Abstract

Self help groups (SHGs) have emerged as popular method of working with people in recent years. This movement comes from the people’s desires to meet their needs and determine their own destines through the principle “by the people, for the people and of the people”. Ordinarily ‘self help’ refers to the provision to aid self, but here self is also taken internally. Self – help emphasizes self-reliance, self production and self-employment by mobilizing internal resource of the persons, the group or the community. Society is a patterned system of interaction among individuals and groups. The self-help groups, changes the pattern of social interaction. When such patterns change, substantial number of society members assumes new status and play new roles in the community. SHGs in social change imply not only the change of outer form of a community or a society but also in the social institutions as well as ideas of the people living in that society. In other words, it also applies to the changes in the material aspects of life as well as in the ideas, values and attitudes of the people.

Key word: Self help groups, social change and socio-economic development.