Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part A (2024)

Prof Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, a renowned economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance, is the 'father of developing Self-help Group concept' of economically poor echelons of the society. Self-help Groups (SHGs) are informal associations of people who come together to improve their living conditions through income-generating activities (IGAs), particularly rural people in general and women in particular. This research paper has highlighted how the self-help group (SHG) has facilitated the economic improvement of rural women in the Jorhat district of Assam. The study was conducted in December 2023 at Borphaidya Gohain Gaon, Central Jorhat Block, Jorhat district, Assam, India. For this purpose, members of Rupali SHG were contacted, and a Group Discussion was carried out. The SHG was established in 2007 with 12 women of the Other Backward Caste (OBC) community. The Government of Assam supported the SHG through the scheme Vistarita Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Yojana (VKMSY): The research article is purely based on primary data. Also, secondary data have been included here, which have been collected from the Chief Executive Office, Zilla Parishad, Jorhat district, Assam.