International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

From Savings to Social Agency: Examining the Role of Self-Help Groups in Enhancing Rural Women’s Empowerment

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have become a key instrument in India’s rural development and women’s empowerment initiatives, particularly under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). While existing research largely emphasizes their role in financial inclusion, less attention has been paid to the extent to which economic participation translates into broader social agency, especially in traditionally patriarchal rural contexts. This study examines the role of SHGs in enhancing rural women’s empowerment in Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, a region marked by strong caste hierarchies, gender norms, and informal livelihoods. Grounded in feminist empowerment theory and the concept of social capital, the study conceptualizes empowerment as a multidimensional process encompassing economic resources, agency, and social outcomes. Using a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and case studies of SHG members from selected rural blocks of Varanasi. The analysis focuses on changes in women’s financial practices, intra-household decision-making, mobility, self-confidence, and participation in community life. The findings indicate that SHGs have improved access to savings, credit, and collective support networks, contributing to enhanced confidence and limited increases in decision-making power. However, the transformation of economic participation into substantive social agency remains uneven and is mediated by caste, education, family support, and local power relations. The study argues that SHGs function as ambivalent spaces of empowerment, enabling agency while simultaneously reproducing structural constraints, highlighting the need for context-sensitive and gender-transformative rural development policies.