IN MEETINGS Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. Level of Attendance Below 40 % 40 % - 60 % 60 % - 80 % No. of SHGs 16 23 32 79 150 Percentage 10.67 15.33 21.33 52.67 100.00

Above 80 % Total Source: Primary Data

From Table 8, it could be seen that 79 groups (52.67%) recorded more than 80% of members attendance in the group meetings, which indicated active involvement of the members. Further the table shows that 23 SHGs (15.33%) have 40% to 60% attendance in the group meetings, while 32 (21.33%) of the SHGs have 60% to 80% attendance in the group meetings and only 16 (10.67%) of the SHGs has less than 40% attendance in the group meetings. Participation of NGOs/MFIs in Meetings The NGOs/MFIs attended a few meetings of the SHGs at the inception period in order to impart the required skill to the SHGs in conducting the proceedings. They gradually reduce their participation to make the SHGs independent in conducting the meetings. The participation of the NGOs/MFIs in meetings will facilitate the monitoring of each and every activity of the group so that the performance of the group improves. The participation of the NGOs in meetings has been measured in terms of the percentage of the number of meetings attended by the NGOs to the total number of meetings conducted by a group in a year. Table 9 shows the participation of the NGOs/MFIs in the meetings of the SHGs.

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Table 9: Participation of NGOs in the Meetings of SHGs in Barak Valley of Assam. Sl. No. Level of Participation 1. Below 40 % 2. 40 % - 60 % 3. 60 % - 80 % 4. Greater than 80 % Total Source: Primary Data No. of SHGs 57 23 25 45 150 Percentage 38.00 15.33 16.67 30.00 100.00

Table 9 shows that in the meetings of 45 (30%) sample SHGs, the NGOs/MFIs participation was more than 80 per cent, while in the meetings of 25 (16.67% ) SHGs, their participation was 60 to 80 per cent. Again, in the meetings of 23 (15.33%) SHGs, their participation were 40 to 60 per cent. However, in the meetings of 57 (38%) groups, the participation of NGOs/MFIs in the meeting was less than 40%. Repayment Performance The savings of the SHGs can be rotated smoothly when there is a prompt and regular repayment and that will also motivate the lending agencies like bank to lend more number of SHGs. From the point of view of the SHGs, the performance of repayment can be considered an important criterion while studying the overall performance. Hence, the performance of repayment has been taken as an indicator for judging the performance of the groups. The distribution of the sample SHGs according to the level of repayment performance is shown in Table 10. TABLE - 10: DISTRIBUTION OF SHGS ON THE BASIS OF THE LEVEL OF REPAYMENT PERFORMANCE Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. Level of Repayment Below 50% No. of SHGs 52 34 39 25 150 Percentage 34.67 22.67 26.00 16.67 100.00

50% - 65% 65% - 75% 75% -100% Total Source: Primary Data

As it could be seen from Table 10, the performance of repayment is not at all good in all groups. The 52 SHGs (34.67% of respondent groups) have recorded below 50% of repayment performance. Among the sample SHGs, only 34 (22.67%) groups have recorded 50% to 65 %, while 39 (26%) SHGs have recorded 65% to 75% of repayment. Further, 25 (16.67%) groups have recorded 75% to 100% of repayments. Decision on Financial Transactions Collective decision is the tool for effective functioning of the SHGs. If majority of the members in a group are involved in decision-making, definitely there will be more 42

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commitment on the part of the members. Usually if the leader of the group does not force the members to accept a decision taken by him, the performance of the self-help groups will be good. Table 11 shows the distribution of the sample SHGs according to the decision on the financial transactions. TABLE 11: DISTRIBUTION OF SHGS BASED ON THE DECISION OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS Sl. No. Decision 1. Taken by NGOs/MFIs 2. Taken by Group Leader and Ratified 3. Taken by Few Members 4. Taken by Majority members Total Source: Primary Data No. of SHGs 16 45 63 26 150 Percentage 10.67 30.00 42.00 17.33 100.00

