Empowering rural women through self help group in Vaishali district of Bihar

The concept of Self Help Groups (SHGs) originated in the 1970s in Bangladesh through the pioneering work of Professor Muhammad Yunus, who later founded the Grameen Bank. The Grameen Bank model of microfinance and SHGs gained international recognition for its innovative approach to poverty alleviation and women's empowerment. For the study Ex-Post factor research design was used. Multi Stage Sampling was followed for the selection of district and respondents respectively. This study investigates the empowerment levels of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) compared to Non- SHGs, focusing on various socio-economic and political aspects. Data was collected from 130 respondents, divided evenly between SHGs and Non-SHGs. The findings reveal that SHGs exhibit higher levels of empowerment, with 21.54% classified as highly empowered, compared to only 13.85% in Non-SHGs. Key areas of empowerment include social empowerment, economical empowerment, political participation, awareness of women's rights, and economic opportunities, where SHGs consistently show stronger agreement among members. The correlation analysis indicates strong relationships between socio-economic factors and decision-making impacts, particularly in areas such as age, education, and family income, with SHGs displaying slightly higher coefficients across most variables. These results underscore the significant role of SHGs in enhancing not only economic status but also social and political awareness among their members.