How many women are needed to start a group?
Between ten and twenty women from the same village or neighbourhood. Smaller groups struggle to build a useful savings pool; larger ones become hard to run democratically.
Loading…
New SHG registrations are open for Palwal district — Women interested in joining a Self Help Group can apply online.Learn more
Loading…
Ten steps, one habit. This is the structure behind every group Saathi supports.
A Self Help Group is a simple structure with a strict discipline. This is the path every group we support follows.
Ten to twenty women from the same village come together, elect office bearers and agree on shared rules.
Every member saves a small fixed amount each week — the habit matters more than the amount.
The group meets on a fixed day to collect savings, review decisions and resolve issues together.
Savings ledgers, attendance registers, minutes books and loan records are kept up to date by the group itself.
Internal lending begins. Members learn repayment schedules, interest and accountability to each other.
Once savings and records are consistent, the group is graded and opens a formal account with a bank.
The bank extends credit to the group, giving members access to capital they could never get alone.
Loans fund dairy animals, sewing machines, shops, food processing units and farm inputs.
Disciplined repayment builds a credit history for the group and unlocks larger future loans.
Members earn independently, take household decisions and lead in their communities.
Between ten and twenty women from the same village or neighbourhood. Smaller groups struggle to build a useful savings pool; larger ones become hard to run democratically.
The group decides its own amount, and it is kept small enough that every member can manage it. What matters is not the amount but that everyone pays it regularly and on time.
Once the group has built a steady record of savings, disciplined meetings and complete registers. The group is then graded by the bank, which assesses it on its own merits.
The group is. Joint liability is what makes SHG lending work — and it is why groups take internal lending decisions seriously.
No. Saathi charges nothing for group formation, training, documentation or bank linkage support.
Aadhaar and a bank account are the usual requirements. Our document clinics help members who are missing either.
When a Self Help Group is assessed for credit, the branch reviews far more than the balance in the account. Attendance at meetings, the regularity of savings, the quality of the minutes book, the record of internal lending and repayment, and whether the office bearers can explain their own accounts all count towards the grading.
A group that saves a small amount without fail is viewed far more favourably than one that saves a large amount when it remembers.
This is why our field team audits registers regularly rather than occasionally. Correcting a book-keeping habit early is easy; correcting it during a credit appraisal is not.