As it could be seen from Table 11 in 16 (10.67%) sample groups, the decisions relating to financial transactions are taken by the NGOs, while in 45 (30%) SHGs the decisions are taken by the group leader and ratified. Again, in 63 (42%) sample groups, the decisions relating to financial transactions are taken by few members. The remaining 26 (17.33%) SHGs have recorded that majority of the members take decisions. It is evident from the Table 11 that the NGOs play a minimum role in taking decisions on the financial transactions. Finally, it is observed that most of the financial decisions are taken by a few members who are the policy makers of the groups. Utilization of Common Fund Common fund includes the savings, the penalty imposed on members, the grants from government, subsidy from the banks and the like. This common fund of the SHGs forms their lendable resource. The utilization of the common fund is measured in terms of percentage of the fund availed by the members as loan from the total common fund. If the group keeps the common fund idle, it indicates the lower performance of the SHG and hence, it has been taken as one of the indicators to judge the performance of the SHGs. Table 12 shows the distribution of the sample SHGs according to the utilization of the common fund. TABLE - 12: DISTRIBUTION OF SHGS BASED ON THE UTILIZATION OF COMMON FUND Sl No. Below 40% 40% - 60% 60% - 75% Above 75% Total Source: Primary Data 1. 2. 3. 4. Utilization No. of SHGs 21 32 14 83 150 Percentage 14 21.33 9.33 55.33 100

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From Table 12 it could be seen that 83 sample SHGs have recorded more than 75% utilization of common fund while 14 SHGs have recorded between 60% and 75% per cent utilization of common fund. The 32 SHGs have recorded between 40% and 60% utilization of common funds. However, 21 groups reported that the utilization of common fund is less than 40 per cent. Training of Members The members are given training in tailoring, book-binding, poultry, dairy farming and management -related aspects like leadership and book keeping. The prime importance is given to training as the project is fundamentally a human resource development project. Training in certain topics is imparted by experts of the IIE and DIC officials .Occasionally local academicians, experienced entrepreneur and group leader also imparted knowledge to the group members. In addition to regular training, refresher training is also provided to the leaders by the specialized institute meant for that purpose on selection basis. In a group, if more persons are trained, the effectiveness of the group increases. Table 13 shows the percentage of the sample SHGs members who attended the training programmes. TABLE 13: TRAINING OF SHG MEMBERS Sl. No 1. 2. 3. 5. 4. No. of Members (in percentage) No. of SHGs 57 31 23 18 21 150 Percentage 38 20.67 15.33 12 14 100

Below 25% 25% - 50% 50% - 65% 65% - 75% Above 75% Total Source: Primary Data

It is evident from Table 13 that 57 SHGs (38%) had imparted training to less than 25% of their members while 31 SHGs (20.67%) provided training to 25% to 50% of their members. It is to be noted that in the case of 18 SHGs, training was given only 65% to 75% of their members. Only 14% selected SHGs, training was imparted above 75% which was the sad part of SHG performance in the study area. Awareness of Rules & Regulations For the smooth functioning of the SHGs, the rules and regulations must be known by all its members. If the members are not familiar with the rules and regulations, it is difficult to manage the affairs of the SHGs. From the viewpoint of the SHGs management, the level of awareness of rules and regulations of the SHGs by their members is a decisive factor while evaluating the performance of the group. Table 14 depicts the distribution of the sample SHGs on the level of members in respect of rules and regulations.

