INTRODUCTION:

India has experienced a rapid economic growth after 1991 owing to the new economic policy. The rising GDP over the years reflects the continuous economic growth and development of our country. However, whether this perpetual economic growth has contributed to the social development is not known with certainty. In response to the seriousness of the topics such as poverty alleviation and gender inequality, several researchers have made an attempt to examine these aspects from the country point of view (Khandelwal, 2007¹; Roy, 2018²; Kim et al., 2007³; Stec et al., 2014⁴; Bollen et al., 2001⁵).

The holistic growth of a country is attributed to the factors such as social wellbeing, socioeconomic development more than economic development. Thus, to achieve vigorous economic growth, especially in developing countries, a well-structured program should be placed which aims to curb poverty and empower people by providing them easy access to factors of production, particularly capital. Planned interventions have been made by the governments to target the problems at the grassroot level and uplift the weaker sections of the society. One such program is microfinancing programme which channelises the energy of our youth into productive activities by providing them the necessary financial support.

The benefits of the microcredit program multiply manifold when it is directed towards the women of the country (Khandelwal, 2007)¹. The concept of microfinance is built on disbursing small amount of loans, emphasizing on social collateral and focusing on the women clients in particular (Roy, 2018)². Academicians have put forth that combining gender related training program to the microfinancing facility can exaggerate the level of empowerment and reduce gender-based conflicts. Empowered women take good care of their families, hence, microcredit indirectly boosts children mortality rate and reduces malnourishment (Kim et al., 2007)³.

The Government of India launched a microcredit scheme called Mudra yojana 8^th April 2015. The MUDRA scheme primarily targets the underprivileged section of the society i.e., women and encourage them to become independent by providing them easy access to funds. In other words, micro unit development and refinance agency aims to fund the unfunded especially the sector which does not have easy access to any formal source of funding. It is concerned with the upliftment of women and development of small and medium sector enterprises. Therefore, the study aims to explore the impact of MUDRA Yojana on the socioeconomic development of women in India.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Socioeconomic development is defined as a chain of changes in the socio-economic life of a country which brings improvement in human life and leads to better organisation of process and structures that are occurring in a country (Stec et al., 2014)⁴. It has been emphasised that the primary step towards economic development is economic growth. Economic growth is expressed as quantitative changes in the scale of production and services which lasts for a short time period. When such quantitative advancements are combined with improvements in the qualitative aspects, such as socio-economic structure, better quality of human life then growth turns into economic development (Stec et al., 2014)⁴. The position held by individuals, households and families in a society on various dimensions such as income, wealth, education, prestige is described as socioeconomic development (Bollen et al., 2001)⁵.

The contribution of microcredit in the socioeconomic growth and development of a nation has received massive attention from eminent researchers in the past few decades (Annim et al., 2008⁶; Balk, 1994⁷; Luyirika, 2010⁸; Reji, 2009⁹; Parwez et al., 2018¹⁰). A study undertaken by Annim et al., (2008)⁶ examines the demographics as well as socio-economic characteristics of customers of microfinance institutions located in Ghana. A common presumption regarding the microfinance programme is that it is conducive to wealth creation and aims at poverty alleviation. Thus, it is essential to assess the profile of the people taking microcredit to deduce if microfinance is successful in achieving its goals. Background details of both, clients and non-customers of microcredit are collected from each zone (three zones i.e. northern, middle and the coastal zone) to facilitate comparative analysis between the two clientele groups. Microfinance Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT) is applied on the data of 1628 respondents to draw analytical inferences using principal component analysis. Results indicate that microcredit institutions have more female clients than males who on an average are older than male clients. Furthermore, it is revealed that the majority of MFI clients are wealthier than non-credit clients. The clientele profile of microcredit institutions seems to contradict the idea behind the establishment of such programmes. MFIs are found to cater well off people of the nation rather than reaching the targeted section of society i.e. poor and needy people. Therefore, MFIs fail to meet its objectives of uplifting the weaker parties and promoting collective growth. Sincere efforts are required to target the people belonging to lower quintiles for poverty alleviation from the society.

