The family is a strong force for social cohesion and integration, and, as such, should be strengthened. The inadequate support to women and insufficient protection to their respective families can affect society as a whole and undermine efforts to achieve gender equality. In India, the emergence and rapid multiplication of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) is a phenomenon that is gaining increasing importance in the country's development scenario. SHGs are being viewed as a strategy for women's empowerment, as well as for poverty reduction. SHGs are a conduit for routing a wide range of government-sponsored development messages and schemes. Non-governmental organizations have increasingly been adopting SHGs as a strategy to bring women together, at a faster pace and larger scale than the collective building processes adopted by them earlier. This book examines the role of SHGs in the socio-economic empowerment of poor rural women in India.
