Introduction

The history of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) movement has initiated by Bangladesh Grameen Bank founded by Prof. Mohammed Yunus and in India the SHG movement has been initiated by NABARD in 1986-87.

Self Help Groups formation is one of such efforts which enable the poor to participate in the process of development. Economic and social marginalization of poor by formal credit agencies including co-operatives led to the emergence of self help groups (SHGs). SHGs are an outcome of the neo-liberal paradigm of development, where the poor take charge of their lives and fashion new improved future through self-reliant and socially sustainable efforts. Therefore, the Government of India has implemented various schemes to reduce poverty and to promote gainful employment and that showed the way to SHGs (Self Help Groups) movement for empowering poor women flock and thereby removing poverty from India. Fundamentally the SHGs is a small economically homogeneous group of the rural poor women flock coming together to save small amount money regularly, which are deposited in a common fund to meet the emergency needs of members and to provide collateral free loans decided by the group. (Abhaskumar Jha, 2000).

Gender equality and empowerment of women is accepted universally as an important aspect of development. Women play a fundamental role in the development of a society and it has proved by the history that no development is possible without the participation of women in this world. It has been acknowledged in enumerable studies that the social and the economic empowerment of women have a significant positive impact on the economic development.

In India even though women enjoy equal constitutional and legal status with men, they are still suffering to sustain in the social and economic vitality. The negative impact of poverty and education is identified as the major obstacle which has contributed to the dispossessed condition of women. Women in India are highly unorganized and facing restricted opportunities to take part in many of the social and economic activities. The low level of skill, lower wages, starvation, poor literacy, and revelation of domestic violence are some of the barriers faced by the Indian women.

In fact the status of women throughout the world, predominantly in South Asian developing countries like India does not reflect this description.

Empowerment of women through SHGs would lead to benefits not only to the individual woman and women groups but also to the family and community as a whole through collective action in the process of development. The present study paper was undertaken to study the socio-economic characters of SHG members and to evaluate the social impact of membership of SHGs on the empowerment of group members.

Participation, which can be seen and gained in a variety of ways, has been argued to be the most beneficial form of gender empowerment. Political participation, be it the ability to vote and voice opinions, or the ability to run for office with a fair chance of being elected, plays a huge role in the empowerment of peoples.

Women SHGs represent a form of intervention that is a radical departure from most current programmes. They are an effective strategy for poverty alleviation, women development and social empowerment.

The women SHGs have enhanced the status of women as participant decision makers and beneficiaries on the democratic, economic, social and cultural spheres of life and sensitized the women members to take active part in socio-economic progress of rural India.

An old adage says, “A woman is the child of her father, her husband and her son.”

The constitution treats women as minors, incapable of making decisions…Within the law, households [that do not have a “permanent” male in them] do not exist, which makes women even more vulnerable.

The goal of this paper is to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women. The paper shall encourage active participation of all stakeholders for achieving its goals. Specifically, the objectives of this study include

· Creating an environment through positive economic and social activities for full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential

· Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic life of the nation

· Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly women’s organizations.

· Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security and public office etc.

· Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.

· Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and involvement of both men and women.

· Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

· The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres – political, economic, social, cultural and civil.

· Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child;

“The women SHGs are novel organizations at the grass root level to bring a socio-economic transformation to women of India.”

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) has become in recent years a fulcrum for development initiatives. "Empowerment with Women" is the central issue that has been pervading the development debate the 80s. Improving their status and empowering them would go a long way in accomplishing egalitarian gender relation in society. It is believed that micro finance enables the women to save, to improve their confidence has become an alternative source of credit for the poor and women are earlier were considered as non-bankable.

An essential first step in field research into our impact on women’s empowerment is to guide participants toward their own definition of an empowered woman. What elements form this crucial core?

An empowered woman has:

· Notions of self-worth and dignity (individual).

· Bodily integrity; freedom from coercive forces over a woman’s very body (individual and structure).

· Control and influence over household and public resources (structure and relations).

· Experience with or appreciation of the value of collective effort and solidarity among women (relations).

