Revolutionizing Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Bihar through Self-Help Groups

Abstract

Rural Bihar continues to grapple with persistent poverty, limited livelihood diversification, financial exclusion, and gendered barriers to economic participation. Within this context, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), particularly under the JEEViKA (Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society) umbrella and the national DAY-NRLM framework, have emerged as grassroots institutions capable of mobilising savings, channelling credit, and building the social and human capital of rural households. This paper examines the contribution of SHGs to sustainable rural livelihoods in Bihar, drawing on the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) to structure the analysis of financial, social, human, physical, and natural capital. Adopting a mixed-method, analytical research design, and the study synthesises primary field-level patterns with secondary data from NABARD, DAY-NRLM, JEEViKA reports, and the Census, alongside a review of national and Bihar-specific literature. The analysis considers economic outcomes such as income and savings growth, social outcomes including women's decision-making authority, livelihood diversification into dairy, poultry, handicrafts, and food processing, and environmental practices such as organic farming and water conservation. Findings indicate that SHGs meaningfully increase household income and savings, reduce dependence on informal moneylenders, strengthen women's participation in household and community decision-making, and improve resilience to economic and climatic shocks, while financial and digital literacy, market access, and enterprise scaling remain uneven constraints. The paper concludes with an integrated policy framework and a proposed SHG Livelihood Revolution Model linking government policy, capacity building, and multi-capital investment to inclusive rural development, offering directions for strengthening the SHG movement as a durable pillar of Bihar's rural economy.