Socio‐Economic and political empowerment through self help groups intervention: A study from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India

• Published date: 01 February 2021
• Author: Shipra Gupta,Hitendra Singh Rathore
• Date: 01 February 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2143

ACADEMIC PAPER

Socio-Economic and political empowerment through self help

groups intervention: A study from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India

Shipra Gupta | Hitendra Singh Rathore

Department of Sociology, Banasthali

Vidyapith, Vanasthali, India

Correspondence

Shipra Gupta, Department of

Sociology, Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali,

Rajasthan 304022, India.

Email: shipra.jpl@gmail.com

The paper presents a study on the socio-economic, and political empowerment of

rural women, through the Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Bilaspur Division, Chhattisgarh,

India. The various factors involved as empowerment indicators were individually dis-

cussed based on the data collected from the women SHG members (by random sam-

pling). The detailed data analysis of individual factors and their impact on aforesaid

empowerment have been discussed. Its level of significance has been evaluated using

Chi-Square Test and P-value using statistical data analysis software tool SPSS. Subse-

quently, the degree of empowerment and the ranking of the factors, its contribution

to all three dimensions of empowerment have been evaluated using the Garret Rank-

ing Method. It is found from the study that, there is significant empowerment in all

three dimensions. It is also estimated from the Garret Ranking Method, that women

after associating with SHG were found economically empowered most significantly,

then the socially and politically. The work will be useful for the policymakers to frame

the policy and enhance the degree of women empowerment for the selected area of

the study as well as other rural areas.

1|INTRODUCTION

Ideally, Men and Women contribute equally toward the development

of the society and the nation, but the gender dissimilarities are still a

major concern and challenge for society. The judgment against

women in the form of male–female differentiation forms the crux of

the gender-biased system (Narang, 2012). Hence, women are, more

poor and restricted than men and, they are subjected to lots of socio-

economic and social constraints. The situation is harsher in the rural

and backward areas of the country, which consciously need to be

empowered. Empowerment is “the ability to eliminate full power over

one’s actions”. Thus, women empowerment occurs in reality when

women attain increased power and sharing in decision making; which

results in improved access to resources. Self Help Groups (SHGs) are

one of the important tools for the empowerment of women, espe-

cially for developing nations like India. In the present research work,

the study on the empowerment of women through SHGs has been

carried out in two blocks of Bilaspur division, which is located in the

central region of Chhattisgarh, in India. The focus of the study is on

the social, economic, and political empowerment of the women after

the association with SHG. The analysis of primary data collected from

the field has been done using statistical techniques such as frequency

analysis, Chi-Square test, Garret Ranking Method with the help of sta-

tistical software tool SPSS.

2|LITERATURE REVIEW

Many studies have been carried out on women empowerment

through the SHG and established that SHGs are playing an important

role in the empowerment of women from rural as well as semi-urban

and urban areas. Venkatesh and Kala (2010), presented a study from

southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India and found that after joining

SHG the income of the women and the monthly household outflow

has been elevated significantly. It was reported that regular and timely

repayment of loans makes the activities of SHGs successful. More-

over, the SHGs in South Tamil Nadu were very successful to lead

women empowerment in rural areas. The study discussed the empow-

erment of women in the respective area of study, however, the

degree of empowerment was not evaluated. Later, Ghosh and

Received: 7 January 2020 Revised: 18 February 2020 Accepted: 8 March 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2143

J Public Affairs. 2021;21:e2143. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1of11

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2143