Another study by Balk (1994)⁷ measures the social status of women using mobility index, authority index, leniency index and attitude index. The key dimensions of the four indices include freedom to come outside the house, visit to the doctor, travel outside the village, taking child to the hospital, visit your paternal family members, greeting any unknown male guests, authority to take decision related to household expenses, purchases, children’s education and marriage etc. The result of the survey conducted among the local women indicates that older and mature women are more likely to be liberal and mobile, large inter-spouse age difference diminishes leniency, but it increases the level of authority of women. It is further found that the woman living with her in-laws does not receive the level of respect which is received by the women who live independently.

A study by Luyirika (2010)⁸ aims to examine the effect of microfinance on the socioeconomic development of ladies residing in Mpigi Town Council, Uganda. Survey, in- depth interviews, observations, discussions and focus groups interactions are conducted as a part of quantitative technique for data collection. The gathered data is analysed using tools such as coding, tabulation and establishing themes. The target sample includes loan officials of microfinance institutions, direct beneficiaries of microfinance and civil servants of that particular town. The results indicate that married women above the age of forty are the main players in microfinance market. The beneficiaries have expressed that they have become more confident after engaging in income generating activities. They have also opened bank accounts and started saving some money. The microfinancing scheme has developed the leadership quality in them. They have begun to send their kids to school and buy household assets as per their wishes. Women participating in micro-credit activities have earned recognition and have got the title of opinion leaders, advisors and are considered as role model in the community. However, obtaining loan from these institutions still remain a challenge for women. For example, small profit on investment, short grace periods, short repayment periods, higher interest rates have developed a negative perception towards microfinance among the population. Overall, micro-credit facility has facilitated the socioeconomic development of women.

In the Indian context, there exists a few studies which investigate the role of microcredit in the socioeconomic development (Reji, 2009⁹; Parwez et al., 2018¹⁰). Reji (2009)⁹ studies the impact of microfinance programmes of neighbourhood groups (NHGs) on the socioeconomic living of its beneficiaries, particularly women, in Nilambur district of Kerala. A comparative analysis of the living conditions of the members of the NHG groups before and after becoming a part of the group is undertaken to study the impact. The survey discovered that the membership of NHGs has brought a tremendous change in the lifestyle of women. A large number of member women developed the habit of saving money after connecting with the NHG group. Easy loan facility to the members of NHG group has enabled women to become the owner of more household assets such as livestock, sewing machines. Women revealed that they utilise a large part of their loan in the construction of loo, house repairs etc. Women have also started taking up income generating activities such as poultry, dairying and tailoring etc. Furthermore, the members have opened up that they have become self-confident, they participate in decision making activities, receive more respect from the family after associating with the group. Women now exercise a greater control on the financial resources of the family than before. They take decision related to savings and withdrawals. Overall, self-help groups are found to have a positive impact on the socioeconomic upliftment of the women.

On the other hand, Parwez et al., (2018)¹⁰ reviews the association between the growing microfinance facility and the socioeconomic development in Gujarat, India. Gujarat has adopted a bank linked SHGs program which orders commercial banks to lend money to SHGs as part of their rural credit policy. SHGs act as an intermediary between poor people and banks which also reduces transportation cost for both rural clients and banks. The study deals with the impact of microfinance on the SHGs members. A semi-structured questionnaire is circulated among 225 members of SHGs. Analytical techniques, for instance, Chi-square is applied to find if there exists any discrepancy between the expected and observed frequencies. The results of the regression test and variance analysis hints at the positive influence of microfinance in alleviating poverty at the grassroot level and promoting livelihood development in the rural areas of Gujarat. Therefore, it can be concluded that women led SHGs have led to an overall socioeconomic development in Gujarat. They also lay emphasis on the need to support SHG-bank linkages for providing credit in rural areas and for the upliftment of the society in total.

There exists a plethora of studies which investigate the impact of microfinance on socioeconomic development and women empowerment in developing countries. Studies in the Indian context are quite a few. Whatever little number of studies exist they examine the role of microfinance on socioeconomic development of women while the role of recently launched Pradhan Mantri mudra yojana on the socioeconomic growth of its female clientele is unexplored. Thus, an attempt has been made through this study to investigate the effectiveness of mudra scheme in improving the standard of living of the women and in promoting their socioeconomic development at large.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUD:

1. To assess the demographic profile of females obtaining mudra loan in Delhi-NCR region.

2. To determine the role of mudra scheme in improving the socio-economic condition of women in our society.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

The data is collected from 300 respondents who have procured loan from UCO bank, Delhi branches. The idea is to evaluate the socioeconomic development of women residing in an urban area. Therefore, Delhi-NCR region seemed to be the right location. UCO bank is selected because of the easy availability of data related to the loan receivers. Due to covid pandemic and social distancing norms, telephonic interviews were conducted for over months to gather the required data. Tabulation and graphical analysis of the collected data is presented below to draw inferences regarding the role of mudra loan in promoting socioeconomic growth and development.

