Assessing the Landscape: A Survey of Microfinance Self-Help Groups and Their Impact on Financial Inclusion

Microfinance is a trusted source of financing to the impoverished people in the remote areas all throughout the world. It is popular as a credit-based system for poverty alleviation. In India, the low-income group families need to be supported financially. To do this efficiently, microfinance is very useful since it provides small loans and other financial services to the poor and the marginalized. Thus, the low-income families get financial support in a legitimate way. This economic tool is framed in a manner that it helps the low-income households come out of their financial distress and lead better lives and be able to participate in healthier living. Microfinance can also help in the nation’s development, raising the standard of living, poverty reduction. Women’s groups can also essentially benefit from this type of credit system. With respect to India, two different approaches are followed – bank - led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and the micro-finance approach. Most of them are under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulation making it safe and legal. In this study, a variety of aspects of microfinance approaches and SHGs have been analyzed. It has been found that financial inclusion has been achieved as a part of our study. The results are satisfactory and in sync with other studies in this area by different other researchers. Statistical method of multiple regression has been used to analyze the data in this study. MS Excel has also been used to analyze qualitative data. The results are discerning and provide real suggestions that can be used on ground to enhance the viability of the SHGs.