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TABLE - 14: AWARENESS OF RULES & REGULATIONS Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Awareness Level Less than 25% 25% - 50% 50% - 65% 65% - 75% Above 75% Total No. of SHGs 11 21 24 42 52 150 Percentage 7.33 14 16 28 34.67 100

Source: Primary Data From Table 14 it was observed that 52 SHGs reported that the awareness of rules and regulation was more than 75% and another 42% SHGs reported that their awareness level was in between 65 % and 75%. 21 SHGs reported that the awareness level was in between 25% to 50% while 24 reported 50% to 65%. Only 11 SHGs (7.33%) reported that the awareness level was less than 25%. Maintenance of Books of Accounts The proper maintenance of books of accounts (cash book, ledger books and final accounts either in single or double entry system) is very essential for the smooth functioning of the SHGs. The proper and up keep of accounts will enable the SHGs to get grants, loans from banks and any other financial institutions. The group leader is responsible to maintain the accounts with the help of other members. In order to assess the performance of the SHGs, it is inevitable to consider the level of maintenance of books of accounts by the SHGs. Table 15 shows the distribution of sample SHGs according to the level of maintenance of books of accounts. TABLE 15: BOOKS OF ACCOUNTS MAINTAINED BY THE SAMPLE SHGS IN BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM. Level of Maintenance Below 40% 40% - 60% 60% - 75% Above 75% Total Source: Primary Data Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. No. of SHGs 20 27 44 59 150 Percentage 13.33 18 29.33 39.33 100

From Table 15 it could be inferred that in case of 59 SHGs (39.33%) the level of maintenance of books and accounts was more than 80% while in 44 SHGs (29.33%) it was between 60% and 75%. Further, 27 SHGs (18%) the level of maintenance of books and accounts lies in between 40% to 60%. In the remaining 20 SHGs the level of books of accounts maintained was below 40%. Problems Faced by the SHGs The problems faced by Self Help Groups are described in the following Table 16. 45

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TABLE 16: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE SHGS ACCORDING TO THEIR RESPONSE TOWARDS THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THEM. Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Nature of Problem Difficulty to Approach the Authorities for Getting Loan Poor Response of Authorities Delay in Sanctioning the Loans Inadequate Loan Amount Lack of Administrative Experience Lack of Cooperation Among Members No. of SHGs 13 33 34 16 25 17 12 150 Percentage 8.67 22.00 22.67 10.67 16.67 11.33 8.00 100.00

Limited Number of Installments for Repayment of Loan Total Source: Primary Data

It is found from Table 16 that the major problem faced by the SHGs is delay in sanctioning the loan (22.67%) followed by poor response of authorities (22%), lack of administrative experience (16.67%), lack of cooperation among the members (11.33%), inadequate loan amount (10.67%) , difficulty to approach the authorities (8.67%), and the problem of limited number of installment for repayment of Loan (8%). IMPACT ON WOMEN MEMBERS Thirty variables covering the impact of micro finance through SHG on psychological, economic and managerial aspects of women members of SHGs were identified. These variables are identified and selected from the survey of literature. The measurement was on Likert scale and scores were assigned for each statement. A high score of 5 was given to strongly agreed responses and low score of 1 was given to strongly disagreed statements. Analysis of the impact on SHG members on the Confidence building, Self esteem, Decision making pattern, Capacity building, psychological, economical and social well being i.e. empowerment is presented in the following table. TABLE - 17: IMPACT ON SHG WOMEN MEMBERS IN BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM. Sl. No. I 1 2 3 4 5 6 Empowerment Variables Confidence building Confidence to talk within family Confidence to talk in SHG meeting Confidence to talk in public Improvement in technical and practical skills through training Acquisition of skills for income generation Use of skills for income generation 46 Mean 4.23 4.22 3.42 4.14 4.32 4.12 3.78 Std. Dev. Rank 4 0.561 0.661 0.588 0.735 0.667 0.736

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Development of managerial skills, ability to facilitate a group meeting 8 Addition to her literacy/education II Self esteem 9 Self image in the family 10 Self image in community 11 Self reliance/independence III Decision making pattern 12 Education of children 13 Family planning 14 Buying and selling land, property and household goods 15 Family and social functions IV Capacity building 16 Ability to take risk 17 Ability to understand and solve problems 18 Ability to try new ventures 19 Ability to take criticism V Psychological aspects 20 Hope 21 Overall satisfaction VI Social empowerment 22 Team spirit 23 Communication skills 24 Participation in group activities 25 Reduction in domestic violence 26 Attitudes towards dowry, superstition freedom and empowerment of women VI Economic Empowerment 27 Make household purchases 28 Increased income 29 Access to loans 30 Control of use of credit Source: Primary data

