Abstract :
The present study was conducted in Dapoli and Guhagar tahsils of Ratnagiri district (Konkan region) and Baramati and Indapur tahsils of Pune district (Western region) of Maharashtra. The sample constituted of 120 SHGs heads from 12 villages. The respondents were interviewed with the help of specially designed schedule. Maximum number of the respondents belonged to the ‘middle’ age group, had education ‘upto primary’ level, pre-scheme annual income of ‘Rs. 7,701 to 19,300/-’, had ‘12’ knowledge score, ‘favourable’ attitude towards SHG scheme, ‘medium’ social participation, ‘medium’ extension contact, ‘medium’ information seeking behaviour, received ‘no institutional training’ after participating in the SHGs and ‘medium’ market orientation. Activities undertaken by SHGs were vegetable cultivation (15.84 %), retail shops (8.34 %), dairy (7.50 %), fish selling and Papad making (6.67 % each). This was followed by goat rearing, preparation of Masala and tailoring (5.00 % each), preparation of diwali stuffs (4.17 %), mess (3.34 %) and preparation of syrup, preparation of Shevai and snacks center (2.50 % each). The other trades noticed were broom making, flour mill, paper bags making, pots making, vermi-compost making, Agarbatti making, dryfruits selling, preparation of aonla candy, preparation of decorative material and bag making (1.67 % each).
Keyword :
Activities, Self-help groups