RESULTS:

Demographics characteristics of the respondents

Figure 1 demonstrates the age profile of female mudra clients in Delhi-NCR, India. It is quite evident that maximum respondents fall under the age group of 26 years to 40 years. Mudra loan seems to be popular among the younger people. Adult women at the productive age have opted for this loan. Although, there are a few women above 60 years who have also taken the mudra loan. The reason of resorting to financial help at older age could be to survive themselves at their older age due to lack of support from family or to support their children.

Figure 1: Age profile of women respondents procuring MUDRA loan

It is important to note the marital status of the women who are seeking financial support from banks. Figure 2 below shows that 82% of women obtaining mudra loan are married while the remaining 18% comprises of single women, widow and divorced women. It can be inferred that married women have more responsibilities towards their families and children than single women. They require more finances to meet their family expenses such as children tuition fee, clothing, daily food. In telephonic conversations with these female clients, many women have disclosed that they procure loan in their own names to make their husband stand financially. They pump funds into his business or provide him money to start a new business so that he could feed his family. On the other hand, single women, widow or divorced have much lesser responsibilities and in most cases, they have to support only themselves and not their whole family. So, they might prefer private jobs for their earning rather than taking the burden of loan. Therefore, only a small percentage of single women/widow/divorced women opt for loan in comparison to married women.

Figure 2: Marital Status of Respondents

The family composition is an important element in the demographic characteristics of a respondent. The number of children in a family symbolizes the level of responsibility on the parents which motivates them to earn. It can be seen from figure 3 that majority of women who are procuring mudra loan (128 respondents) have two children while 46 respondents have three children. In total, all respondents have at least one child at home except 14 married women. In other words, women with kids feel the need to engage in any kind of income generating activity to feed her family when there is no other source of income. It could be said that women are more sympathetic towards their family and its welfare which is why they are interested in contributing into it financially as well by running a business. This brings us to conclude that the existence of children in a family is a crucial factor in determining the requirement of loan.

Figure 3: Number of Children of married / divorced / widow respondents

The level of degree attainment of our female respondents is presented in figure 4. Around 18% of the respondents have only primary education while 27 % of them have completed matriculation. There are 15% respondents which have only reached up to senior secondary. On the other hand, the maximum percentage of women who have obtained mudra loan i.e., 30 % of the female loanees have attained a graduation degree. They are assumed to have sufficient knowledge of markets and are well equipped to start an income generating activity. In addition, 10% of the women are found to be postgraduates which means they have specialized in their core education stream and they are ready to optimally utilise the loan amount for their betterment. Interestingly, maximum loans are either taken up by graduate women or by the ones who have attained matriculation. So, on an average, the respondents are literate, they know how to read and write which might have boosted their confidence to take up the burden of loan and setting up an income generating activity.

Figure 4: Educational Qualification of Respondents

In addition to the literacy level of the women loanees, it is essential to investigate if they have any professional knowledge to run a business. It is presumed that people who possess technical/vocational skills are more likely to establish an enterprise because they are equipped with sufficient knowledge which is necessary to become a successful entrepreneur. In other words, professionally sound women are more likely to take the risk of loan. To our surprise, more than 80% of the respondents who have taken financial help through mudra scheme lack possession of technical/vocational skills. Out of 300 respondents, only 68 are professionally qualified in field of beautician, tailoring and stitching etc. while remaining 132 loanees do not possess any vocational knowledge.

Support from husband and family is important in improving the status of women in the society. The education qualification of respondent’s husband plays an integral role in empowering women. Figure 5 shows that the maximum respondents have graduate husbands (33%) while only 5% men are post graduate. A large percentage of men has passed matriculation (28%) whereas 24% of have cleared class 12^th. The remaining 10% have studied up to class 5. Overall, it is found that at least 50% of the men have completed matriculation. It can be said that they are literate, and they might understand the dreams and aspirations of their women. Educated or literate husbands play a role in boosting morale of these women and encourage them to start a business so that they can contribute to their family income.

