Individual and Group Characteristics of Self-help Group Members in Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

  Self-Help groups have a key role in empowering their members and have emerged as a potential tool for agricultural extension; however, they also face a few constraints. To understand the intervention point for strengthening SHGs by exploring its various dimensions and overcoming the constraints faced by them, the present study focused on a) the individual profile characteristics of SHGs’ members and b) the group characteristics of SHGs’ members. It was inferred from the study that the majority of the members belonged to the middle age group (27 to 44 years), were married females, belonged to nuclear families, had a medium annual income comprised of marginal land holdings, were engaged in agriculture with other subsidiary occupations, and had a medium duration (between 3 to 5 years) of membership in SHGs. Awareness and Readiness to use Android phones have also increased amongst SHGs, i.e., the majority of the members perceived medium-level ease of use of Android phones, i.e., neither too easy nor too difficult to use. The majority of the respondents had education up to intermediate level. Most of the respondents had a medium level of achievement motivation, and they occasionally sought information from ‘friends and relatives’, ‘neighbors,’ and ‘progressive farmers’. Among personal cosmopolite sources, block development officers, scientists from agricultural universities, agriculture officers from banks, and DDM, NABARD was the preferred source. Radio, Kisan Call Center, and the Internet were occasionally preferred for agricultural information. The majority of the respondents belonged to the medium category in terms of task function and maintenance function. They had a favorable attitude towards collectivization and group decision-making. These research findings on self-help group members must be taken into account by the researchers, extensionists, trainers, and policymakers for the formulation, designing and successful implementation of trainings, development programmes and interventions for strengthening the group dynamics.