Self Help Groups is a programme that helps to promote financial transactions between the formal rural banking system in India comprising of public and private sector commercial banks,regional rural banks and cooperative banks with the informal Self Help Groups(SHG's) as clients.(SHG's are financial intermediairies owned by the poor).

PREPARTORY STEPS

• Identify the existence of Self Help Groups
• Undertake a survey of sample of such groups
• Draw up a plan of action for channelling the flow of savings and credits between the rural poor and bank's through Self Help Groups.
• Identify Concrete projects for action research in this field.

SHG TRAINING

 The processes of group formation and training critical stages for the stability of the group. Training includes teaching rules and regulations governing bank procedures and administrative requirments,maintenance of book of accounts ,rules for internal lending and repayment of loans,keeping the group fund intact( trust is essential in relations with bank and among group members!),knowing in detail the responsibilities of the chairman and the secretary of the group,the potential of own savings or learning to write one's signature. Group organisers do this job during 4 to 5 visits to a newly formed group (as against a 7 to 15 days training under bank staff in BGB).In few cases we found that individual members of groups have been send to training Institutes for training in financial management of groups. They were all very serious about the tasks given to them.Book keeping remains a particular problem area to be addressed by training.This role is usually given to a knowledgeable and trustworthy person in the village(mostly retired government employee or NGO staff).