Sustainability of Women Micro Entrepreneurship under SHG-Bank Linkage Programme: A Case Study in West Bengal

Abstract

The Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDP) for skill development was launched in March 2006 by NABARD with the basic objective to enhance the capacities of the members of matured SHGs to take up micro enterprises through appropriate skill up gradation/ development in existing or new livelihood activities both in farm and non-farm sectors by way of enriching knowledge of participants on enterprise management, business dynamics and rural market programmes. The micro enterprise sector is important for women as it offers significant job and income earning opportunities but they have not fully enjoyed benefits from public policies and programs. An attempt has been made in the present study, to identify the determinants of sustainability of women-led micro enterprises in West Bengal as well as to measure and compare the sustainability index with male owned enterprises. The study is based on the data obtained from field survey (primary source) conducted in different districts of West Bengal. In order to find out the factors responsible for high ustainability of enterprises and to construct a Composite Sustainability Index, statistical technique such as the Principal Component Analysis has been used and finally binary logistic regression method has been employed to identify the eterminants of micro enterprises. The study observes that male owned enterprise is the more sustainable category than that of female owned enterprises and it is the ideal type of enterprise and entrepreneurs possess all of the desirable characteristics of sustainability of entrepreneurship.