Microfinance and Women Empowerment: A Secondary Study of NABARD Reports

Abstract

In India microfinance has become an indispensable instrument for poverty alleviation and inclusive growth in India, especially, in empowering women, through self-help groups (SHGs). This paper focuses on the role of microfinance in the empowerment of women using secondary data from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) five years reports (2019-2024). This paper examines the patterns of SHG formation, credit disbursement and women beneficiaries’ coverage, and assesses the effects of credit on selected economic and socio-behavioral empowerment indicators. The objective of the paper is to assess the growth and functioning of microfinance institutions, particularly through women led SHGs. This study assesses overall performance of NABARDs microfinance schemes in terms of number of SHGs formed, volume of credit disbursed, increase in average loan size, and number of women beneficiaries. The results show an increase in microfinance penetration and credit linkage with women led SHGs over time is an affirmation of rural women empowerment through financial inclusion and greater self-reliance through microfinance.