UNIT 13 EMPOWERMENT

Structure
13.0 Objectives
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Basic Concepts of Empowerment
13.2.1 Why to Empower?
13.2.2 Various Dimensions of Empowerment
13.2.3 Types of Empowerment
13.2.4 Roles of Empowerment

13.3 Empowerment Strategies

13.3.1 Empowerment as a System
13.3.2 Empowerment Process
13.3.3 Approaches Towards Empowerment
13.3.4 Ideal Time for Empowerment
13.3.5 Indicators of Empowerment
13.3.6 Empowering Targeted Groups

13.4 Empowerment Initiatives in India

13.4.1 Self Help Groups (SHGs)
13.4.2 Microfinance

13.5 Challenges Ahead

13.5.1 Barriers Towards Empowerment
13.5.2 Disempowerment Process

13.6 Yardstick for Self-Empowerment

13.7 Let Us Sum Up
13.8 Glossary
13.9 Suggested Further Reading
13.10 References
13.11 Answers to Check Your Progress

13.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
 explain what is empowerment;
 describe the process of empowerment;
 understand the methods of empowerment; and
 outline the role of Self Help Groups towards empowerment.
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Human Resource Development
for Marketing 13.1 INTRODUCTION
Empowerment is the process of enhancing the capacity of individuals or a group
to make their own choices and encourage in such a way as to transform those
choices into defined actions and outcomes. You should understand that it is a
process, which involves exploring the human potential and enhancing human ability
for the benefit of both individual and society.
The perception of empowerment is varied across the country due to variation in
time, culture and people’s lifestyle. Do you think that both the developed and
developing countries are all having the same view about empowerment? It’s not.
The view of empowerment varies from one country to another based on the local
needs of people. In this way, it differs between India and USA, UK etc.
“Empowerment” literally means to equip your ability/ supply with opportunity
i.e., enabling and enhancing the ability which is existing with you but not
yet realized by you. Through empowerment process, you are gaining
knowledge, developing skills and attitude for adjusting with the changing
environment. In real world, change is a definite thing, which is unavoidable.
At this time, the need is to change yourself to the dynamic situations and
make you strong and energetic through the process of empowerment. More
than this by empowering yourself, you are shaping your talents and efforts
in a constructive way towards achieving your goal. Ultimately, you will get power
and authority in the society by building self-confidence and acquiring certain
capabilities.
The empowerment process is almost the same for all sectors, whether agriculture,
industry or services. In fish marketing empowerment occurs, provided with sufficient
opportunities, support from environment and ability to access information and
technical know how to feel yourself comfortable.

13.2 BASIC CONCEPTS OF EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment is a continuous process. Actually, there is no saturation point for
empowerment. The initial stimulation for empowerment should come from you.
Really, it is an intuitive state of action, which everyone has within knowingly or
unknowingly. It is an inherent trait that is present within you also. Now, you may
think why be empowered? You read further to get clear about the importance of
empowerment.
13.2.1 Why to Empower?
Each and every one have the ability to perform things in such a way to attain their
goals. Somebody may have inborn characters to take initiation and act based on
their own ideas. They are extraordinary persons. But, if some of them are not still
empowered doesn’t mean that they are reluctant to empower themselves. The
reasons may vary from person to person. Many persons are not in a position to
empower themselves. In this case, majority need external stimuli to convert their
dreams into reality. In the process of empowerment, you will be given a chance
to:
 understand the basics;

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 clarify your doubts; Empowerment

 broaden your vision;

 widen your thinking; and
 enhance your capacity.
Empowerment process has narrow and wider connotation. Through, empowering
yourself, in narrow sense, you are empowering yourself. And in wider sense, you
are empowering the community and become productive to the society. Through
community participation ultimately you are contributing to the national development.

