1. 30 SHODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN
International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0974-2832,(Print) E- ISSN-2320-5474, December,2013, VOL-V * ISSUE- 59
Introduction
The post nationalization period in the bank-
ing sector, since 1969, witnessed a substantial amount
ofresourcesbeingearmarkedtowardsmeetingthecredit
needs of the poor, but credit flow to the poor and
especially to the poor women remained low. The at-
tempts were made in terms of Integrated Rural Devel-
opment Program (IRDP) in early 1980's and
SwarnajayantiGramSwarozgarYojana(SGSY)in1999
to provide subsidized credit to the poor through the
banking sector to eradicate poverty and to generate
self employment through Self Help Group (SHG) ap-
proach . A most notable milestone in the SHG move-
mentwastheSHG-BankLinkageProgramme(SBLP)
introduced by NABARD in February 1992.
Thispapermakesareviewoftheeffectofmicrofinance
on empowerment of women and growth of MFIs and
SHGs in Thane district because of efforts of support-
ing agents in the field like MAVIM, NABARD, TMC,
DRDA, nationalized banks and NGOs in the district.
II.Objectives
The research paper considered the role of
agents in supporting women empowerment through
SBLP programme with special reference to Thane
district.
Thebroadobjectivesareasfollows:
1)Toassesstheimpactofthemicrofinanceavailability
on empowerment of women
2)To review growth of microfinance in Thane district
III.Reviewofliterature
Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social
process thatoccurswithin sociological, psychological
and economic spheres and at various levels, such as
individual, group and community. Microfinance has
the potential to have a powerful impact on women's
empowerment. Although microfinance is not always
empowering for all the women, most women do
experiencesomedegreeofempowermentasaresult,as
revealed by the study of Cheston Susy & Kuhn Lisa
(2006).Impactofthemicrofinanceprogrammaytakea
Research Paper -Economics
December ,2013
AgentssupportingWomenempowermentthroughSelf-
HelpGroupBankLinkageprogramme(SBLP):
A study of Thanedistrict
*AssistantProfessor,Dept.ofEconomics,ShethN.K.T.T.College,Thane
* MsH.A.Chande
long time before it is significantly reflected on the
observable measures of women empowerment.
Empirical study ofAndhra Pradesh by Befglund Knut
- Erland (2007) has shown that women can be
empoweredbyorganizingSHGsandthereisaconnec-
tion between economic empowerment and wider im-
pacts. However, this relationship is not very strong,
automaticorlinear.
BaliSwain,RanjulaandWallentin,FanYang
(2007), bymaking sample study for five states in India
for 2000-03 argues that women empowerment takes
placewhenwomenchallengetheexistingsocialnorms
and culture, to effectively improve their well being.
However a greater emphasis needs to be placed on
business training and awareness programmes.
RaghavGaiha &ManiArulNandhi (2007)in
astudyofselectedvillagesinPunedistricthaveshown
that targeting of microfinance through SHGs was
unsatisfactoryintermsofanincomecriterion,butbetter
in terms of deprivation such as lowcaste, landlessness
and illiteracy. However, it has resulted in to greater
responsibility and longer working hours for women.
According to Thelma Kay (2002-03) Self-help
programmescombinedwithmicrocreditcantransform
women's lives. Women's decision making power
enhances by their greater economic status and it also
leads to the formation of social capital.
Ledgerwood (1999)foundthatpoliticalempowerment
of microfinance clients is often not well documented.
Howeverthe membersofbothSEWAand theWorking
Women's Forum in India have organized to get better
wagesand betterrightsforinformalwomenworkers,to
resolve neighborhood issues, and to advocate forlegal
changes. Thus it can be said that credit programs in
generalhaveleadtoimprovementofwomenintermsof
household decision making, access to financial and
economicresources,socialnetworks,bargainingpower
and freedom of mobility. Credit "Plus" services play
very important role in empowerment of women.
IV.GrowthofMicrofinanceinThanedistrict

2. 31SHODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN
International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0974-2832,(Print) E- ISSN-2320-5474, December,2013, VOL-V * ISSUE- 59
TheSHGbanklinkageprogramwaslaunched
in 1992in India asa pilotproject for linking500 SHGs
supported by the Reserve bank of India through its
policy .The program envisaged organization of the
ruralpoorinto SHGs, building theircapacities to man-
agetheirownfinancesandthennegotiatingbankcredit
oncommercialterms.Thefocusofmicrofinanceinitia-
tives is largely on those rural poor who have no access
to the formal banking system. In the financial year
2007-08, Microfinance in India through its two major
channels-SBLPandMFIsservedover33millionIndians,
4 out of 5 MF clients in India are women. Indian MFIs
are serving poor strata of society, 8 of 10 clients have
borrowedbelowRs10,000.Its4.1MillionClientsbelong
to SC/ST background (3 out of 10); urban MF is also
emerging as a strong driver (3 out of 10 clients).
Underthetrickledowntheoryintheplanning
processitwasexpectedthatwomenwillequallybenefit
along with men, but this has not happened as is recog-
nized by the ninth plan document. The emergence of
liberalization and globalization in early 1990's has
aggravated the problem of women workers in
unorganized sectors and self employment activities.
Institutions / authorities who play important
role in establishing SHGs, in providing training to
members, in linking them to banks and in their overall
development in the Thane district are NABARD,
MAVIM,ThaneDistrictRuralDevelopmentAuthority
(DRDA),ThaneMunicipalCorporation,Nationalized
banks, and NGOs.
