Microfinance and Women Empowerment- A Case Study on Rural West Bengal

Does microfinance help in women empowerment? Does women empowerment result in higher recovery rate of loans and better utilization of borrowed money in further income generating activities? We conducted primary survey on 130 women belonging to different socio economic background residing at Medinipur and South 24 Parganas of West Bengal, India. Our study suggests that access to microfinance through self help groups leads to women empowerment which in turn lead to successful recovery of loans and utilization of borrowed money.