Effectiveness of women self help groups in empowering rural women

INTRODUCTION

India should have the goal of becoming a developed nation and a

knowledge superpower by 2020 (Kalam and Raj an, 2002). If, we in

India really wants to achieve this goal, men and women must work

together with equal participation in all efforts. We are living in a

patriarchal society where decision-making rests in the hands of men right

from the family level to the national level. Hence, there is an urgent need

to augment the participation of women in all kinds of constructive

initiatives. Women empowerment is inevitable towards augmenting

women's participation.) (According to Purushothaman (1998)

empowerment of women is possible only by undoing the already existing

structure of power which has inherent class, caste, and gender biases. The

International Conference for Population and Development (1994) pointed

out that the empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement

of their political, social, economic, and health status are highly important

ends and are crucial for the achievement of sustainable development.

The empowerment of women does not mean that it is a commodity to be

given as an aim.