13.2.2 Various Dimensions of Empowerment

Many times, there is a misnomer prevailing among majority of people, that earning
money is an empowerment. It may be true in the angle of economic empowerment.
But, the meaning of empowerment will be satisfied when you have the chance to
choose your own way of work, involvement in decision making etc.; in all, you
should have a freedom of choice. But, majority of them are satisfied when they
are able to earn money to satisfy their needs. In reality, it’s not a real empowerment.
Empowerment is a broader term which consists of various dimensions and focuses
from all aspects such as professional, financial, technical, technological, cultural,
social and political. The various dimensions are illustrated in Fig. 13.1.

Fig. 13.1: Various dimensions of Empowerment

Now, you may be clear that empowerment means not in one dimension of economic
means only, it encompasses various dimensions as well. This makes the process
more complicated. You know, there are various initiatives towards empowering
target groups. Women and youth of our country have not yet been fully empowered
even after 62 years of independence.

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Human Resource Development 13.2.3 Types of Empowerment
for Marketing
In general, empowerment is categorized into two types i.e., individual empowerment
and group empowerment. The details of two types are explained and presented
in Fig 13.2.

Types of
Empowerment

Individual/Personal Group/Community
Empowerment Empowerment

Fig. 13.2: Types of empowerment

Individual/personal empowerment
It is the process of enhancing the capabilities of individual towards desired
outcomes. Individual empowerment is best known as self-empowerment. The
empowered person has acquired the ability to build confidence, insight and better
understanding of real situation. It is the empowerment at micro level.

Group/community empowerment

It is the process of enhancing the capabilities of group towards desired outcomes.

After empowering, the groups will have the ability of trust building, co-operation
and communication. One important thing in the group is that there should be
provision for discussion and deliberation. It is the empowerment at macro level
as it concentrates mainly on a group as a whole. One such example is the Self
Help Groups and their activities.

Do you think that community empowerment is possible without individual

empowerment? The answer is no; because, community empowerment depends
on the individual who is the sole force behind the empowerment of community.
Individual should be empowered first. In practice, other than the above two
types, there are two more types gaining popularity, women empowerment and
youth empowerment. These are given more priority in view of empowering target
groups. These two types are discussed in the latter part of this chapter.

13.2.4 Roles of Empowerment

Empowerment has different roles based on the need of the people who are going
to be empowered. It has a role of catalyzing, enabling, priming, linking and
encouraging.

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Catalyzing role – Empowerment process guides the people with adequate Empowerment
information and essential resources, in this way it acts as a catalyzing role to the
empowerment.

Enabling role – In this role, empowerment helps you to gain knowledge on the
necessary things, which are necessary and enables you to identify your strength
and weakness.
Priming role – Your existing talent will be ignited through learning process and
prepare you to find solutions easily in different circumstances. This way, your
talent and knowledge will be useful to the society, thus making you a premier in
the society.
Linking role – Empowerment has a linking force between the like minded persons
for further interactions and development. This is an important role, as it builds
team building and group consciousness.
Involving role – As you grow further in the process of empowerment you will
be involved in a system. By this you accept responsibilities in doing your own
choice of work.
Encouraging role – Empowerment gives you an encouragement in life to do
something great. This encouraging role of the empowerment helps you to
achieve greater heights in life.
By now, you should know that empowerment is an excellent process, which
reshapes your personality as a whole in an effective, constructive way. Actually,
empowerment is a system, which comprises varied elements and their inter-
relationship.

? Check Your Progress 1

Note: a) Write your answers within the space provided.
b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
1) Define empowerment?
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2) Name the various dimensions of empowerment?
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3) Name the two types of empowerment?
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4) What are the different roles of empowerment?
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Human Resource Development
for Marketing 13.3 EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES
Getting empowered needs certain basic aspects. Let us now discuss as to what
are the strategies that lead to empower.

13.3.1 Empowerment as a System

A system (Fig.13.3) is the holistic concept consisting of elements and its inter-
relationship towards other elements for achieving the common goals or objectives.
It may be of open system or closed system. In this perspective, empowerment
is also a system which depends on the inter-relationship between personal interest,
surrounding environment and opportunity available in the society. It is true in case
of self-empowerment process. Empowerment depends on the dynamic relationship
between the physical, social and psychological aspect of the individual. Even
though, there are many opportunities in the society, these opportunities will not
come into reality without the support of environment and personal interest. The
environment should support the system.

