Vol. 2, Issue 7, Part N (2016)

Abstract
The Indian banking system despite the wide network could not reach to the bottom of the pyramid serving the rural poor and the formal banking system was not accessible by the needy. The access was a limitation to the poorest in the rural areas. The women households were not in the fold of the monetary system. The Government of India had to search an alternative mechanism, policies, systems and procedures to fulfill the requirements of the poor and the women members of the rural households. The SHGs in this context emerged as the effective ways of providing the financial services. The SHGs as a capacity building mechanism was a major financial experiment in the Indian context. The present study unfolds extensively the SHG movement in the Indian context.