Grassroots Entrepreneurship: Glimpses of Self Help Groups

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This book is documentation on women Self-Help Groups (SHGs)-about their economic entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Multi National Corporations do get written about but rarely the tiny women entrepreneurs and almost never the rural women entrepreneurs. The book identifies the factors leading to emergence of entrepreneurs among Self Help Groups-whether it be chance entrepreneurs, forced entrepreneurs and created entrepreneurs-the best practices for enterprise promotion, problems faced in utilizing micro credit, opportunities, missed by them in-depth understanding of the impact of savings and credit groups in terms of changes in knowledge and skill levels to avail credit, ability to manage funds, their capability to take financial and marketing decisions and enhancement of leadership qualities. The book contains first hand account, of over hundred SHG women in rural areas. What makes this a pulsating and palpitating narrative is that majority of them are first generation entrepreneurs-some driven by aspiration and initiatives to own a business and some by chance or compelling circumstances to somehow eke out a living. They have so little yet are really to dare and risk their own meager resources, their enterprises remain tiny, of course with good prospects, yet the SHG entrepreneurs rose to heroic dimensions. Poverty has not dampened their winning spirit. The genius of micro finance has innovative ideas like group lending, peer pressure that have made it possible to provide financial services to people previously thought to be ‘unbankable’. But behind these innovative ideas are a set of complicated trade-offs and partnership between various development agencies. This book explores the possibilities of strengthening such joint endeavours thereby facilitating empowerment process. The book represents a testimony to the strength, resilience and spirit of poor women and their voices in overcoming the hurdles. The unrestrained voices deserve the attention not only of scholars and academics but also Government, NGOs, international institutions, business communities and civil society across the world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR N. Lalitha

Dr. N. Lalitha holds M.A. degrees in Economics, Womenâ€™s studies and Gandhian thought, M.Ed., M.Phil and Ph.D. in Economics. She won Medal for securing first rank in M.A. (Womenâ€™s studies) at Mother Teresa Womenâ€™s University, Kodaikanal. Presently, Reader in the Faculty of Rural Development, Gandhigram rural Institute (D.U.) Gandhigram, she has presented papers in several International, National and Regional seminars and workshops. A seasoned teacher having nearly one and half decade of professional standing, she is the author of many research papers, articles, monographs and books on a variety of issues relating to empowerment of women, self help groups, micro credit, rural women and Rural Development. She has been involved in development projects with emphasis on alternate credit delivery systems and womenâ€™s empowerment. She has undertaken projects on women self help groups, women co-operatives and women in poverty alleviation programmes. She has been guiding scholars working for M.Phil and Ph.D. degree. She is in the network of Non Governmental SHG Federations. She has been involved in developmental projects with emphasis on alternate credit delivery systems. Currently, she is running an Action research project on Self Help Groups and Self Help promoting Institutions funded by CAPART and a research project on Micro credit Intervention and Women Empowerment funded by ICSSR.