The overall objective of the study is to assess the impact of SHG. The others are to evaluate the impact of bank linkage on women promoted SHGs and to review the socio-economic impact of the members of the women promoted SHGs.

(1) To learn about the awareness among the women of SHGs,

(2) To understand the socio-economic profile of the respondents with respect to women’s shift from given economic status to an acquired economic status under the assistance of the SHG,

(3) To assess the extent of capacity building/training needs of women’s SHGs and assess the leadership qualities of the members to undertake higher income generating activities,

(4) To evaluate the changes in savings and borrowings pattern among the SHG members due to their association with SHGs,

(5) To estimate the impact of SHGs on poverty reduction, consumption pattern, income and employment generation among the sample respondents,

(6) To suggest steps, measures and changes required for making the SHG programme more viable and sustainable.

Process of Empowerment

o The process which enables an individual or groups to fully access personal or collective power, authority and influence, and to employ that strength when engaging with other people, society or institutions. We define empowerment as letting this power out (Blanchard, K)."

o It encourages people to gain the skills and knowledge that will allow them to overcome obstacles in life or work environment and ultimately, help them develop within themselves or in the society.

o To empower a female "...sounds as though we are dismissing or ignoring males, but the truth is, both genders desperately need to be equally empowered." (Dr. Asa Don Brown)

o “Empowerment is simply the effective use of a manager’s authority”, and subsequently, it is a productive way to maximize all-around work efficiency.

o Empowerment is then the process of obtaining these basic opportunities for marginalized people, either directly by those people, or through the help of non-marginalized others who share their own access to these opportunities. Empowerment also includes encouraging, and developing the skills for, self-sufficiency, with a focus on eliminating the future need for charity or welfare in the individuals of the group. This process can be difficult to start and to implement effectively, but there are many examples of empowerment projects which have succeeded.

o In economic development, the empowerment approach focuses on mobilizing self-help efforts of the poor, rather than providing them with social welfare. Economic empowerment is also the empowering of previously disadvantaged sections of the population, for example, in many previously colonized African countries.

o Sociological empowerment often addresses members of groups that social discrimination processes have excluded from decision-making processes through for example - discrimination based on disability, race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. Empowerment as a methodology is often associated with feminism: see consciousness-raising.

o Another way to provide women empowerment is to allocate responsibilities to them that normally belong to men. When women have economic empowerment, it is a way for others to see them as equal members of society. Through this, they achieve more self-respect and confidence by their contributions to their communities. Simply including women as a part of a community can have sweeping positive effects.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

The growing problem of poverty, Illiteracy and unemployment in our country has promoted the economic planners to come up with various programmes to curb poverty.

The study is mainly based on the information supplied by the respondent through questionnaires by direct interview method, rather than by direct observation – i.e. the researcher had not physically seen how manners of the groups had been benefited by joining the SHGs.

Women Empowerment and Self Help Groups Literature:

Since the present study focusing on the importance of SHG’s in women empowerment specifically economic and social empowerment and there by poverty eradication, it is inevitable to review the past literature regarding the same and few of the reviewed literatures quoted below.

S. Harpal Singh, SHG: a tool of women's empowerment. “Taking centre stage: The sheer numbers of women involved in thrift groups make them a powerful segment in Adilabad district”. Thrift group members are playing an increasing role in the political arena The SHG movement has come a long way since its inception in 1990s.Even illiterate tribal women emerged as community leaders of national repute.

Dwarakanath 2002, SHGs are forum for the collective voice of the poor against common oppression and exploitation to understand individual and common problems and improving their skills and capacities to manage resources.

Argawal, Bina. 2010. “Gender and Green Governance: The Political Economy of Women’s Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry.” New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Participation, which can be seen and gained in a variety of ways, has been argued to be the most beneficial form of gender empowerment. Political participation, be it the ability to vote and voice opinions, or the ability to run for office with a fair chance of being elected, plays a huge role in the empowerment of peoples.

Mahendra Varman 2005, found that banking habits were a positive function of the years of experience of micro finance programmes through the SHGs. The leadership experience in the SHGs greatly influences the bank account holding.

