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A Refereed Monthly International Journal of Management

Relevance of Group profile variables for the Performance of Self Help Groups in Haryana.

Author

Dr.Meenu Maheshwari

Assistant Professor

Department of Commerce and Management

University of Kota ,KOTA(Raj.)

(Email:-drmeenumaheshwari@gmail.com)

Mobile no.9461073979

Dr. Shobhna Goyal

Assistant Professor

Aggarwal College,Ballabgarh

Email:- shobhna2002@gmail.com

Mob : 9891015464

Dr. Ashok Kumar Gupta

Senior Lecturer (ABST)

Government Commerce College, Kota.

Email:-drashokkr.gupta@gmail.com

Introduction

Relevance of Group profile variables for the Performance of Self Help Groups in Haryana.

Deprivation from the benefits of economic development is one aspect of social exclusion. Gender based exclusion has been a phenomenon in all developing nations including India. And the exclusion keeps some of the classes amongst the disadvantaged section of the society. It is believed that poor have no voice in determining the resource allocation. So lack of access to formal financial resources put them in an exploitative state as their inability to access becomes the privilege of the rich and educated. Hence, a need was felt to link the poor with the mainstream by credit provisioning. However, it is the biggest challenge for the policymakers to make formal finance easily accessible for the most disadvantaged sections of the society comprising landless farmers, labourer, women, differently abled etc. In most of the developing countries the formal banking machinery does not apprehend microfinance as a profit model as well as perceives it as a less credit worthy and risky model in the absence of collaterals. At this juncture where the goal and approach of the banking system is contradictory, microfinance has emerged as a major intervention to empower women and to alleviate poverty. Microfinance in India is exercised through various models but Self Help Group model is the most commonly adopted model by the service providers as well as beneficiaries. This solidarity saving lending scheme has been initiated by NABARD in 1992 with primary focus on women empowerment and poverty alleviation considering the fact that women have been an object of subjudication in terms of social, economic and political sense since ancient times but women emancipation as a measurement of social development index is gaining importance the world over. As a matter of records women constitute half of the world population but their representation in organized sector is very low, due to which they are amongst the poorest of poors. Social economists world over have opined that increased participation of women in gainful employment through microentrepreneurship might empower women. An empowered woman is an asset to the society and economy as a whole as empowerment results in self confidence to critically analyse the surroundings and taking control over decisions affecting her life.

NABARD launched a pilot project linking 500 SHGs in 1992 with banking system across the country. The movement has gained a significant momentum with 2.92 million SHGs linked with 498 banks across 31 states of Indian Union covering 587 districts uptill March 200. During the year 0.55 million new SHGs; excluding SGSY were credit linked with banks and bank loan of `25.42 billion was disbursed. As per the data total no of SHGs Linked with banks have reached up to 77.12 Lakh in March 2015 covering 101million families with a total SHGs savings of `11,307 Crore. Gross loan outstanding as on March 2015 is `51,721 Crore whereas total loan disbursed stood at `30,334 Crore. Amount of average loan disbursed per SHG has increased to `1,84,551 in 2015 from `1,75,769 in 2014. Average loan outstanding per SHG has also increased in 2015 to `1,15,295 from `1,02,273 in 2014. An increase has also been noticed in percentage of NPA(Non Performing Assets) from 6.80% to 7.40% in 2015.

Rationale of the study

With the initiatives taken by world organizations in recent years, women have come in forefront and are competing with men in different walks of life irrespective of social, psychological and economic barriers. Indian traditional society is under a complete transformation and women are seeking self employment in several fields. With the education and awareness drive women are scaling up as entrepreneurs. Considering the role of empowered women in the society, the study has been undertaken. Women work best in collectives and linkage with community organizations provide opportunity to work together for individual and group purposes. Though this scheme has been a great success in southern India but Northern India in general and Haryana in particular has not shown the same index of success and data reveals that share of microfinance in Haryana is not even 1 percent of the country’s total with respect to number of SHGs formed, savings, loans disbursed and outstanding loan amount. Present paper focus on the relationship of performance factors vis-à-vis group profile variables in Haryana with special emphasis on Mewat District to highlight role of group profile in the performance of SHGs.

Objectives

To measure the relationship between performance of SHGs and the tenure of their existence

To measure the relationship between performance of SHGs and the size of membership

Review of Literature

Satish (2001) observed that while forming SHGs, the socio-economic homogeneity of the members should be given due consideration. The data had been collected for a period four years i.e. 1997-2000 from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Formation of SHGs has to be systematic. He experimented the SHG concept throughout rural India instead of regionally concentrated in the south.

