Are self-help groups widening caste divide?
Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 14 Are micro-credit-based self-help groups (SHGs), viewed as a strategy for womens empowerment as well as poverty alleviation, in fact deepening caste-based fissures in society and adding to the woes of the already much-burdened poor women in India? The cumulative number of SHGs provided with bank loans in India is 1,618,476 as per a document compiled by a group of NGOs, SHGs, Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation. It also says that about 16 million poor households have gained access to the formal banking system through the SHG Bank Linkage Programme. Therefore, a large number of people, largely women, are involved in the micro-credit programme. However, the document, based on surveys conducted on 2007 SHGs, appears to suggest that not only are the SHGs caste-driven, they also seem to be doing little for womens empowerment, especially the poor. The report, complied by NGOs Anandi, Nirantar and Yugantar, and also submitted to the Planning Commissio
