Self Help Groups are at the core of social economic empowerment among rural and deprived women in developing countries, promoting savings, collective agency, and access to formal finance. Self Help Groups (SHGs) can help fill the gaps in financial inclusion, like digital payments and literacy, in the Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency, comprising farming communities and tribal populations. This paper is to study the role of SHGs in extending digital payment adoption and financial literacy among tribal women within the social and cultural milieu of Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. Marginalization, remoteness, limited and poor education and digital exclusion create barriers to financial inclusion among tribal women. Digitalizing payments in India, fuelled by the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile initiatives and fintech, therefore presents both opportunities and challenges for these communities. The promise of convenience and lower relative costs by platforms such as UPI and mobile wallets requires a very practical form of financial literacy and confidence for adoption. SHGs are an informal yet structured entity for financial training, savings, peer support, and collective decision-making that enables tribal women to access and engage with formal finance. Using primary surveys, focus groups, and secondary data, the study finds that SHG participation enhances tribal women's exposure to digital tools and financial concepts. SHGs act as sites for observational learning where women are first introduced to banking as a group before using digital services as individuals. Digital literacy workshops led by SHGs demystify procedures, handle security concerns, and boost self-assurance. The empirical analysis's findings show a positive correlation between SHG participation and the frequency of digital transactions. The women can learn from their peers through the SHG social networks. There are still issues with poor internet access, language barriers on platforms, and gender norms that limit agency. In order to maintain literacy gains, the study suggests enhancing SHG capacity through focused digital training, collaborations with banks and Fintechs for more user-friendly interfaces, and community champions. By utilising SHGs, tribal women in Baramati can have more inclusive access to the digital financial ecosystem, improving both individual autonomy and community resilience.
Ganbote et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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