ABSTRACT
In India, the self-help groups (SHGs) constitute a widely accepted development strategy for poverty reduction as they are perceived as powerful vehicles for the promotion of microcredit and microfinance, especially for women. While there are some common elements that the SHG 1 model shares with the Grameen model of Bangladesh, such as using ‘peer pressure’ as a substitute for collateral, in contrast to Grameen, the SHG-based microfinance in India encourages ‘self’ management and ‘self’ regulation of the groups’ activities.
