Women Empowerment Through Self-Help Groups in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal.

Empowerment of women is a process by which women acquire greater control over their lives and environment to increase their ability to make decisions. (Kabeer,2010). Women's empowerment means giving women the power to make their own choices. It is an essential topic in development and economics. Economic empowerment helps women control resources, assets and income. It also teaches them how to handle risk and improve their well-being. Self -Help Groups (SHGs) are one of the most important ways to help women become financially independent. Rural women play a significant role in both home and society. Because of this, a country cannot develop properly without helping this part of society. In India, the Self-Help Group's Bank Linkage programme is a leader in micro-credit. Its main goal is to provide financial and other support services in the contemporary model for poverty alleviation programmes and rural empowerment. The present study is an attempt to analyse the role and activities of Self-help groups in promoting women's empowerment in North 24 Parganas, especially in two blocks of Basirhat and Hasnabad. The broad objective of the study is to analyse the functioning system of the SHGs for the mobilization of savings and delivery of loans and in building up the opinion of SHG members regarding the increase in the power of decision-making, towards a standard of living especially the rural women.