Successful microfinancing needs liaison with banks and voluntary organizations like self-help groups. Microfinance leads to empowerment and emancipation. However, the critical issue is sustaining empowerment with a strong emphasis on technology and skill development.

Self-Help Group (SHG)-Bank Linkage financial scheme is a unique contribution to microfinance. However, microfi-nance is not only about the efficient and sustainable delivery of microfinancial services, but encompasses a broader canvas. Microfi-nance is one of the means to achieve financial inclusion. In India, the development strategy includes savings and credit management by SHGs not as a system for delivering microfinancial services per se but as a tool for setting up of organizations and empowering women (Sinha, 2002). In this context, impact assessment involves questions about the outreach of microfinance and its effectiveness in meeting development objectives.

During the early stages of the SHG movement, mere outreach, involvement of women and timely repayments were sufficient indicators of impact, gender equity and women empowerment. Some evaluations and case studies in different parts of the world have explored and questioned the impact issues that were resolved by microfinancial services. And, also, how microfinance can be more effective in achieving development objectives.

Professional Banker Magazine, Self-Help Groups-Bank Linkage, SHG, Microfinancial Services, Credit Management, Small Industries Development Bank of India, SIDBI, Rural Financial Access Survey, Non-Government Organizations, NGOs, Regional Rural Banks, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Nabard, Decision-Making Process, Entrepreneurship Development.