SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN THROUGH SELF HELP GROUPS

Abstract

The relationship between women’s empowerment and social development has been a major theme in studies of any nation’s overall development. The United Nation (UN) claims that improving women’s status is not only beneficial to themselves but also for overall social and economic development of the nation. The present study was carried out in Amreli district of Gujarat state. Three talukas were purposively selected where SHGs formed under Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP). Two villages were selected purposively where SHGs are working from last three years. Nine SHG members were selected randomly in each of SHG and nine non SHG members were selected in same villages for comparative study. A total of 180 respondents were selected for the study. The Ex-post facto research design was adopted. Data were collected through personal interviews using the pre-tested structured interview schedule. The result revealed that the independent sample ‘Z’ test showed that there was highly significant difference in the mean values of SHG members and Non-SHG members in case of communication ability, mass media exposure, extension contact and social status.