Dr. S.Chitra Devi. MBA.,M.Phil.,PGDMM.,Ph.D., Associate Professor in MBA Dept. GKM college of engineering and technology Pergalathur Chennai.

Women in Self help group (SHGs) If you want to awaken country first awake women. If a woman is awakened a family is awakened and a family is awakened, a village is awakened thereby entir e country is awakened. - Jawaharlal Nehru Abstract: TODAY'S WORLD is caught in a great economic crisis. Liberalization has brought s everal multinational companies into developing countries. Due to this the local enterprises are unable to compete with the products that are better in quality a s well as lower in prices. In this economic environment, the women self-help gro ups (SHGs) are building themselves up as a power to be reckoned with. Currently there are more than one lakh women SHGs wherein 22.5 lakh women are functioning as members. Their total savings for capital investments is Rs. 320 crores. Introduction: The goal of organizing this self help group in Tamil Nadu's rural village women was met the challenge had been set the year before by the lawyer and ILO activi st Susamma Varghese. She soon became a key actor in a project financed by the Da nish government and implemented by the ILO Bureau for Workers. The aim of the project is to integrate women from the rural sector into the unions. This is all about new organizing, but it is also a response to a pre ssing social need. Rural village women are the most vulnerable group in Indian so ciety, Susamma explains. As for their living conditions, many of them see the pove rty threshold as a distant horizon. Generally, they are far below it. Almost 1,200 groups, each consisting of about 20 women, meet weekly or m onthly in several dozen Indian villages. And a multiplier effect seems to have s et in: since January, more than 50 new groups have been formed. While the income s generated have certainly put the groups on a stable footing and made the proje ct more sustainable, the real benefits are to be found elsewhere. Now, the villa ge women can make themselves hear and defend their interests collectively. Today, throughout Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, the self-help groups ha ve woven themselves into a real network. Increasingly, they are coordinating the ir activities, under the stimulus of Varghese and her team in the field. Altoget her, the unions now have more than 100,000 members, in addition to those in the groups. This year, their activities focused on workers rights, but their structur es also help with vaccination and literacy campaigns and the fight against HIV/A IDS. Common Characteristics of SHGs: Each group should contain 15 to 20 members. The members of this group should live below the poverty line. It has identical interest/common occupation/social heritage, homogenity and affi nity. This group creates self-help, awareness, and economic and social empowerment to the poor. The self-help group inculcates the thrift and savings habit among the members of each group. SHG have full support from Government as well as non-government organization to

enhance gs, and tion.

it. Each group maintains simple records and documents, which exhibit meetings, savin expenditures and store other extra curricular activities. This group has a principle of collective leadership and mutual discussions. This group gets loans in micro-level from banks and some social service organiza

Steps taken by Tamil Nadu Corporation: Tamil Nadu Corporation which as taken necessary steps to empowerment the women i n December 1983 by the government of Tamil Nadu. This corporation implements th e various schemes for the socio-economic development throughout Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu women development project (Mahalir Thittam) Setting up of recreation center for women Entrepreneur ship development programme for women District level training-cum- marketing centers Provision of free gas connection to newly married couples under poverty line Assistance to vocational and skill training programme Assistance for formation of 25000 self help groups Total economic development project World Bank assisted Tamil Nadu empowerment and poverty reduction project.

Financial support: Women self development schemes which is organized for development and growth for the women it focus on the villages. It is focusing for poor women to improve th e standard of living and to take the authority by themselves to improve their fa milies to give their financial support. Regional Joint Directorate of Industrial and Commerce is providing financial ass istance for the women and also for men development. They should have minimum edu cation of 8th STD and the age between 18 to 35 years with the annual income of R s. 40000 and they should have minimum three years in Chennai they are eligible f or the loan for 2 lakhs were provided self employment.

Statistical data in Chennai City: For the self development schemes focus on the urban and semi urban areas the go vernment is providing special training and also loans for the women to improve t he SGHs . The government is taking the necessary steps for the assistance for th e formation of 25000 self help group as developed. To give the momentum to the S HG movement and to cover another 15 lakhs over the period of 3 years from 2003 2004 to 2005-2006. The government have provided a sum of Rs. 265.50 lakhs for fo rming 75000 new SGHs and released a sum of Rs.87 lakhs each for the year. So far about 50,000 new groups have formed and 8.25 lakhs women have been enrolled by utilizing the released amount of Rs. 175 lakhs. For the year 2005 -06 the govern ment have provided Rs. 87.5 lakhs to form 25,000 new women groups in the remote rural and tribal areas, fishermen villages, weavers habitation and urban slums. Women Development Corporation is providing training programmes for SGHs: Their aim is: To develop women in the rural and tribal areas To motivate to women in tiny sectors To train the women in the industrial sector and to find the area of interest.

 To train the women for marketing their products. To train the women on the area of their interest and make necessary steps to inv olve women in the tiny sectors. In Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Women Development Corporation implemented a programme with a funding from IFAD in 1999 with aim of bringing economic and soc ial empowerment among women. The evaluation of the project, revealed that a tota l of 5207 groups had been formed, almost double the established target. The eval uation noted that at least in the latter phases, the project acted not as just c redit cum-subsidy project but as a genuine process of empowerment. The IFAD evaluation identified four main processes that would lead to womens emp owerment. Changes in the womens mobility and social interactions. Changes in womens labour patterns; Changes in womens access to and control over resources and Changes in womens control over decision-making. Mahalir Thittam: In 1995 -96 the project was well established and was taken up a model for future growth and extended to all other district in a phased manner under the state bu dget. This project is popularly known as Mahalir Thittamis implemented with the su pport on non government organization and banks are functioning through a network of Womens Self Help Groups. The project also plan for the growth of SHG movement with a view to promote sustainability combined with deepening of coverage at ha bitation and slums in urban areas. The project has a consistently growing membership and as on 2005, the membership has crossed 32.44 lakhs women in 1,92,893 SHGs with 1,67,090 rural self help gr oups and 25,803 urban self help groups (4,23,190 members). The self help groups have mobilized a saving of Rs.621.92 crores apart from commercial banks, the SHG s open bank accounts in primary agricultural cooperation banks and avail loans a s per the norms laid down by the project. Mahalir Thittam has created awareness among women of their own strength, resourc es and ability to face risks. As the bank loan liability is entirely on the wome n and the group, the women themselves act as best judges in respect of economic activities and levels of credit required. The project implementation units and t he NGOs serve as mere facilitators and advisors in the process, with decision mak ing left entirely to the participating women.

Conclusion: The opinion that when the SHGs create this possibility several spread - effects can be spawned. A few of these could be the end of male domination, reducing the importance of cash by enabling group effort, when the group will automatically take care of the personal needs of the members and their families such as health care, education, employment, marriage etc., It also empower of poor women in fi nancial support and helps to withstand in the community. Reference: 1.www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actrav/new/india04.htm 2.The Hindu Tuesday 13th 2005 The Book Review 3.Women Development Corporation Chennai. 4.Regional Joint Directorate of Industrial and Commerce