Nedumaran, Palanisami and Swaminathan (2001) conducted a study covering 30 SHGs from 2 NGOs (MYRADAand LEAD) and selecting 150 members and determined that more than 60% of the SHG members were SC/STs which proves that weaker sections of the society are opting it and benefitting from this concept and they are inclined to social and economic upliftment with the microfinance interventions.

Nandini and Niti (2005) have described the existing model of microcredit delivery used by the Bank. The study has highlighted on the Life Cycle stages of SHGs i.e. Formation, Storming, Financing and Developing.

Fernandez (2007) in his study noticed that SHGs are not only a tool for the empowerment of poor and marginalised sectors but they have proved to be a powerful device for changing oppressive relationships in the domestic and societal settings. It has been revealed by study that not only the provision of credit but its absorption is equally crucial and the credit can be used productively if MFIs work in tandem with NGOs. Mere credit provisioning for the poor should not be the goals of these schemes but development of managerial abilities to manage savings, credit and insurance amongst members should be a part and parcel of developmental programmes.

Patterson, Jamila, Linden, Eva Bierbrier and Christin et al., (2008) observed that Adult Education and ICT Training have identified the importance of ICT on empowerment of fisherwomen of Siluvaipati fishing village in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu . It was found in the survey that the literacy level in this village is good and these women are actively engaged in SHG activities and avail themselves of loans from banks to improve their livelihoods. The women were educated to read and write their names in Tamil or English, easy phrases and eventually small phrases in order to feel benefitted through ICT training.

Painoli, Girish, Losarwar and Suil (2011) have discovered that formation of SHGs specifically amongst women is the foremost powerful approach to women emancipation and rural entrepreneurship which is capable of making them economically independent and would remodel them from living to living with dignity. Sabhlok (2011) in his paper examines the significance of trust in women’s collective efforts for development through SHGs. It explores the manner and forms in which trust manifests itself during periods of forming, storming and defunct stages of SHGs. For building social capital, development intervention for community is a must. As a matter of fact trust among group members and between group and organisational members is an important factor in community building which can not be ignored.

Swain, Bali, Wallentin and Yang (2012) evaluated the impact of economic and non-economic factors on women’s empowerment of being a SHG member. A structural equality model (SEM) has been estimated in this study and SEM results revealed that for the SHG members, the economic factor is the most effective in empowering women. Greater autonomy and social attitudes additionally have a significant impact on women empowerment.

Batra (2012) In his study on 90 SHGs have covered over the 3 sample districts in Haryana and identified the problems concerning management and governance of SHGs like irregularity in meetings, low level of competancies and knowledge, absence of larger goals and absence of training. There are problems on part of banks for being not able to understand and accommodate the needs of SHGs in Haryana. To empower women and to reduce vulnerability, literacy could be very essential.

Gupta and Kapila (2014) in their study on SHGs of Ludhiana found that tenure of existence has a positive impact on performance of SHGs. Results showed that with the passage of time their consumption loans change into production loans.

Pandey and Savadatti (2015) have highlighted the importance of microfinance to mitigate the challenges of poverty and migration. It also suggested that better managed SHGs improve literacy, generate employment and improve standard of living. Women population play a pivotal role in containing migration.

Dhull (2015) elaborated that a shift from a minimalist approach to an integrated approach to poverty alleviation through provisions of enterprise development services like marketing infrastructure, introduction of technology and design development is expected from micro credit providers.

Singh and Mehta (2015) have identified the major factors contributing to good performance of self help groups in the valley. SHGs in Jammu were found to have regularity in meetings, attendance and savings. Repayment performance of loan in this region is more than 95%. The main reason for group formation is to obtain financial support and improving their economic status.

Somu and Sujatha (2015) have made an attempt to establish a relationship between spirituality and economic empowerment and the results of the study showed a positive correlation between these two variables. They also opined that along with technical support and capacity building training, a spiritual empowerment is also a must to graduate the members to some micro/macro entrepreneurial activity for paving their way to sustainable development.

Research Methodology

Primary data have been collected from 304 group leaders and 900 member beneficiaries through structured interview schedule and following hypotheses have been formulated and tested with two way ANOVA to verify the interplay of group profile variables and performance of SHGs.

H_o1: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different Performance factors of SHGs classified on the basis of age of the group.

H₀₂: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different SHG classified on the basis of Age of the group.

H_o3: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different Performance factors, when groups are classified on the basis of group size.

H₀₄: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different SHG groups classified on the basis of group size.

