Challenges Faced

♤ Wide regional disparity both in terms of the spread of SHGs linked to banks and cumulative bank loans disbursed under the programme. While the Southern Region accounted for 48.2 per cent of the total SHGs, the share of North- Eastern Region was just 3.4 per cent. In terms of share in the total bank loans to SHGs, the region- wise differential gets further magnified.

♤ Even wider intra-regional disparity among the constituent States in SHG spread. In the Southern Region, SHGs per lakh population varied between 891 in Andhra Pradesh and 435 in Kerala. In the North-Eastern region, Assam accounted for 3.1 per cent of the total SHGs while the rest of the six States in the region had a negligible share in the total SHGs.

♤ There does not appear to be a one-to-one correspondence between banking outreach and spread of SHG movement. Even with similar banking network, SHG spread varies between Regions and States indicating that other local factors are equally important.

♤ The studies point to the coverage of the upper strata of the poor and not so much to the ultra-poor. Except the government-sponsored programmes that are mandated to focus on poor, the other efforts do not prioritise the poorest.