Ganesh Murthy et al 2002, ‘SHG is a voluntary association of the poor with a common goal of social and economic empowerment’.

Ritu Jain, 2003, The SHGs is an effective medium for inculcating saving habit among poor women flock. The SHGs improve the equality of the status of women as participants and also empower their economic, social and cultural orientation in the society.

Villi (2003) revealed that better utilization of available funds, capacity building, right attitude and proper planning of micro-enterprises are absolutely essential. In order to achieve that it is necessary to create a conducive environment while a poor man can start a enterprise at the micro-level on the sustainable basis majority of project especially self employment projects which are not successful due to lack of proper planning.

Abhaskumar Jha, 2000, Self Help Groups formation is one of such efforts which enable the poor to participate in the process of development. Economic and social marginalization of poor by formal credit agencies including co-operatives led to the emergence of self help groups (SHGs). Fundamentally the SHGs is a small economically homogeneous group of the rural poor women flock coming together to save small amount money regularly, which are deposited in a common fund to meet the emergency needs of members and to provide collateral free loans decided by the group.

Shyam Sundar and Gaurav Bansal, (2002), stated that strategies for empowering women must go beyond economic structuring, as rural women lack self-assurance and motivation and argues that information and awareness ensure avoiding exploitation, and in this sense information and awareness enable members to gain empowerment.

Rao, 2002, SHGs have been recognized as a useful tool to help the poor and as an alternative mechanism to meet the urgent credit needs through thrift.

Rajamohan, S., 2003, the female unemployment rate is 8.5 per cent. The rate of growth of women unemployment in the rural area is 9.8 per cent.

Perumal, V.M.S., 2005, At the end of the 9th five year plan the rate of growth of employment was only at 2.47 per cent.

Fernandez (2001) has argued that the potential benefit of credit to the SHGs as an empowering tool declines if the strategy of credit management, process of savings, lending and repayment are not developed and controlled by the group. It is not credit per se, but the management of credit and the quality of governance of the institutions set up by the people to manage credit that empowers. Another issue addressed is whether all the members of the SHGs are empowered or only a few. It assures some impact of groups on village life and on gender relations within families. It has been further documented that the structural constraints in the institutional set up are highly responsible for poverty.

Jeyaraman, R. et al., 2000, In the rural area 27.1 per cent of the population was living under poverty. The overall unemployment rate was estimated at 7.32 per cent.

Abhas kumar Jha, 2000, In India, at the end of the 9th five year plan 26.1 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line.

According to Bandopadhyaya et al (2002), the effectiveness of SHGs would be enhanced if a symbiosis could be worked out between them and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

Rani (1999) evaluated the performance of the SHGs in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh and observed that the SHGs have become one of the largest and highly accepted means of effective delivery mechanism in the world. It is one of important factors determining empowerment and promotes collective action that paves the way for transparency and accountability. She has further argued that provision of skill, financial services and products delivered to the poor through the SHGs, have contributed to rural development. Murugan and Dharmalingam 2000, Empowerment is a process of awareness capacity building, leading from a greater participation to a greater decision making power. The process of empowerment strengthens their innate ability through acquiring knowledge, power and experience.

Malik and Srilatha Vani (2006) mentioned that the SHGs micro enterprises fulfill four objectives namely poverty reduction, employment generation, enterprise development and empowerment of women. SHGs Micro-enterprises contribute to an increased diversification of household economic activities, increased relevance on productive activities, and improved economic security. Micro enterprises had significant relevance in the empowerment of women.

Narayana Reddy et al, 2005, Women empowerment is an important tool for social development and this can be achieved when the society recognizes women as one among the social partners, provided them equal rights, facilitated them with equal education, health and out of these allow them to participate equally and effectively.

Suganya. M (2006) “Self-Help Groups and Women Empowerment: A Case Study of Multiple Social Service in Sivagangai” in her study concluded that considering the vast number of poor, discriminated and underprivileged women and the need of financial services. In order to achieve the objective of poverty eradication, to credit for starting small economic activities based on local resources. WESHGs have been instrumental in promoting women entrepreneurship.