4.07 3.68 4.18 3.89 4.25 4.21 4.52 3.43 4.29 4.05 4.32 4.12 3.78 4.07 3.68 4.48 4.26 3.89 4.25 4.21 4.17 4.52 4.26 3.78 4.07 4.32 4.12 3.78 4.07 3.68

1.089 0.745 6 0.521 0.761 0.909 1 0.922 0.794 0.959 0.735 7 0.736 1.089 0.745 0.647 3 0.521 0.761 5 0.836 0.965 0.629 0.736 1.089 2 0.667 0.736 1.089 0.745

It is observed from the Table 17 that impact on decision making pattern ranks first followed by economic empowerment and then psychological aspects. Confidence building ranks fourth while Social empowerment ranks the fifth and so on. However, impacts on the different variables are self explanatory from their individual mean and standard deviation. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 1. The actual number of SHGs on the ground is not available. It is observed from the study that a good number of SHGs in selected districts are defunct in nature and they are just in records only. This feature is found common in all the districts of Barak Valley of Assam. 2. Most of the SHGs which are formed in the study area are organized mainly to get financial benefits and subsidies. The attraction to avail short term gains is another major hurdle in the progress of the SHG movement in the study area. 47

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3. It is also reported that some groups break down immediately after getting either revolving funds or start new group with new set of leaders to get another dose of fund and /or subsidy, which lacks constant effort for quality enhancement of SHGs. 4. As it is observed that 20% to 30% sample SHGs are leveled as grade Average, hence constant support from SHPI is necessary to make them improved. Moreover, some technical factors are also responsible for poor gradation of SHGs in the study area i.e. interest collection first then principal, lack of economic homogeneity among members and loan accommodation mechanism etc. 5. Sincere effort on savings collection and poor repayment of borrowers often resulted low quality performance of selected SHGs. Mandatory savings and high rate of recovery is quite necessary for quality improvement of SHGs. 6. Finally, there is a need for conciseness about the well established and well recognized quality assessment tools without biasness. 7. Access to bank credit should be increased by taking various simple operational decisions and steps like standardising the set of documents to be furnished by an SHG for opening its bank account or for accessing credit. 8. Multiple agencies in the State are implementing SHG programmes with different objectives and approaches; this garbles the message that reaches the ground. This goes against the holistic support and collaboration requirements of SHGs and SHG programmes. For coordination among different SHPIs, a separate unit / Department with a holistic perspective can be thought of taking this role, so that it is not implementing any sectoral scheme and can adopt a macro view. In the present circumstances, the DWCD and DoRD cannot be expected to collaborate or work together, without any other, external agency playing a nodal role. 9. It is further observed from the study that though most of the SHGs in selected districts have some guidelines regarding holding of fortnightly meeting of members but it is found that most of them cannot hold such fortnightly meetings of members. However, at an average one meeting in a month is held but there is no regularity in holding such meetings. However, the SHGs in Nagaon district wherein most of the SHGs holds regular meeting among their members. 10. Regarding participation of members in decision making process, it is observed that in most of the SHGs in selected districts where a few members of the SHGs are actively engaged in decision making process. These a few active members who influences decisions but majority of them aware about the issues for organizing and managing the SHGs. 11. Though in most of the SHGs in selected districts are guided by well established rules and regulations for organizing and managing the same, but these are in many cases not known to majority of members. 12. One time saving in a month is the maxim in most of the SHGs in selected districts but majority of the SHGs members does not follow that principle. In fact, most of the members are aware that they have to save but no minimum amount for monthly savings is fixed. Regarding savings and its frequency, minimum amount and mode of collection are 48

