Rural women empowerment - issues and challenges through micro finance

Poverty reduction is an overarching development goal for Tamil Nadu. Providing rural poor with financial services is considered to be one of the key inputs to achieve this goal of poverty reduction. But looking at the diverse topography, lack of access to financial services has been one of the major obstacles to accelerate the socio-economic, disadvantaged community people living in remote and inaccessible areas of Tamil Nadu. The low level of family incomes have limited the poor families to self finance on farm and off-farm income earning activities. Adequate access to financial services has therefore been considered essential to promote the growth and contribute to reduce the widespread poverty. Over the last four decades there has been several efforts made in the financial sectors in addressing the needs of financial services to support poor and ultra poor for creating self employment opportunities. Accordingly, there has been continued emphasis to expand the financial services to rural and poor through several targeted programmes related to microfinance services. Microfinance service providing organizations mainly target exclusively low income level people especially women living in hard economic conditions. These institutions have been playing significant roles to reduce social and economic poverty in rural and urban areas. Lack of schooling also means that women live in ignorance of their legal rights, including rights over their children and property, and their rights within marriage, and this in turn can lead to neglect, abuse, and too often domestic violence. It should be noted also that very few women in the region are in positions of authority in government, business or the professions, and hence there are few women role models.