Impact of Self-Help Groups on Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women in Assam

Abstract: Self-help groups have emerged as a significant instrument for enhancing the financial well-being of women and altering the trajectory of socio-economic development across several different countries. The present study attempts to critically analyze the body of literature around the issue of women empowerment through self-help groups in the state of Assam with a goal to identify the knowledge gaps for future research. A systematic and methodical step-by-step procedure was followed by the researcher to find academic publications pertinent to the phenomena being investigated. The findings from the review highlighted four key gaps in research. The first gap reflected a dearth of studies in the context of women belonging to the Bodo community of Assam. The second gap in research was a lack of study examining the constraints on empowering women through SHGs. A lack of consistent definition of women empowerment was identified as the third gap. Lastly, the fourth gap in research was the non-consideration of region-specific variables which can affect empowerment differently in different contexts. The paper discusses the contributions and directions for future research at the end.