Self Group Participation And Women Artisans of Shantiniketan Leather Cluster, West Bengal: An Emprirical Analysis
Abstract
Micro-finance refers to small savings, credit and insurance services extended to socially and economically disadvantaged segments of society. The women artisans from Shantiniketan leather cluster which has a long tradition of leather bags and other accessories manufacturing, have changed their lives and their socio-living conditions in many ways by adopting the route of self-help group formation under different coordinating agencies, specially the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) since 1992. These self-help groups have been extended soft loans of various nature through the respective coordinating agencies and the initiative has added different, positive dimensions in respect to the members of such groups. This structured questionnaire and feedback based empirical study attempts to evaluate the level of positive change that occurred in the life of otherwise under-privileged rural women artisans engaged in leather craftsmanship under several self-help groups coordinated by different NGOs at the grass root level.