Fig. 13.3: Empowerment as a system

Hence, empowerment doesn’t take place in a vacuum; there should be some

elements to support the system to exist. The three elements discussed above such
as personal interest, opportunity and environment should interact with other elements
for the better prospects.

13.3.2 Empowerment Process

Empowerment process is the state of action taken by an individual to empower
himself. In the process of empowerment, an individual will come across six
stages. They are;
 Pre-empowerment
 Awareness
 Connecting and Learning

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 Mobilization Empowerment

 Contribution

 Post-empowerment

In reality, the pre-empowerment and post-empowerment stage is just a preparatory

and ending stage in which no much change has taken place. So discussion is not
needed.

Awareness

In the awareness stage of empowerment process the action begins with a vision,
the aspiration drives the eagerness to gain knowledge. Thus in this stage, awareness
on the subject increases with more information.

Connecting and Learning

It is the second stage in the empowerment process; based on the awareness you
acquire and will be connected with other individuals and resources. Then, you can
learn new skills to expand your opportunities and choices. This stage gives different
forms of opportunities based on your need. An individual can increase their social
relationship, increase self esteem and decrease the feeling of isolation.

Mobilization

It is in the third stage you will take action for empowerment process, in which you
are going to bring into action and engage in new activities by yourself or through
utilizing the groups (Table.13.1). This stage is dominated by mobilizing resource.

Table 13.1: Empowerment Process and Individual Actions and Outcomes

Stage Individual Action and Outcomes

Pre-empowerment Highly dependent, powerless and socially isolate

Stage
I Awareness  Vision creation
 Provision of getting
new information
II Connecting and  Connected with resource
Learning  Skill development
 High esteem
 Expanding social network
III Mobilization  Encouragement
 Self expression
 Active participation
IV Contribution  Self satisfaction
 Self respect
 Self help

Post-empowerment Self dependent, powerful and team building ability

Stage

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Human Resource Development Contribution
for Marketing
This is the fourth stage of empowerment process, which gives you satisfaction and
self-respect in the society for your contribution to the society. But, the stage of
contribution is not the end of empowerment process in practice. It can be extended
based on the changes in the surroundings.
Now, you understand the concept and process of empowerment. But, the ways
and means to empowerment are discussed in the approaches towards
empowerment.

13.3.3 Approaches Towards Empowerment

Each individual is unique. They need particular type of approach to empower
themselves. What you may need to empower yourself may not be suitable to
another person? There are several approaches to empower you. Some of
them are:
i) Training/coaching/guidance - Training is the best approach to empower
individual or group. It may be formal and informal.
a) Formal training – It has been imparted in orderly manner through pre-
arranged and well defined courses under the guidance and supervision
of an expert. Formal training is also important to know basic information
about a particular topic.
b) Informal training – It is a type of training, in which you will learn while
actually doing under the guidance of senior persons. It is a training by
experience or learning. In this type, you can clear your doubts while
learning and doing. This is popularly called as ‘vocational training’.
After imparting the training, you can start practicing by starting your
own enterprise.
In the view of empowerment, Mahatma Gandhi stressed the concept of
vocational education i.e., ‘learning though activity’ in the school curriculum.
In Shanti Nikethan and other Gurukul type of educational institutions,
still you can see this type of learning.
ii) Seminars and workshops – It’s an opportunity to refine your ideas and get
your doubts clarified.
iii) Group work – The interaction and discussions within a group while working
together will give you new experience and new ideas.
iv) Mentoring – Mentoring is needed when you are far away from opportunities
because of the remoteness of the area. Mentor will guide towards the way
to reach your goals. Main role of mentor is to provide emotional support
while you are disappointed.
v) Successful role models – If you keep somebody as role model and try to
get more information related to that person and their way of life towards
achievement, will help to empower you.
vi) Participatory approach – Unlike a spectator, if you are a participator then
you will get satisfaction and enhance your potential. One such example for
this is Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) technique is to identify and find
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 solution to the problem with the involvement of concern persons like villagers, Empowerment
farmers, fishermen.
The approaches, which are listed above, are not exhaustive. It can be increased
or decreased based on the need of the person. You too can start attending
training based on your goals. In the fisheries sector, Central Institute of
Fisheries Technology (CIFT) is an ICAR institute, which is periodically
providing training on processing and production of value added fish products in
a large scale.

