Self-help group
Also called: SHG · Topic: Civil Society, Pressure Groups, NGOs and Self-help Groups · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"
Meaning
A self-help group (SHG) is a small group of 10-20 members, mostly poor women. Members save a little money regularly and lend to each other from the common pool. Later the group borrows from a bank without collateral, meaning no property is pledged as security. Group pressure acts as "social collateral": members make sure each loan is repaid. SHGs also give women a training ground in politics, and many members go on to become panchayat leaders.
Example
NABARD began the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme in 1992 as a pilot with 500 SHGs. In 2011, DAY-NRLM set the goal of bringing at least one woman from every poor rural household into an SHG. NCERT (Class 9, Democracy) mentions the South Manubankul panchayat supporting SHGs.
Don't confuse with
- Grameen Bank model (Muhammad Yunus): here each borrower takes an individual loan and the group is jointly liable for repayment. An SHG instead saves and borrows as one group.
- Cooperative society: a formally registered body run on "one member, one vote" under cooperative law. An SHG is a small informal savings group.
Related concepts
- SHG-Bank Linkage Programme
- Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission
- Kudumbashree
- Lakhpati Didi