Self-Help Groups and Economic Empowerment of Rural Women in West Garo Hills District, Meghalaya.

The present study envisages the economic impact of Self- Help Groups on empowerment of rural women in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya. The study was conducted in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya and comprised of a sample of 200 women SHG beneficiaries under SHG finance. The samples were stratified into three size groups viz., Group I (Less than Rs. 65000.00), Group II (Rs. 65001 - 135000) and Group III (Rs. 135001.00 and above) based on annual income by using the Cumulative Root Frequency Rule. On an average, 1274.92 per cent of the sample beneficiaries had access to credit sources for loan and 1387.05 per cent of the SHG beneficiaries had frequently visited banks, line departments, etc. The per capita income of the SHG beneficiaries across various size groups showed an increasing trend with the size groups ranged from 42.90 per cent in Group I to 105.83 per cent in Group III beneficiaries and 127.28 per cent of the employments had been generated through different employment generating activities. The SHG beneficiaries of various size groups have registered positive and significant changes in the better economic standards of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]