International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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Self-Help Groups and Tribal Women’s Empowerment: A Comparative Review of Agency, Social Participation and Household Decision-Making in Paschim and Purba Medinipur, West Bengal

Author(s) Parbati Bera, Dr. Urmila Parteti
Country India
Abstract Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are a central component of India’s rural financial-inclusion and livelihood architecture, particularly through the SHG–Bank Linkage Programme and the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). Yet the relationship between SHG membership and women’s empowerment is neither automatic nor uniform. This paper offers a focused narrative and comparative review of the literature on tribal women, SHGs and women’s empowerment in Paschim (West) and Purba (East) Medinipur, West Bengal. Using Naila Kabeer’s resources–agency–achievements framework, it examines three dimensions of empowerment: agency, social participation and household decision-making. The review finds stronger direct evidence in Paschim Medinipur for collective participation and social empowerment among tribal SHG members, including Lodha women, while the Purba Medinipur literature is more strongly oriented toward livelihood security, occupational diversification and coastal resilience. Evidence on household decision-making among tribal SHG members is comparatively weak in both districts. The comparison therefore suggests not a demonstrated district-level causal difference, but a theoretically plausible divergence in empowerment pathways shaped by ecological setting, tribal composition, livelihood structures and the subjects emphasized by existing research. The paper identifies major gaps in the literature and proposes a common empirical framework for future comparative fieldwork across the two districts.
Keywords Self-Help Groups; tribal women; women’s empowerment; agency; household decision-making; social participation; Kabeer; Paschim Medinipur; Purba Medinipur; West Bengal
Field Sociology
Published In Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On 2026-09-04
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CrossRef DOI prefix of IJFMR is 10.36948/ijfmr

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