Lalitha, N. 2000, has stated that poverty alleviation forms the integral part of the rural development strategies in India. Micro credit is considered as a push factor that enables the poor come out of poverty. His study shows that there exists no symbiotic relationship between the SHGs and the micro enterprise development. However, there are evidences to show that the flow of the micro-credit did trigger the growth impulses among the small entrepreneurs. In short, the SHGs have served the cause of women empowerment, social solidarity and socio economic betterment of the poor in their own setting.

SriRam. M.S, 2005 “Microfinance and the State exploring areas and structures of collaboration” in his study on found that since the early 1990s, there have been many significant state initiatives in the institutional and policy spheres to facilitate access to financial services by more poverty-stricken groups to help the state leverage the resources available for the poor, effectively and in a sustainable manner.

Rajashekhar D (2001)conducted a study on “Micro Finance programmes and women’s empowerment: A study of two NGOs from Kerala” and found that microfinance programmes are important institutional devices for providing small credit to the rural poor in order to alleviate poverty. There is potential to minimize the problem of inadequate access to banking services to the poor.

Anand Singh Kabalana et al (2011), “Micro Finance through Self Help Group in India: An analytical study” the study revealed that Self Help Group plays a significant role in poverty alternation. The self help groups are not only a poverty reduction programme but it also develops the entrepreneurship skill and increase co-operation among poor people SHGs members.

Jayasheela, Shri Prasad H , Dinesha P T,Ed: 2009 Microfinance in India A Tool for Women Empowerment, Microfinance through self Help Groups (SHGs) has become in recent years a fulcrum for development initiatives. "Empowerment with Women" is the central issue that has been pervading the development debate the 80s. The book gives good account of meaning of women empowerment, theories of women empowerment, theories of women empowerment, theories of women development etc. It also explains meaning and working of microfinance and self help groups and explains how microfinance leads to women empowerment.

Mithun Dey, Need for Women’s Empowerment in India

THE HYPOTHESES:

The Hypothesis that will be tested are would be formulated by considering the objectives and the review of relevant literatures pertaining to this study.

(1) There is no significant relationship between caste and education.

(2) There is no significant relationship between savings and bank balance.

(3) There is no significant relationship between decision making and spending of family.

(4) There is significant relationship between age and education for the respondents.

(5) There is significant relationship between type of family and decision making.

Yes, definitely this research paper is to evaluate the economic influence of SHGs on economic and social empowerment of poor women folk in and also to identify major factors for socio- economic and political empowerment.

Poverty eradication and women empowerment are the widely discussed topic all over the world. It has been acknowledged in enumerable studies that the social and economic empowerment of women have a significant positive impact on the poverty eradication and economic development of the country. Therefore the government of India has implemented various schemes to reduce poverty, for empowering poor women and to promote gainful employment. In fact this showed the way to SHGs (Self Help Groups) movement in India.

Key Words: Women empowerment, Poverty, Self Help Groups,

Hypothesis that were tested

(1) There is no significant relationship between caste and education.

(2) There is no significant relationship between present savings and present bank balance.

(3) There is no significant relationship between decision making and who is spending in the family.

(4) There is significant relationship between age and education for the respondents.

Statistical Tools used:

The following statistical tools have been used in the present study: Percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation, Chi-square test.

PLAN OF STUDY:

At the planning stage, specific objectives have been set to provide the basis for the enquiry. In the light of the objectives, the scope of the paper has been delineated and techniques of investigation to be adopted and tools to be used have been decided.

The study paper is based on both primary and secondary data. Secondary data was collected from extensive review of literature, relevant articles, reports, Newspapers, publications of the RBI, SUDA, DUDA, District statistic Department records, research reports, case studies from various departments and NGOs and the internet.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

The study paper is based on the information provided by the SHGs in urban areas, the results may vary from that of other wards. The report shall be prepared on the basis of data collected from the field and published secondary data. There are certain bottlenecks. The SHG have evolved as an effective and successful model to extend credit to poor. In addition to SHG financing through banks, there are MFIs in India - not for profits MFIs and for profit MFIs.

