EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-HELP GROUPS (SHGS) IN EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN IN BATTICALOA DISTRICT OF SRI LANKA.

The self-help group (SHG) approach is a crucial tool to eliminate poverty and improve the status of women entrepreneurship and financial support for the better means of living.The aim of this paper was to examine the effectiveness of the self-help groups in promoting the socio-economic empowerment of rural women in selecteddivisional secretariat division of Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire, discussion and observations of the SHGs in the villages located in the EravurPattu DS division. A total of 69 of members of SHGs were randomly selected for the study. Descriptive statistics and Likert scale method were employed to analyze the collected data. The study showed positive impact on the economic empowerment of women in relation to income, employment and savings, access to credit and training after joining the SHG and also found the significant positive impact on social empowerment of women regarding the decision making, community participation and leadership qualities such as communication, self-confidence, managerial skill and organizing skill. Thus the study concluded that the SHGs have highly contributed towards promoting the socio-economic empowerment of rural women in the study area and it also proved to be instrumental in empowering rural women.