According to the NABARD-SBLP report, in
Thane district total SHGs that were linked to banks up
to 31st March 2008 were 4851. According to DDM's
report(NABARD)for08-09(OtherthanSGSY),number
ofnewSHGs promoted and savingslinked were2265,
number of SHGs financed for the first time were 1463,
with total bank loan disbursed 394.78 lakh, whereas
repeatfinancewasprovidedto266SHGsandtheamount
is 155.82 lakh. NABARD supports micro finance
institutions by providing Revolving fund assistance,
rating support, capital/equity support, and by
supporting SHG federations.
Mission statementofMAVIM (Maharashtra
Aarthik Vikas Mahamandal) is to bring about gender
justice ,equality and empowerment of women and
enabling them to access sustainable livelihoods. To
achieve its mission it operates through various
schemes. MAVIM assists in group formation, trains
members and supervises and links groups with banks.
Forthe year2008-09 total SHGsformed were 1407,of
which282received bankloan.ThecredittargetwasRs
2,55,80,000whereasachievementwasRs1,54,69,500
(about60%).
It operates with funding available through
variousschemes.SCP(SpecialComponentProgramme)
scheme is of social welfare department under Ramai
MahilaShakshamikaranYojanaforSCwomen.ForBPL
women under Maharashtra Gramin Mahila
Sakshamikaran Karyakram, TEJ (Tejaswini) scheme,
financed byIFAD (International Fund forAgricultural
Development) prevails. The programme operating for
BPL through DRDA and central government together
is SGSY, it is funded by central government under
Swayam Siddha Yojana, under which women are
beneficiaries. TSP (Tribal Sub Plan) is for ST women,
underAdivasiVikasYojana,wheregrantisreleased by
the concerned department through state government.
UnderMRCP (MaharashtraRuralCreditProgramme)
women who are ill, handicapped, widow and are very
poor will be beneficiary, it is funded by IFAD.
There are 650 SHGs under Thane Municipal
Corporation(TMC). Of which 600 are from non BPL,
and50underBPLcategory(underSGSY).Under'Mahila
va Balake' scheme 50% subsidy on the loan amount is
givenbystategovernmentforselfemployment.For08-
09totalexpenditureofTMCunderthiswasRs16,25,000,
on training of SHGs they have spend Rs 10,24,200 ,
under Samajik SanrakshanYojana they have spend Rs
4,75,411andforcreationofselfemployment2.46lakh.
They also provide revolving fund to women SHGs.
Under Thane Jillah Parishad (DRDA) at end
of March 2009, total numbers of SHGs formed were
7923, with number of SHGs received revolving fund
were 6857, and those who have taken up economic
activities were 2721 under SGSY. Their Credit target
was1690.66lakh,whereasachievementis952.06lakh.
Operation of NABARD,TMC, MAVIM and DRDAis
done through various schemes and programmes
through linkages with NGOs, or banks directly under
SBLPprogramme.
Women's empowerment needs to occur along the
economic,socio-cultural,familial/interpersonal,legal,
political, and psychological dimensions and their
sub domains.
V. Suggestions
ForsuccessfulfunctioningofSBLPinachieve-
ment of women empowerment, it is suggested that
suitableSHGmodelsshouldbedevelopedandadopted

3. 32 SHODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN
International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0974-2832,(Print) E- ISSN-2320-5474, December,2013, VOL-V * ISSUE- 59
1. Befglund Knut - Erland (2007) 'The effect of microfinance on empowerment of women and its social consequence - A study of women self help group
members in Andhra Pradesh'- field studies reports, Department of Economics Uppasala University
2. Cheston Susy & Kuhn Lisa, (2006), 'Empowering women through micro finance'-Research sponsored by women's opportunity fund.
3. Raghav Gaiha (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi )& Mani Arul Nandhi, (Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi), (October,
2007) Microfinance, Self-Help Groups and Empowerment in Maharashtra' ,ASARC Working paper, 2007/15
4. Swain Ranjula Bali & Wallentin Far Yang, (2007), 'Does microfinance empower women? Evidence from self help group in India', department of
economics, Uppasala University
5. Thelma Kay, Chief, Gender and Development Section, Emerging Social Issues Division, ESCAP Empowering women through self-help micro credit
programmes- Bulletin on Asia-Pacific Perspectives 2002/03
Websites
1. www.maharashtra.gov.in 2. www.mavimindia.org 3. www.microfinanceindia.org 4. www.nabard.org 5. www.thanecity.gov.in
R E F E R E N C E
to cater to the needs of various parts of the country.
Micro finance needs to be supplemented by
microfinance 'plus' activities, such as business train-
ing, and awareness creation programs.
VI.Conclusion
The current focus on MF marks a paradigm
shiftfrominduceddevelopmentfromabovetoinitiated
development from below and highlights the changing
roleofcreditinaddressing andadequatelymeetingthe
needs of the poor, the deprived and the women. SHGs
tosomeextentalsopoliticallyempowerwomen,leading
to larger contribution of members in civil issues. The
impact of SHGs on social harmony, social justice and
oncommunityatlargeisminor,slowandevolutionary.
The cost of the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme is that
it makes women over burdened, as it entails greater
responsibilities for women. The key bottleneck in the
field of micro-finance is the shortage of strong
institutions and devoted managers. However, Micro
financeisserving asthemostimportant toolinpoverty
reduction and empowerment of women in India and
across the globe.