The present paper is undertaken to study the socio-economic characters of SHG members and to evaluate the social impact of membership of SHGs on the empowerment of group members.

CONCLUSION:

Scholars do believe that in ancient period in India, women enjoyed equal status with men in all aspects of life. Nineteenth and twenty century witnessed reform movement for women, with various issues like sati practice, violence, child marriage, and employment being addressed. Traditions such as sati, jauhar, and devadasi among some communities have been banned and are largely defunct in modern India. The purdah tradition is yet practiced by Indian women in some communities, and child marriage is still prevalent despite it being illegal under current Indian law.

The Constitution of India guarantees equality to all Indian women (Article 14), no discrimination by the State (Article 15(1), equality of opportunity (Article 16), and equal pay for equal work (Article 39(d). In addition, it allows special provisions to be made by the State in favour of women and children (Article 15(3), renounces practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article 51(A) (e), and also allows for provisions to be made by the State for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. (Article 42).

Women in India now participate fully in areas such as education, sports, politics, media, art and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc. One of the most famous female business success stories is the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. In 1990s, grants from foreign donor agencies enabled the formation of new women-oriented NGOs. Self-help groups and NGOs such as Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) have played a major role in the advancement of women's rights in India.

According to a 1991 World Bank report, women accounted for 94% of total employment in dairy production in India. Women constitute 51% of the total employed in forest-based small-scale enterprises. Women are an important part in the development, from local to global levels.

To empower a female "...sounds as though we are dismissing or ignoring males, but the truth is, both genders desperately need to be equally empowered."

Empowerment is a process of awareness capacity building, leading from a greater participation to a greater decision making power. The process of empowerment strengthens their innate ability through acquiring knowledge, power and experience.

The term empowerment covers a vast landscape of meanings, interpretations, definitions and disciplines ranging from psychology and philosophy to the highly commercialized self-help industry and motivational sciences.

Empowerment occurs through improvement of conditions, standards, events, and a global perspective of life.

One way to empowerment of women is through land rights. Land rights offer a key way to economically empower women, giving them the confidence they need to tackle gender inequalities. Often, women in developing nations are legally restricted from their land on the sole basis of gender.

Another way to provide women empowerment is to allocate responsibilities to them that normally belong to men. Through this, they achieve more self-respect and confidence by their contributions to their communities. Simply including women as a part of a community can have sweeping positive effects.

The roles a woman plays in various aspects of life are many.

With the introduction of the National Policy for Empowerment of Women, the Government of India had declared year 2001 as Women's Empowerment Year. It was said, "Our vision in the new century of a nation where women are equal partners with men". Many new projects were launched like Swashakti and Stree Shakti for women's empowerment; Swayam Sidha to benefit 100,000 women through micro-credit programs, Balika Samrudhi Yojana for the girl child and many more.

In 2010 March 9, one day after International Women's day, Rajya Sabha passed the Women's Reservation Bill requiring that 33% of seats in India's Parliament and state legislative bodies be reserved for women.

But are they being treated fairly and equally? Are they empowered enough by the society? Lets have a look…

If you think a lot has been done for woman empowerment, think again.

· Cases of female-infanticides are still on rise (both reported and un-reported).

· Certain section of the society does not send girls to schools once she attains puberty.

· Numbers of pre-age marriages are also significant.

· Dowry, harassment and deaths are still in news often. Harassment at work place, sexual or otherwise, though mainly unreported, is significant.

· The legislative strength of women is still less than 10%

· The crimes against women are on the rise.

· Widows are still looked down by many.

· The gender disparity is at all time high.

· Few, a significant ‘Few’, take women as sex object.

· Lewd comments. Indecent expressions….

The list is long. But such attitude and gender bias is eating away a talent pool.

The respect has been replaced with discrimination. In its first ever gender gap study covering 58 nations, the World Economic Forum has ranked India a lowly 53. The report titled 'The Women's Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap' measures the gap between women and men in five critical areas like economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, access to education and access to reproductive health care. The report is based on United Nations Development Fund for Women's findings on global patterns of inequality between men and women. The low ranking reflects the large disparity between men and women in all five areas of the index.

