Vol. 2, Issue 2, Part G (2016)

Abstract
Women constitute 48% of India population, so their development is essential for the process of the overall national development since women and development is one of the important principles of community development. The concept of women empowerment was introduced at the International Women’s Conference at Nairobi in 1985. The term empowerment was defined as ‘a distribution of social power and control of resources in favor of women’. Women empowerment is an important aspect in the process of development of a community. Women self-help groups play a vital role in women empowerment because it makes the women socially recognized, economically independent, psychologically developed and politically knowledgeable. Self-help groups provide enough opportunity for women to enhance their skills, express their talents and gain confidence in all spheres of life. This scientific paper deals with the perceived level of self-esteem among the self-help group animators of SEVAI-an organization working for women empowerment. The findings of this attempt show that majority of the respondents have high level of self-esteem and they are able to manage their self-help group activities as well as their family responsibilities. A significant percent of the respondents felt that they are self-reliant and agreed that self-help groups enable women empowerment. So as per this descriptive study woman empowerment is ensured through their participation in self-help groups.