13.3.4 Ideal Time for Empowerment

There is no specific time or age to be empowered. It is a life long process. There
are two factors which influence empowerment; spatial and temporal factor such
as where you are residing? and when you are putting your effort towards
empowerment? The two factors are explained below.
Spatial factor: Place is the important determinant of the empowerment process.
The opportunity to empower yourself will depend on the place where you are
residing. There is usually a difference between a person in urban and rural area
to get exposure to empower yourselves. The access to information is high in
urban area than rural which contributes considerable importance in deciding the
level of empowerment.
Temporal factor: Even though age is not considered as an important tool for
empowerment, it has some impact if the empowerment process has been started
in the early stage. The level of enthusiasm and dynamic mind to access things very
easily are more for the youth who are searching for new avenues to do something
in different way. While elder people are not in a position to accept change as they
are very concerned about status quo. But, youth are very energetic and they are
ready to accept change.
Other than place and age, education also has important influence on the
empowerment. Through education you can easily analyze things properly,
getting background information, communication skills etc. However, there is
evidence of illiterate people who have empowered themselves and also society
in a long way.

13.3.5 Indicators of Empowerment

Empowerment is a qualitative term; as such it cannot be measured directly.
But, there are some possible indicators through which you can assess the
level of empowerment. These indicators are accepted in majority of places.
These are access to information, analytical skill, communication skill, co-
operation and confidence.
Access to information – This is the most important indicator of empowerment
as it is the base or starting point of empowerment. If you want to do any
work, you should know three things - what to do? how to do? when to do?
The clarification of these questions lies with the accessibility of information,
which takes you to the doorsteps of the empowerment.
Analytical skill – Once you are empowered, you need to have the analytical
skill that gives you the ability to analyze the things and start it timely in an
accurate manner that fetches you the maximum benefit from your activity.
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Human Resource Development Communication skill – Your interaction and discussion with others will bring you
for Marketing a significant change within you, through mutual transfer of knowledge through
empowerment.
Co-operation – This will increase the cooperation among the people within the
group. It is more important in the community to make people to be together.
Confidence –With empowerment, you will get a self-confidence that will
differentiate you with others. Now you will be able to do things with self-
confidence and proper understanding.

13.3.6 Empowering Targeted Groups

In most of the developing countries including India, empowerment is based
on targeting groups depending on their socio-economic development. In this
relation, greater focus is given towards women (who are considered most
vulnerable section in the society) and youth (who are more energetic and
enthusiastic) to utilize their services for the benefit of the society.
a) Women empowerment
Women empowerment is the process of enhancing the capacity of women to
participate in societal activities other than day-to-day household activities.
Empowerment of the nation is not fulfilled unless women are empowered. Women
play a vital role in the development of the family and country. In this connection,
there are initiatives taken by Government of India, to empower women
economically, socially and politically. (Fig.13.4)

Fig. 13.4: Pictorial representation on women empowerment

Gone are those days, when women were restricted to come out of home and their
involvement in public and social programme was limited. But now, lot of changes
have occured towards women empowerment who are performing in all the fields
including strategic and challenging ones equal to men.
One such success story of women empowerment is the Self Help Groups. Through
this, women are inculcated with some sort of confidence and independence. The
aspect and emphasis of female education is also an important step towards
empowerment. Now-a-days, Information Technology has emerged and has a
major role in starting enterprises, which is evident in most of the states. By utilizing
the money, they can start household business such as preparation of value added
products like fish pickle, dried fish etc.
Government has been giving support in the Gender perspective to enhance capacity
of women, as they are the weaker sections of the society and they are the
majority in below poverty line. The empowerment of women has been realized
as a central issue in determining the status of women.
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b) Youth empowerment Empowerment

Youth empowerment (Fig.13.5) is an attitudinal, structural and cultural process

whereby young people gain the ability, authority and agency to make decisions
and implement change in their own lives and bring changes to the society also.
Empowering young people means creating and supporting the enabling conditions
under which young people can act on their own behalf and on their own terms,
rather than at the direction of others.

