1. Poor women or women who do not have any collateral, were excluded from formal institutions of credit.
2. With Self-Help Groups, women are able to avail credit, with reasonable repayment plans.
3. Further, SHGs also receive funds as Community Investment Support Funds, to create self-employment
4. SHGs not only make credit accessible to poor women, but provide them with opportunities to generate their own income and make decisions.
5. SHGs foster a sense of community since the credit is disbursed from a pool of money contributed by all. This also holds them accountable to the group.
6. SHGs allow rural women to be financially empowered.
OR
(a) The government wanted to increase the production of goods and services through new methods with the help of technology. But they also, through its various policies, simultaneously ensured that this progress in a socialist economy should be assessed in accordance with the
1. Equality of opportunities between men and women.
2. Bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots.
3. Availability of basic infrastructural facilities to all.
4. Optimum utilization and distribution of resources.
(b) Following are some economic costs of unemployment:
1. low production of goods and services
2. decreasing GDP
3. fall in government revenue
4. reduced demand for goods and services
5. stalled economic growth