AN ASSESSMENT OF BANK CREDIT LITERACY, ACCESSIBILITY AND SERVICE QUALITY AMONG WOMEN SELF HELP GROUPS

Rural women have long found entrepreneurial opportunities by way of associating with Self Help Groups. Although the numbers are quite meagre, women are increasingly being driven to take up small business activities for economic upliftment. The support of the State machinery by way of social welfare schemes has been crucial in this regard as right from the formation of the group to sanctioning of credit facilities from public sector banks. However, much of this is on papers and appears in various government reports. The activities undertaken by these women have been in sectors like traditional horticulture processing, dairy, handicraft etc. While they understand the core activity undertaken by them, their banking literacy and access to credit facilities required to run the business has been a cause of concern. This study through a survey conducted across 200 women SHG members across 4 districts in Uttarakhand aims to explore the three key areas-levels of bank credit literacy among SHG women i.e., how well they understand the basic modalities of a bank loan and more so about the loans taken by them, accessibility-how easier is it to avail bank credit at rural public sector bank branches and the quality of service-whether they are satisfied with the service of their financing bank. The study reveals that while NGOs have played a great role in linking rural women to banks and inculcating banking habits, financial literacy regarding credit facilities still remain a concern. In the SHG mode, most of the members are aware about the financing schemes launched by the Government through Bank, NGOs and government officials. However, they are still not confident of dealing independently with banks for credit facility. Majority of the members do not have information regarding defaults in loan payments, financial position of the group’s business and subsidy amount receivable in their loan accounts or even the repayment period of the loan. Service quality of banks have been judged as satisfactory by far perhaps due to the fact that most of the time they visit the banks with NGO representatives. This study brings out the target areas for better financial awareness among rural micro entrepreneurs so that they can manage businesses more effectively.