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Microfinance and women's empowerment: A lesson from India

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  • Fiona Leach
  • Shashikala Sitaram

Abstract

This article describes an NGO project intended to empower scheduled caste women working in the silk-reeling industry in India through the provision of microfinance. It documents the impact that the project had on their economic and social status over a period of time and highlights the negative consequences of excluding male relatives from playing any meaningful role. It suggests ways in which the project might have been made more male inclusive while still empowering women. At the same time, it acknowledges that even if the men's hostility to the project had been overcome, the women's micro enterprises were unlikely to have been viable commercially. This is because the project insisted that the women operate as a group in what was a high-risk area of economic activity, with no clear strategy as to how their work could be sustained.

Suggested Citation

  • Fiona Leach & Shashikala Sitaram, 2002. "Microfinance and women's empowerment: A lesson from India," Development in Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 575-588, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cdipxx:v:12:y:2002:i:5:p:575-588
    DOI: 10.1080/0961452022000017597
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    Cited by:

    1. Shagufta Tariq Khan & Mohd Abass Bhat & Mohi-Ud-Din Sangmi, 2023. "Impact of Microfinance on Economic, Social, Political and Psychological Empowerment: Evidence from Women’s Self-help Groups in Kashmir Valley, India," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(1), pages 58-73, March.
    2. Indrani Gupta & Arjun Roy, 2023. "What really empowers women? Taking another look at economic empowerment," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 25(1), pages 17-31, June.

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