Study of Self Help Groups in West Bengal Province of India

Poverty and unemployment are the main problems faced by the rural people of India. Due to illiteracy, small-sized holdings, natural disasters, unemployment, uncertainties, lack of warehouses and communication, prices received by the sample members are not reasonable which has adverse impact on income level. Education and technology are also not up to the mark and these have led to backwardness of the area. Credit is necessary in time and in adequate amount to stimulate the tempo of agricultural production. Money-lenders have been the most important source of credit because it is easily available from then and no complicated procedure is involved. Money-lenders charge high rate of interest and sometimes they even exploit the farmers for his service. To restrict exploitation of farmers by money-lenders, Government took some initiatives and thus, Lead Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Co-operative Banks were established. But those institutions did not cause sufficient benefit to the poorest of the poor, so the concept of formation of SHGs came into reality. The role of SHGs in rural development in West Bengal context is inevitable.