Civil Services Prep

Women’s social capital complements in advancing empowerment and gender equity. Explain.

Model answer

Women’s social capital means networks of trust, mutual help and collective action through self-help groups, cooperatives, unions and neighbourhood groups. It complements education, income and legal rights by helping women challenge unequal power collectively. Its scale is visible under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), which had organised 10.05 crore women into 90.86 lakh self-help groups by June 2024. **Income and financial independence:** Group savings, joint guarantees and bank links improve access to credit, markets and enterprises. Kudumbashree and the **Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)** increase women’s bargaining power. **Information and skills:** Meetings spread knowledge of health, legal rights, schemes, digital payments and jobs. Banking Correspondent Sakhis extend financial services to other women. **Voice in family decisions:** Income and peer support help women negotiate spending, healthcare and mobility. The **National Family Health Survey-5** recorded **71% participation in three household decisions in 2019-21**.

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