We claim ourselves the next super-power as compared to other nations; But tell me, how can we be acknowledged as a super-power or as a matter of fact, a developed nation, when there is such discrimination in the society? No.

A lot is still to be done, miles to go….

REFERENCES:

National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (2001).

Dr. Harshada Rathod, Women Empowerment through Mirco-finance, Mumbai - July 2012

Nussbaum, Martha C. 1995. “Introduction,” in Martha C. Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover, eds. Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, pp. 1–15. Oxford: Clarendon Press

"Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute" by Ken Blanchard, John P. Carlos, and Alan Randolph Blanchard, Kenneth H. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1996.

"Welcome to Micro Empowering!" Microempowering.org. Retrieved 2012-08-24.

Argawal, Bina. 2010. “Gender and Green Governance”.

The Political Economy of Women’s Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry.” New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Thomas, K. W. and Velthouse, B. A. (1990) "Cognitive Elements of Empowerment: An 'Interpretive' Model of Intrinsic Task Motivation". Academy of Management Review, Vol 15, No. 4, 666-681.

Stewart, Aileen Mitchell. Empowering People (Institute of Management). Pitman. London: Financial Times Management, 1994.

Wilkinson, A. 1998. Empowerment: theory and practice. Personnel Review. [online]. Vol. 27, No. 1, 40-56. Accessed February 16, 2004.

Jayasheela , Shri Prasad H , Dinesha P T, Ed: 2009 Microfinance in India A Tool for Women Empowerment.

S. Harpal Singh, SHG: a tool of women's empowerment.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Allevation, GOI, Source- Urban Poverty and Slums 2006.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2003.

International Journal of Business and Management Tomorrow Vol. 2 No. 2 ISSN: 2249-9962 February|2012 www.ijbmt.com Page | 3

Bibhudatta Pradhan (19 July 2007). "Patil Poised to Become India's First Female President". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 20 July 2007.

"Human Development Report; Sustainability and Equity". United Nations Development Programme. 2011. p. 139.

"The Global Gender Gap Report 2012". World Economic Forum. pp. 10-11.

India is fourth most dangerous place in the world for women, India Today

Afghanistan worst place in the world for women, but India in top five, The Guardian

Mishra, R. C. (2006). Towards Gender Equality. Authorspress.

Varttika by Katyayana, 125, 2477

Comments to Ashtadhyayi 3.3.21 and 4.1.14 by Patanjali

R. C. Majumdar and A. D. Pusalker (editors): The history and culture of the Indian people. Volume I, The Vedic age. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan 1951, p.394

"Vedic Women: Loving, Learned, Lucky!". Retrieved 24 December 2006.

Jyotsna Kamat (19 December 2006). "Gandhi and Status of Women". Retrieved 24 December 2006.

"Oxford University's famous south Asian graduates#Indira Gandhi". BBc News. 5 May2010.

Victoria A. Velkoff and Arjun Adlakha (October 1998). "Women of the World: Women's Health in India" (PDF). U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved 25 December 2006.

"National Policy For The Empowerment Of Women (2001)". Retrieved 24 December 2006.

"Women of India: Frequently Asked Questions". 19 December 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2006.

Singh, S., and Hoge, G. (2010). Debating Outcomes for ‘Working’ Women – Illustration from India, The Journal of Poverty, 14 (2), 197-215

India's Most Powerful Businesswomen. Forbes.com.

Advani, Abhishek (17 November 2009). "JP Morgan's India CEO". Forbes. Retrieved 23 January 2012.

Reuters, Thomas (2011-08-13). "The World's 5 Most Dangerous Countries For Women: Thomson Reuters Foundation Survey". Retrieved June2011.

Kitchen fires Kill Indian Brides with Inadequate Dowry, 23 July 1997, New Delhi, UPI

Gender and Sexuality, by Jyoti Puri. Published by Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0-415-92128-7. Page 87.

Received on 09.08.2014 Modified on 22.08.2014

Int. J. Rev. & Res. Social Sci. 2(3): July- Sept. 2014; Page 166-172