EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL WOMEN EMPLOYEES IN MICROFINANCE AT RANGA REDDY DISTRICT

Abstract Rural development is a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of specific group of people, the rural poor’s. It involves the extension of benefits of development to the poorest among those who seek a livelihood in rural areas, such as small farmers, tenants and landless. The Government of India (GoI) gave considerable importance to rural reconstruction and formulated a number of strategies for rural development. Rural development implies both the economic betterment of people as well as greater social transformation. Over the years, rural development has emerged as a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people-the rural poor. Micro-Finance programmes has a significant role to play in Indian economy for boosting micro entrepreneurial activities for creating productive assets coupled with employment generation. Microfinance can be broadly defined as the provision of small scale financial services such as saving, credit and other basic financial services to poor and low- income people .The term " Microfinance Institution" now refers to a wide range of organizations dedicated to providing these services and includes on-governmental organizations, credit unions, cooperatives, private commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions and parts of State Owned banks, '"various the micro finance is a very young anal growing business vertical in the financial sector and also is an important tool for poverty control. The state governments in guidance from NABARD, SIDBI, on NGCTs are forging links with commercial banks for making credit facility to the groups. Under various rural development programmes including DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas), the impact of support given to SHG's has been quite visible. Self-help group (SHGs) is defined as a voluntary group valuing personal interactions and mutual aid as a means of altering or ameliorating t6+he problems members according to the group member’s priorities. The rate of interest charged by the SHG from its members is 2-3 percent per month