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often discussed in the members meetings. It is further observed that most of savings collections are done on door to door system. 13. It is also observed that most of the SHGs in the selected districts are promoted to economic units. However, it is aptly observed that the rate of conversion to Grade I are very high while the said conversion of grade I to Grade II is very low in all the selected districts. Further, it is observed that only a few SHGs in Karimganj has converted their units into economic units, but a large percentage of SHGs in Cachar and Hailakandi has converted into viable economic units. Dairy farming, Piggery, weaving, goatary & poultry and other tertiary units are the major economic units that are promoted by SHGs in Cachar and Hailakandi. However, dairy farming appears to be the most lucrative project of the SHGs in Cachar while weaving, goatary & poultry is considered the first choice in Hailakandi and Karimganj. CONCLUSION The quality of groups is quite low in Barak Valley in comparison to other regions or States. Strict random selection of sample could be one of the reasons. It is observed that due to fast growing of the SHG-bank linkage programme in the country, the quality of SHG has come under stress. Some of the factors affecting the quality of SHGs are (i) the target oriented approach of the government preparing group, (ii) inadequate incentive to NGOs for nurturing their groups, (iii) lack of proper monitoring, (iv) absence of quality enhancement mechanism etc. Further, it is observed that SHGs has a positive impact on women member and in many cases it is prove that SHG promotes empowerment in the study districts. It is observed that SHGs have positive impact on decision making pattern which ranks first followed by economic empowerment and then psychological aspects. Confidence building ranks fourth while Social empowerment ranks the fifth and so on. In Barak Valley, the SHGs primarily concentrate on women and economically backward classes. The size of the groups ranges between 10 and 15. Most of the members are the poorest of the poor, mainly landless agricultural laborers. Uniform socio -economic status and living together in the same rural community are observed to be the homogeneous factors among groups. The main reason for forming the SHGs in the study area is to obtain the financial support from the Government, the NGOs and the banks in order to improve the economic status of the members. The performance of majority of the SHGs in all the three districts was Poor. Only a few of them are Good. These Grade A or Grade B SHGs should serve as model groups to other SHG's which are low on performance and should interact with these SHGs to share their constraints. Incidents like delays in repayment, lending to outsiders, growing indebtedness and lack of vision can lead to bigger problems in future. Thus, with a timely analysis of the problem and action can be taken to monitor these kinds of irregularities. The major discipline observed by the SHGs in state is regularity in meetings (at least once in a month), attendance in the meetings (at least 60%) and savings (Regular). It has been observed that in the initial period members of the Banks/ NGOs/MFIs etc. attended all the meetings and year after year they gradually reduced their participation to create the autonomy of the group. The repayment performance of loan is more than 65 per cent. In case of delay in payment of dues by any member, the causes for such default are discussed in meetings and if necessary, the postponing of the installments was allowed, in some special case. It is also observed that, in a majority of the SHGs the members take more than 50 per cent of the decision on a financial transaction after consulting the promoters only. The monthly savings per member during the early stages of the groups formation ranged from 49

