Microfinance in Empowering Tribal Women: Evidence from the Villages of KBK Districts* (Odisha)

摘要

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 onmen which rigorously restrict their prospect for socioeconomic empowerment. The assumption is that investments of microfinance in microenterprises, small business, transmitted through women self-help groups, surges women's access to productive occupationand 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.