Empowerment of women is a symbol of development of every human society. It unleashes the hidden potentials of women. Self Help Groups (SHGs) as a mode of empowering people became popular in the present century. SHGs are informal groups of people who come together to address their common problems. SHGs are the group created by needy persons especially women to fulfill credit and loan needs. They help each other, to solve their problems. SHGs promote small savings among their members. Members can

more »

... take small loans from the group. The group charges interest on the group but less than what money lenders charge. Self Help Groups are groups of 10 to 20 women or men who want to improve their living conditions by setting up their own savings and loan fund. The fund is owned by the group and consists of the savings of the members. The fund is used to make short-term loans with interest to members. The Researcher is going to highlight women empowerment through the SHGs in the Nayagarh district of Odisha. The focus area of the study includes role of women and their activities in the SHGs. Keywords: Women Empowerment, Self Help group, Gender, Economic Equality, Collective Work, Mission Shakti.