Microfinance in Empowering Tribal Women

Abstract

Women constitute nearly half of the aggregate population in India; but bulks of them are not empowered to participate in socio-cultural, economic and political life. Most of the women are unskilled and, as such, economically and socially dependent on men which rigorously restrict their prospect for socio-economic empowerment. The assumption is that investments of microfinance in microenterprises, small business, transmitted through women self-help groups, surges women’s access to productive occupation and income, enable women to make a greater contribution to household income and thereby improve well-being for women. Based on field studies conducted in the most backward tribal-dominated villages of KBK districts of Odisha and supplemented by secondary sources of data, this study seeks to investigate the impact of microfinance as a strategy in alleviating poverty and empowering tribal women.