Published Paper Details:

The purpose of this research was to examine the effectiveness of SHGs in assisting women in the villages in the Darrang District and the neighbouring district of Morigaon to improve their economic standing. The primary data used to compile this study spans only a six-month time frame. From 18 SHGs across 3 villages, 200 participants were selected using a simple random sampling method. When people feel empowered, it's because they've gained a greater voice in decision-making and believe they have the authority to make their own choices. One way to gauge women's autonomy is by how much say they have in household decisions. Sixty-six percent of beneficiaries said their husbands make all the decisions, but more than a third of those surveyed said they had some say in the matter. This shows that women's economic status has increased as a result of their participation in SHGs and access to microfinance. Chi-square analysis of data from the Darrang district found that female SHG members were less likely to participate in decision-making compared to their female counterparts in nuclear families.