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Promotion of trading/manufacturing/processing small scale industry by women need to be encouraged by ensuring a reasonable share of credit and other inputs. Self-employment generates economic activity and can be viewed as providing unlimited opportunities for participation by males and females so that participation by one does not result in deprivation of opportunities to the other, except in the sense that total organized financial and other supporting services are limited. Various programmes have been undertaken by Government to promote self-employment through training and credit assistance. All efforts should, therefore, be directed towards enhancing self-employment for the large masses of women.
Over the above constraints, which operate generally on all self-employment ventures, the significant constraints deterring women from self-employment are as follows:
- Women’s illiteracy/low literacy.
- Attitude of women, men or society at large regarding women entrepreneurs.
- Inadequacy of facilities extended by credit institutions to business ventures organized by women.
- Partial or no access and control over productive resources.
One of the critical components of women’s advancement in the economic field is the availability of credit. In the present system, the women do not have access to easy credit even if the amount is very small. In spite of the Reserve Bank’s instructions that no security is required for loans up to Rs.5000/-, collateral security is being asked for, from women.
The Commission constituted by the Government of India in 1987, to make a comprehensive study of the working and living conditions of poor women in poverty. recommended that attempts should be made to identify industries in small scale sector which can help women to become self-employed, and industries based on labour intensive technology should be encouraged.
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Participants