QUESTION 17
GS2
15 marks
“Micro-Finance as an anti-poverty vaccine, is aimed at asset creation and income security of the rural poor in India”. Evaluate the role of the Self Help Groups in achieving the twin objectives along with empowering women in rural India.
WRITE IN
11 min
250 words
What the examiner wants
Evaluate how far SHGs have created assets, given income security and empowered rural women.
EvaluateWeigh what works and what does not, and say how far it succeeds.
Demand-wise check
- 1Asset creation: credit for livestock, small enterprises, housing improvements≈50 words
- 2Income security: savings, lower informal debt≈50 words
- 3Empowerment: decision-making, mobility, political participation≈50 words
- 4Limits: small loans, low productivity enterprises, debt cycles, regional imbalance (southern states dominate)≈50 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
ConceptEach objective with evidenceEmpowermentLimitsVerdict
Where marks usually go
- Only describing SHGs
- No regional or data evidence
Draw this
- Scorecard: asset, income, empowerment
Value addition
- DataSHG–Bank Linkage: about 1.4 crore SHGs with savings linked, outstanding credit over ₹2 lakh crore (2023–24).NABARD Status of Microfinance 2023–24
- DataSouthern states account for a large share of SHG loan outstanding.NABARD
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 11 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 44 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 15 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 38 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 11 minutes, then get it checked.