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Rs.100 to 500, which increased year after year. The members of the SHGs availed themselves of loan for both production and consumption purposes. During the early years of the groups formation, a majority of members availed themselves of loan for consumption purposes whereas in the later period of the groups functioning, the major amount of loan was disbursed for production purposes. It is found that the main problems faced by the SHGs are delay in sanctioning the loans by the Government authorities and the bank officials. Further, the SHGs are facing the problems of marketing, basic infrastructure, training and skill development avenues, lack of administrative experience in managing the affairs of the groups. The Self Help Group (SHG)-Bank Linkage Programme, in the past eighteen years, has become a well known tool for bankers, developmental agencies and even for corporate houses. SHGs, in many ways, have gone beyond the means of delivering the financial services as a channel and turned out to be focal point for purveying various services to the poor. The programme, over a period, has become the common vehicle in the development process, converging important development programmes. REFERENCES Ali-Akpajiak, C. A. & Pyke, T. (2003), Measuring Poverty in Nigeria. 1st ed., UK Oxfam GB 33. APMAS (2009), Quality and Sustainability of SHGs in Assam, Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society, Retrieved April 15, 2011 from http://www.apmas.org. APMAS (2006), Self Help Groups in India: A Study of the Lights and Shades, EDA Rural Systems and Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society, Retrieved April 1, 2009 from http://www.edarural.com/documents/SHG-Study/Executive-Summary.pdf . Centre of Micro Finance Research, Jaipur (2007), Report on SHG Federations, Retrieved April 4, 2009 from http://www.birdindia.org.in/REPORT%20ON%20SHG%20. Chen, M., Jhabvala, R., Kanbur, R. & Richards, C (2007), Membership Based Organizations of the Poor: Concepts, Experience and Policy. London and New York, Routledge. Devaprakash, R. (2005), Balancing Quality & Quantity in SHGs in India, IBA Bulletin, (August), 25-39. Govt. of Harayana (2007), Haryana Community Forestry Project. Self-Help Group Capability Assessment, Forest Department, Govt. of Haryana, Retrieved May 23, 2009 from http://www.hcfp.gov.in/Self-Help Group_Capability_Assessment_Study.pdf. Jerinabi, U. (2006), Micro Credit Management by Womens Self Help Groups. 1st ed., New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House. Kapoor, P. (2001), Empowering the Indian Women, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Krishna, M. (2003), Poverty Alleviation and Rural Poor, 1st ed., New Delhi: Mittal Publication. 50

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Kumar, Sunil (2010), Centre for Micro Finance Research & BIRD, Lucknow, Retrieved June 23, 2011 from http://www.birdindia.org.in/ REPORT%20ON%20SHG%20. Lalneihzovi (2007), Womens Development in India, 1st ed., New Delhi: Mittal Publication. Manimekalai, K. (2004), Economic Empowerment of Women through Self-Help Groups, 1st ed., New Delhi: Third Concept. Narasiah, M. L. (2004), Micro credit and Women, 1st ed., New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House. Panda, R. K. (2005), Emerging Issues on Rural Credit, 1st ed., New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation. Putnam, R. (2000), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, 1st ed., New York, Simon & Schuster. Ray, B. D., Mazhari, H. K., Passah, P. M. & Pandey, M. C. (2000), Population, Poverty and Environment in North East India, 1st ed., New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. Reddy, C. S. (2005), SHGs: A Keystone of Micro Finance in India: Women empowerment & Social Security, Retrieved Feb. 21, 2009, from http://www.aptsource.in/admin/.../1273818040_SHGs-keystone-paper.pdf . Roy, Durgadas (2007), Mid-term Evaluation of the composition and working of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana in 24 Parganas South District, West Bengal, Retrieved June 21, 2009 from http://wwww. planningcommission.nic.in. Sa-Dhan (2003), Quality Parameters of SHGs: A discussion paper, Retrieved April 1, 2009 from http://www.sa-dhan.net/Adls/Microfinance/DiscussionPaperSeries-2.pdf. Sa-Dhan (2005), Technical Tool Series 2, SHG Performance Measurement Tool, Retrieved April1, 2009 from http://www.sa-dhan.net/Adls/SHGPerformanceMeasurementTool.pdf. Sahu, Gagan Bihari (2010), SHG Bank Linkages in North West India: Experiences and Challenges in Financial Access and Poverty Alleviation, Centre for Micro-Finance, Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur, 5, 54-65. Sharma, A. (2007), Expanding outreach to underserved regions: Kick-starting microfinance in North-eastern Region, Indian Institute of Bank Management, Guwahati. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.26218/01.pdf . Singh, Jai Pal (2006), PEDOs SHG Programme Impact Assessment, A Draft Report, Centre for Microfinance, Jaipur, Retrieved April 1, 2009 from http://www.solutionexchangeun.net.in/mf . Sinha, F. (2005), Access, Use and Contribution of Microfinance in India, Findings from a National Study, Economic and Political Weekly, XL (17), 1714-1719. Suguna, B. (2006), Employment of Rural Women through Self-Help Groups, 1st ed., New Delhi: Discovery Publishing Home.

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