Fig.13.5: Pictorial representation on youth empowerment

As Swami Vivekananda said “Give me a few number of youth, I will change

the fate of the country”, the real future development relies on the youth. No
wonder, youth are the building blocks of the country, without youth,
empowerment at the national level will not be achieved.
The young blood in the youth with accelerated energy, with new ideas and
the immense potential are necessary for the nation building process. Right
direction to make their potential change into a great asset to discover country’s
destiny is essential. Individual power cannot make a revolution, but a group
can do by their co-operation and mutual help. One such success story of
group is the evolution of Self Help Groups (SHGs).

? Check Your Progress 2

Note: a) Write your answers within the space provided.
b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
1) Name the three elements supporting the system of empowerment?
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2) What are the stages in the process of empowerment?
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3) Name a few of the approaches towards empowerment?
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Human Resource Development
for Marketing
4) Name some of the indicators of empowerment?
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5) What is women empowerment?
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13.4 EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES IN INDIA

You will be surprised to know that in the earlier years after independence, the
government initiated many strategies for empowerment.
13.4.1 Self Help Groups (SHGs)
Self-help group is a voluntary association of people to organize themselves towards
achieving their needs. Self-help groups are one of the ways to empower individuals
and groups. It is the best empowerment technique. The aim of SHGs is to
empower women by providing them financial support (Fig.13.6). They form a
group of like minded people to help each other for mutual benefit and utilize the
locally available resource for their empowerment. In recent years the achievement
of SHGs through self-employment are well evident throughout the country. The
United Nations has recognized their contribution to the society as a stepping stone
towards prosperous world.

Fig.13.6: Pictorial representation of SHG’s

Activity 1

Collect information about the SHGs present in your locality and make a note
of their activities and achievement towards empowerment?
................................................................................................................
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................................................................................................................
Why to be part of SHG’s?
The motto of the SHG is “united-we win”. Thus be a part of a team and
contribute to each other and share the fruits of the success among yourself. It is
the best option to achieve your goals through group with the financial support
from the banks through SHG-Bank linking programs. Earlier, it was only organized
among women, but now in most of the places men SHG’s are also coming up and
16 functioning well on par with women groups.
Through SHG’s, the member is entitled for availing loan with fixed period of Empowerment
repayment schedules. Regular periodic meeting and discussions are arranged by
each group to take important decisions. Based on the requirement of the members,
trainings and awareness campaigns are also arranged towards economic
empowerment.
Every group has to follow certain norms, which are necessary for the members.
Important norms are to keep the secrets of the group decision, timely presence at
meeting and stay until end; there is no compulsion to speak in the group, decision
should be taken through majority support. Above all it is a forum to share their
feeling and informalities. The criterion for a self-help group is very simple and logical.
Criteria for a SHG
 Group should consist of 10-20 persons with relaxation in remote and
hilly areas.
 Family members cannot be member of a same group.
 A person should not be a member of more than one group.
The achievement of SHGs is enormous and varies over the country. One such
example is ‘Himal’ Self help group from East Sikkim which has been making
lollipops and pedas by using dairy milk available in the village. It started functioning
in 2003 and recently in January got the destination of best Self Help Group
recognition. There are women groups who are involved in preparing fish products
and fish curry for supply in their own areas.
SHGs in India
There are 3.37 million SHG’s in India as on 2006. Almost 20 per cent population
and 80 per cent of total poor population are being benefited from SHG’s. In total,
2.92 million SHG’s have received bank loans. Most of the SHGs are of women
centric. In India, 90 per cent are of women groups and 80 per cent are in rural
areas. South Indian states are growing quickly in forming self help groups when
compared to other states. One typical example is Andhra Pradesh which got
universal finance support due to the success in SHGs.
SHG – Bank linkage program
Several banks have introduced a credit program for SHG as a special priority,
exclusively for the members of the groups in a particular place towards
empowerment. This credit facility provided by the bank is useful for the member
or for the group as a whole to start Small Scale Industries., thus, paving the way
for the members of a group or group as a whole towards the empowerment.
Activity 2

