WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT - A STUDY AMONG THE SELF HELP GROUP MEMBERS IN THRISSUR DISTRICT

Commerce

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TRENDS IN BUSINESS: Social and Legal issues in India

Entrepreneurship is considered as one of the most important factors contributing to the economic development of the society. Entrepreneurs have been considered instrumental in initiating and sustaining socio-economic development. The concept of women entrepreneurship has gained considerable popularity around the globe in recent years and is no longer considered as an assortment of all sorts of arbitrary facts and figures to choose from different angles, instead, a systematic, purposeful and objective study of a wide range of disciplines, cultural variances, value systems and environment around us. Widespread establishment of women enterprises run on micro and small scale basis in rural areas of the state, has been the outcome of the micro finance programme through the formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) which has been marked as the system for emancipating women from the traditional set up to the forefront of development process. Financing the poor through group approach was experimented in the State with the initiative of NABARD as a means for poverty alleviation and women empowerment since 90’s. The tremendous growth revealed in the formation and functioning of SHGs in the state is a clear indication of the benefit of group formation over the years. Hence the significance of group approach through micro finance system which helped them to venture into enterprises with skill and confidence need to be examined. The present study is an attempt to assess the skill development of rural women through the formation of Self Help Groups in different parts of Kerala.

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