Role of Self Help Groups in Uttarakhand :

A self help group is a village based financial intermediary committee usually composed of 10-20 local woman. The members make small regular saving contributions for a few months until there is enough capital in the group for lending. Funds may then be lent back to the members or other villagers . These SHGs are then further ‘linked’ to banks for delivery of micro credit. It lays emphasis on capacity building, planning of activity clusters, infrastructure build up, technology ,credit and marketing.

Women Self Help Groups were formed to provide livelihood source for the community and increase the income of the households. The groups have trained on tie and dye, food processing and packaging. They assist in income generation through Moti’s souvenir shop, traditional food, folk dance performances.

Self-help group (SHG) approach is used by the government, NGOs and other institutions involved in rural development to implement developmental schemes at the grassroots level. SHGs benefit its members by providing regular saving, employment opportunities, access to credit, participation in local government, and change in family decision-making. Present study shows that of the 400 SHGs surveyed in six districts of Uttarakhand only 24% remained active after eight years of their formation. These groups were engaged in individual income generating activities only and large number of them discontinued or were dormant i.e. involved only in collection of money and micro-finance.

The credit was used only to add more heads of milch animals and no new enterprise was developed by the groups covered under the survey. A number of reasons were reported for the dormancy and discontinuation of these SHG's mainly lack of interest and knowledge. But an important reason remains the lack of follow up by agencies responsible for their formation. The overall picture emerged that women SHGs in Uttarakhand were not very effective in improving their economic status and in generating any new enterprise.

Need for SHGs :

• The very existence of SHGs acts a great boost to make the poor self reliant and to give them hope .
• Not only do the SHGs help in increasing their income, improving their status in the society but it’s ultimately the nation that reaps the advantages of socialism.  
• The harsh reality is that rural poverty and unemployment still persist in the society and women’s earnings positively and directly affect a family’s financial condition
• Social conventions and gender ideology deprive women of the access to resources which would enable them to increase productivity .

Objective of SHGs :

• The basic objective is to inculcate the habit of saving and using banking facilities among the members. The saving habit thus strengthens the bargaining capacity of the women and they are in a better position to acquire loans for productive purposes. The women gain from collective wisdom in managing their finances and distributing the benefits among themselves.
• The SHG play a major role in sensitising more women to form SHGs and in making them realise its importance in their empowerment. This helps the women collective decision making and also to enhance the confidence and capabilities of the women.
• These groups go a long way in motivating women to take up social responsibilities particularly related to women development. SHGs are considered as one of the most significant tools to adopt participatory approach for the economic empowerment of women.
• Lastly , the most important change that the SHG culture has brought in the country is to change the gender dynamics of power within a family and ultimately the society at large. They now have greater say in the family matters and also are seen as stakeholders and partners in taking the community forward. The financial independence has eventually paved the way for societal upliftment of women and their voices.

       SHG’s are necessary to overcome exploitation, create confidence for the economic self-reliance of the rural poor, particularly among women who are mostly invisible in the social structure. These groups enable them to come together for a common objective and gain strength from each other to deal with exploitation, which they are facing, in several forms. A group becomes the basis for action and change. Significantly, credit is a major factor in boosting economic development if it is effectively utilized. The government’s recent initiatives to streamline credit operations and delivery system through micro-finance movement and strengthening and expansion of credit institutions (SHG’s) can definitely help in the revival of rural economy and empowerment of the rural poor. Micro-credit intervention programme has been well-recognized world over as an II effective tool for poverty alleviation and improving socio-economic conditions of rural poor. In India too, micro-credit is making a strong headway in its efforts to reduce poverty and empower the rural poor.