Visit the nearest bank in your locality and collect information about SHG-
Bank linkage program facility.
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13.4.2 Microfinance
Microfinance is the financial support usually provided to low income families as
small loans to help them to engage in productive activities. Microfinance clients 17
Human Resource Development are typically of self-employed, household based entrepreneurship especially of
for Marketing food processing and small scale trade. Finance given through SHG is also a
perfect example of micro finance. This micro credit can change the life of the
needy people. One such example for success of the microfinance is Grameen
Bank in Bangladesh. But, over a period of time its scope extended to services
like credit, saving and insurance etc.
Institute of Microfinance and Development (IMAD) has been established in 2008
in Orissa. It aims to serve as a centre of excellence to promote participation and
equity based financing and development of micro enterprises as a tool of poverty
alleviation.

13.5 CHALLENGES AHEAD

Let us now look at the challenges ahead of us. Growth
is a continuous process with many obstacles on the way.

13.5.1 Barriers Towards Empowerment

As a rule, life without barriers is not possible hence your
thirst to empowerment is also not free from hurdles.
Though it looks like hurdles they can be easily overcome by correct advice and
intelligence. These barriers are not exhaustive but only illustrative and may vary
from place to place and people to people. The major barriers are discussed
below.
i) Lack of information
Information is strength and that makes the difference between the winner and the
loser. Right information at right time can become a boon to your progress, for
example information of demand of a product at a place and surplus of the same
products at another place will help a marketing person to buy from surplus place
and sell in the place of demand with optimum profit. Now-a-days, there are so
many advancements in information and communication technology that will be
useful for you to access information. If this information is not available in time then
it becomes a biggest barrier.
ii) Lack of technological support
Technology is the watchword of today’s world. Lack of new technology pulls you
to the lower stage. For empowerment, the technology plays an important role,
though we can get financial support and other support from an institution; but the
technology transfer is hard in the patent driven world.
iii) Cultural obstacles
In India, even now in some of the places women are not allowed to schooling
despite the huge opportunities and initiatives towards women empowerment. This
is the cultural barrier to empower.
iv) Lack of group co-operation
The co-ordination and co-operation among the persons in the group are not
persistent. There are group conflicts and ideological difference within the
group. These are resisting the level of empowerment especially in community
empowerment.
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13.5.2 Disempowerment Process Empowerment

Disempowerment is opposite to empowerment. The word ‘Empowerment’ contains

‘power’. In any way, the meaning of power should not be taken in the form of
control. Power is the ability or energy required for a work to be done. Control
leads to domination. It overrides the real meaning of freedom of choice and
action. The control over a limit will result in disempowerment. Thus, a balance
should be maintained to keep the power and control at an equal distance. You
should take the positive aspect of the term and never try to control others or
society.

13.6 YARDSTICK FOR SELF-EMPOWERMENT

To empower yourself, you should keep in mind some of the points as yardsticks.
Responsibility – You are sole responsible for all the happenings. For this you
should be in a position to accept only those things which are correct as per your
knowledge.
Accountability – You should be accountable to your activities, taken in accordance
with the established process.
Determination – You should have a determination to go on your way either with
or without help from others. Your determination should inspire others.
Contribution –At your will, you help others and to the society by using your
ideas and knowledge. This is your contribution to the society as a whole.
Resilience – All time you should have courage to accept failures and not to
blame others for the work done by you.
Perspective – You should develop positive and dynamic perspective.
Believe – First of all, you should believe in yourself, your talents and your
activities.

