Constraints Faced by Self-help Groups under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission in Uttarakhand State

Abstract

After independence the main agenda for development of society was poverty alleviation. 26.1% of the total population lives below poverty line. Sustainability and improvement in the life of rural people is the main agenda of all developmental programmes. During that time all the development programmes implemented by the government were unified into one self employment programme referred to as Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). The Ministry of Rural Development was determined to restructure the continuing SGSY into National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The main strategy was to encourage women in rural households to be part of Self-Help Group. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) was launched in June 2011. The constraints were the restrictions SHG women members face in performing various functions in the SHGs. For the study purpose the interview schedule was prepared, women member (n=280) and government officials (n=20) were asked about the various constraints being faced by them. Based on the findings of the study, various constraints were Administrative constraints (majority of the respondents reported less number of working staff as a major constraint), Social constraints (reluctance of the members to take leadership role was the main constraint reported by SHG members), Empowering constraints (lack of freedom to take decisions and lack of equal treatment were reported as the major constraints), Management constraints (lack of space was the major constraint) and marketing constraints (transportation problems and lack of market information were reported as the major constraints).