JEEViKA, Bihar's flagship rural livelihoods programme, has organised over 12 million women into self-help groups, initially prioritising Scheduled Caste households. A study by Sen and Sharan (2024) asks whether this economic mobilisation spills over into political participation — and finds that it does, dramatically.
In Gram Panchayats with JEEViKA SHGs, the number of SC women contesting local elections rises by 148%. But this surge is concentrated in panchayats reserved for SCs. Where reservations aren't in place, SHGs alone don't produce the same effect.
The finding points to something important: collective mobilisation builds confidence, but institutional space is what turns that confidence into candidacy.
SHGs bring more women into the political arena, but only when the seat is also reserved for Dalit women.
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