? Check Your Progress 3

Note: a) Write your answers within the space provided.
b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
1) Why to be part of a SHG?
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
2) What do you understand by microfinance?
.............................................................................................................
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3) Name a few yardsticks for empowerment?
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19
Human Resource Development
for Marketing 13.7 LET US SUM UP
Empowerment is the process of enhancing the capacity of individuals or a group.
Empowering oneself is essential towards clarifying the doubts and broaden the
vision. Empowerment consists of various dimensions from all the aspects such as
professional, financial, technological, cultural, social and political. It can be
categorized into two major types i.e., individual/ personal and group/ community
empowerment. The role of empowerment may be of catalyzing, enabling, priming,
linking or encouraging.
Empowerment as a system interrelates various elements such as opportunity,
personal interest and environment. The process of empowerment consists of
six stages as explained in this unit. One can empower themselves through
training, seminars and workshops, group work, mentoring, successful role
models and participatory approach. There is difference in level of
empowerment over place and time. Empowerment is a qualitative term. But,
by using the indicators like access to information, analytical skill,
communication skill, co-operation and confidence, the level of empowerment
can be measured. There is a special focus towards empowering target groups
such as women and youth. In India, the establishment of SHGs and microfinance
are the steps taken forward towards empowering the community. Lack of
information, technological support, group co-operation and cultural obstacles are
the barriers in the empowerment process.

13.8 GLOSSARY
Catalyzing : Process of bringing change.
Connotation : The signification of something.
Dimension : Measure in one direction.
Enabling : To make feasible or possible.
Enhancing : To make it improved and effective.
Enormous : Enormous means extraordinarily great size, number, or
degree.
Holistic : Relating to or concerned with whole or with complete
systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of,
or dissection into parts.
Inherent : Belonging by nature or habit.
Linking : Process of connecting.
Macro Level : Aspects which focus on the general as whole.
Micro Level : Aspects which focus on the particular selected part.
Misnomer : A term which suggests an interpretation that is known to
be untrue.
Mobilization : To assemble for a purpose.
Priming : The act of making something ready.
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Saturation : A condition which is no longer influenced by external Empowerment
forces.
Spatial : Taking into consideration the place factor.
Stimuli : Something that rouse or incite to activities.
Temporal : Taking into consideration the time factor.
Yardstick : Yardstick means a standard for making a critical judgment.

13.9 SUGGESTED FURTHER READING

Gutiérrez, L.M., Lewis, E.A. 1999. Empowering Women of Color, Columbia
University Press.
Plunkett, L.C., Fournier, R.1991. Participative Management: Implementing
Empowerment John Wiley & Sons Inc.

13.10 REFERENCES
Gutiérrez, L.M., Lewis, E.A. 1999. Empowering Women of Color, Columbia
University Press.

13.11 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check Your Progress 1
1) Empowerment literally means to equip your ability or supply with
opportunity.
2) Economical, technological, social, cultural, technical, political, professional
are the various dimensions of empowerment.
3) Empowerment is categorized into two major types; they are individual
empowerment and group empowerment.
4) Empowerment has the role of catalyzing, enabling, priming, linking or
encouraging.
Check Your Progress 2
1) The physical, social and psychological environments are the three elements
supporting the system of empowerment of the individual.
2) The stages in the process of empowerment are Pre empowerment stage,
Awareness, Connecting and Learning, Mobilization, Contribution and Post-
empowerment stage.
3) Some of the important approaches are training, seminars and workshops,
group work, mentoring, successful role models and participatory approach.
4) Access to information, analytical skill, communication skill, co-operation and
confidence are the main indicators.
5) Women empowerment is the process of enhancing the capacity of women
to participate in societal activities other than day-to-day household activities. 21
Human Resource Development Check Your Progress 3
for Marketing
1) A simple logic behind the SHG is ‘united’-we win. Thus be a part of a team
and contribute to each other and share the fruits of the success among
yourself.
2) Microfinance is the financial support usually provided to very poor families
as small loans to help them in engaging in productive activities.
3) Responsibility, Accountability, Determination, Contribution, Resilience,
Perspective and Believe are some of the important yardsticks for
empowerment.

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