Group profile variables like tenure of existence, size of membership, education level of group leaders, marital status, age of the members etc have been used in the study along with 12 indicators of performance. Some of the profile variables have been apprehended to affect the performance of the group, so with the help of two way ANOVA the relationship between group profile variables and performance indicators have been analysed. Present paper has explained the relationship of two group profile variables viz. tenure/ Age of SHG and size of membership vis-à-vis performance factors

Age of the SHG and Performance Score

Normally it is thought that the longer the period of existence of a SHG the better would be its level of performance as the group matures with the passage of time. And members learn with experience as to how to coordinate with other group members and banking officials. With the passage of time they become more communicative and start identifying their financial and other needs. In order to determine how the age of the group influences their performance scores, two null hypotheses have been formulated and tested with the help of Two Way ANOVA.

H_o1: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different Performance factors of SHGs classified on the basis of age of the group.

H₀₂: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different SHG classified on the basis of Age of the group.

Table 1.1
Score and Rank of Indicators Measuring the Performance of Groups of SHGs Classified on the basis of Age of the group.

	Age of SHGs	<2 years					2-4 years					4-6 years					>6 years
Sl.No.	Factors	N	Sum	Mean	Std	Rank	N	Sum	Mean	Std	Rank	N	Sum	Mean	Std	Rank	N	Sum	Mean	Std	Rank
GROUP CONSTITUTION(SCORE -10)
1	Group Purpose	155	456	3.18	1.42	8	67	213	3.18	1.57	10	59	209	3.54	1.57	8	23	82	3.57	1.51	8
2	Homogenity	155	414	2.67	0.58	10	67	216	3.22	1.12	9	59	268	4.54	1.19	4	23	56	2.42	0.95	10
ORGANISATIONAL DISCIPLINE (SCORE -30)
3	Regularity of Meetings	155	727	4.69	0.73	4.5	67	295	4.4	1.17	4	59	249	4.22	0.98	6	23	91	3.96	1	6.5
4	Attendance of Meetings	155	755	4.87	0.49	3	67	297	4.43	0.9	3	59	295	5	0	1.5	23	113	4.91	0.41	1
5	Participation of Members in DecisionMaking	155	727	4.69	0.72	4.5	67	249	3.72	0.96	7	59	197	3.34	0.75	9	23	91	3.96	1	6.5
Organisational Systems (Score- 15)
6	Rules and Regulation Exist and Implimented	155	760	4.9	0.69	1	67	245	3.66	2.22	8	59	215	3.64	2.22	7	23	105	4.57	1.41	3
7	Periodic Election of Leaders	155	422	2.72	2.26	9	67	290	4.33	1.29	5	59	187	3.17	1.46	10	23	55	2.39	1.76	12
8	Book Keeping and Documentation Cash book/Ledger/Minutes Book/Pass Book	155	761	4.91	0.42	2	67	325	4.85	0.53	1	59	279	4.73	0.68	3	23	109	4.74	0.67	2
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & PERFORMANCE (SCORE-20)
9	Rotation of fund	155	398	2.57	1.12	11	67	148	2.21	0.72	12	59	118	2	0	12	23	61	2.65	1.13	9
10	Loan Disbursement to Members	155	314	2.03	0.98	12	67	158	2.36	0.57	11	59	141	2.39	0.49	11	23	57	2.48	0.71	11
11	Loan Repayment by Members	155	608	3.92	1.79	6	67	263	3.93	1.53	6	59	263	4.46	0.89	5	23	104	4.52	1.17	4
12	Track Record with Lenders	155	585	3.77	1.62	7	67	305	4.55	1.19	2	59	295	5	0	1.5	23	99	4.3	1.4	5
Total Score		44.92					44.84					46.03					44.47
Grade		B					B					B					B

Following is the ANOVA table

Table 1.2 : Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Source of variation	Sum of Square	Degree of freedom	Mean Square	F	Result (At 5% Level of Significance)
Performance Factors	32.82	11	2.98	10.64	F_tab(11,33)=2.09
SHG Age groups	0.11	3	0.04	0.14	F_tab(3,33)=2.89
Error	9.08	33	0.28	-	-
Total	42.01	47	-	-	-

Since calculated F- value (10.64) of performance factors is greater than tabulated value (2.09) at 5% level of significance. Therefore null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, there is significant difference in the performance scores of the Performance factors which are considered for measuring performance of the SHGs. But calculated F-value (0.14) of

SHG Age groups is less than the tabulated value (2.89) at 5% level of significance. Therefore null hypothesis for this is accepted. This implies that there is no significant difference on the performance score of the different SHGs classified on the basis of Age of their formation.

