Published Paper Details:

Women empowerment has been one of the significant strategies in the development process in India since the 9th Five Years Plan. Self help Group (SHG) approach has become the most sought after means for achieving that goal, particularly among the poor people. Studies undertaken so far have assessed the role of SHGs towards women empowerment in India, focusing on "increase in income" or "gender impact". In this study we have tried to highlight the perception of SHG participants about their empowerment, with particular reference to Tribal women in Nilgiris district, Tamilnadu. The study deals with 50 respondents from each tribal community in Nilgiris district. Our results revealed that SHG approach provided for the self directed learning (SDL) to women in the context of their value system, belief and custom was of particular value. There respondents of the SHGs perceived to have been empowered after joining in this programme and achieved a relatively higher status by inculcating certain skills within themselves