Self-Help Group refers to self-governed, peer controlled, informal group of people with same
socio-economic background and having a desire to collectively perform common purposes. Here poor
people voluntarily come together to save whatever amount they can save conveniently out of their
earnings, to mutually agree to contribute to a common fund and to lend to the members for meeting
their productive and emergent needs. SHG is a holistic programme of micro-enterprises covering all
aspects of self-employment, organization of the rural poor into self Help groups and their capacity
building, planning of activity clusters, infrastructure build up, technology, credit and marketing.
It emphasis on activity clusters based on the resources and the occupational skills of the people
and availability of markets. The main objective of this programme is to bring the beneficiaries
above the poverty line by providing income generating assets to them through bank credit and
government subsidy. The Self-Help Groups (SHPs) are the major component of this scheme.