Size of the group and level of performance

Size of the group i.e. number of members in a group was divided into two categories i.e. less than 12 members and 12-15 members. As per NABARD standard the ideal group size may vary from 10-15 and maximum number specified by it is 20. It is an assumption that performance of group depend on the quantum of membership though at the same time it is also believed that larger the group larger will be the differences and harder will be to come to a decision. So by formulating two null Hypotheses an attempt has been made to measure the influence of size of the group over its performance. A Two Way ANOVA has been used to test these hypotheses.

H_o1: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different Performance factors, when groups are classified on the basis of group size.

H₀₂: There is no significant difference in the performance score of different SHG groups classified on the basis of group size.

Table 1.3
Score and Rank of Indicators Measuring the Performance of SHGs classified on the basis of size of the groups

Size of the groups (No. of members in the group)		<12					12-15
Sl. No.	Factors	N	Sum	Mean	Std	Rank	N	Sum	Mean	Std	Rank
GROUP CONSTITUTION(SCORE 10)
1	Economic Purpose	207	349	1.69	1.91	12	97	164	1.69	1.91	12
2	Homogenity	207	961	4.65	0.81	3	97	414	4.27	0.92	7
ORGANISATIONAL DISCIPLINE (SCORE 30)
3	Regularity of Meetings	207	863	4.17	0.99	6	97	445	4.59	0.81	3
4	Attendance of Meetings	207	1001	4.84	0.55	1	97	453	4.67	0.74	2
5	Participation of Members in DecisionMaking	207	813	3.93	1	8	97	415	4.28	0.96	6
	Organisational Systems (Score-15)
6	Rules and Regulation Exist and Implimented	207	865	4.18	1.85	5	97	435	4.48	1.52	4
7	Periodic Election of Leaders	207	683	3.3	1.85	9	97	285	2.94	2.14	9
8	Book Keeping and Documentation Cash book/Ledger/Minutes Book/Pass Book	207	993	4.8	0.6	2	97	471	4.86	0.52	1
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & PERFORMANCE (SCORE-20)
9	Rotation of fund	207	495	2.39	0.94	10	97	237	2.44	1.03	10
10	Loan Disbursement to Members	207	478	2.31	0.73	11	97	211	2.18	0.8	11
11	Loan Repayment by Members	207	848	4.1	1.48	7	97	418	4.31	1.36	5
12	Track Record with Lenders	207	926	4.47	1.23	4	97	376	3.88	1.66	8
Total Score (60)		44.83					44.59
Grade		B					B

Following is the ANOVA table

Table1.4: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Source of variation	Sum of Square	Degree of freedom	Mean Square	F	Result
Performance Factors	25.22	11	2.29	9.55	F _{tab(11, 11)}=2.82
SHGs (Classified on the basis of size of the groups)	0.002	1	0.00	0.002	F _{tab(1, 11)}=242.89
Error	0.55	11	0.05	-	-
Total	43.16	23	1.88	-	-

Source : Author’s Calculations

Since calculated F- value (9.55) of performance factors is significantly greater than tabulated value (2.82) at 5% level of significance. Therefore null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, there is significant difference in the performance scores of the performance factors which are considered for measuring performance of the SHGs (classified on the basis of size of the groups). While calculated F-value (0.002) of SHGs (classified on the basis of size of the groups) is significantly less than the tabulated value (242.89) at 5% level of significance. Therefore, null hypothesis is accepted. This implies that there is no significant difference in the performance score of the different SHGs classified on the basis of group sizes.

Findings and Conclusion

From the above analysis it may be concluded that though individually, performance factors are affected by the tenure of existence of the group but no influence has been found on the total performance of the group on the basis of their age. It was found that as most of the groups become dysfunctional before attaining maturity i.e. before venturing into a livelihood activity, therefore, a short tenure of existence does not leave any impact over the overall performance of the group. Similarly the size of the group does not influence the performance of SHG. Though, the group size was found ideal in the sample area i.e. no group was found consisting more than 15 members, but this size has not affected the overall performance of SHG. It may be interpreted further that there are other factors which have a great impact on the performance of a SHG such as financial literacy of the leader, organization and management of the group fund, capacity building training, counselling and guidance by the NGOs and involvement of the banking personnel. To make this community organization scheme a great success necessary steps should be taken to implement it considering the role of various performance factors so that it can prove as a catalyst for women emancipation and poverty alleviation.

References

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