SHG Federations as Livelihood Support Organizations

Abstract

The last two decades has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the number of Self Help groups (SHGs) and SHG federations in India. There were an estimated 1, 78,664 SHG federations in India during 2013-14. SHG federations emerged as important institutions to take over the functions formerly provided by SHG promoting organizations. Placed in a situation where small size of SHGs and their limited financial and human resourcesdid not allow it to deal with larger financial and non-financial, livelihood issues affecting their women members, SHG federations were to address this gap. It was to go beyond being mere financial intermediaries to also become livelihood promotion organizations. The paper argues that while SHG Federations have emerged as financial intermediaries, its role as livelihood support organizations is still a question mark. The study looks at the role of SHG federations as livelihood support organizations.