Figure 5: Education Qualification of Respondent’s Husband

Figure 6 depicts the number of assets held by women in their own names. It is a predominant factor in assessing the level of women empowerment. Though mudra loan does not ask for any collateral but women holding assets are in advantageous position while taking loan because they have the source to repay it in case their income generating activity fails. It acts as a background support. It can be seen that 71% of the respondents have said they do not own any property. On the contrary, 18.4% have fixed deposits, 8.7% said that they hold house/ land in their name and very small percent of women own a car. There is another set of women respondents who say that they own some other kind of property in their name but do not want to reveal. In total, a large part of loan seekers lacks ownership of assets which is why mudra loan seems to be the preferred option among them.

Figure 6: Assets owned by the Respondents in their name

One essential part of socio-economic characteristics is the family structure of the female mudra clients. The detail of number of earning members in the family of women loanees is shown in Figure 7. Women belonging to poor household where there is no bread winner are more likely to engage in income generating activity to earn a living for their family. Our sample reflects that all the respondents have at least one earning member in their household. 44% of women have said they have only one person earns (which could be the female itself) while 43% women said they belong to a family of two income earners. While 7% of the respondents are supported by three earning members at home. A very small part of our sample has more than three sources of income in their household. It can be concluded that there is at least one bread winner in the family.

Figure 7: Number of earning members in the family

The dependency of the family members on the respondent’s income is also an important attribute as it examines the pressure on the earning women of the family. This factor reflects the family structure of the respondents and the level of responsibility they bear when they go out for work. From the survey, more than half of the female respondents (55%) are found to be financially liberal. They are not responsible to meet the daily finances of their entire family. On the other hand, 17.3% respondents expressed that two members are dependent on them. Whereas 13% are found to handle the financial responsibility of three members. A very small share of total respondents said that they run the finances of their family of more than four people.

Mudra Loan

By launching the PMMY scheme, the Government of India has made a much required move in uplifting the status of women from being confined to four walls of the house to become financially independent. The scheme has opened doors for women who want to support their families or want to fulfil their dreams. One of the most important aspects in evaluating the effectiveness of mudra yojana is how did people come to know about the mudra scheme. Proper advertisements are required to reach wider masses and convince the society about the product being offered. As reported by the women respondents, friends, relatives and banks acted as a powerful medium in spreading awareness among them regarding the mudra scheme. However, for some women banners, posters and media campaigns were found to be the effective medium. (Table 1).

Table 1: Sources spreading awareness of MUDRA scheme

Sources	No. of Respondents
NGO	0
Local Self-Government members	0
Neighbours	5
Friends and Relatives	59
Media	10
Media + Bank	57
Bank	59
Friends and Relatives + Bank	61
Friends and Relatives + Media	7
Friends and Relatives + Media + Bank	38

To see the impact of mudra yojana on socioeconomic development of women in India, one crucial factor is the length of association of women respondents with the mudra scheme (figure 8). The longer the time period of association, the larger the impact on their socio-economic status. The conducted survey has revealed that a significant percent of females have gone for the mudra scheme in past 1-2 years. It has been less than 2 years of their association (74% of women) with the mudra yojana whereas 22% of the respondents are associated from past 4 years.

Figure 8: Association with Mudra Loan

The size of loan reflects the level of financial burden loanee has to bear until its repayment. Various factors are taken into consideration by the loanee while deciding about the loan amount. As seen in the above analysis, a large part of our respondents have resorted to mudra loan fairly recently (0-2 years) and most of them fall under the income bracket of Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 50,000 and bear the responsibility of at least two family members. After reviewing the socio-economic profile of the respondents it was expected that the most of them would prefer Shishu product as the repayment amount and risk factor involved in Shishu is much lesser as compared to other mudra products. According to the collected data, more than 75% women have taken loan of less than Rs. 50,000 while nearly 21.7% dared to take loan of more than Rs. 50,000 but less than Rs. 5 lacs. Only 2% have taken loan of more than Rs 5 lacs (Table 2).

Table 2: Categories of Mudra loan opted by the respondents

Average Loan Amount (in Rs.)	No. of Respondents	Percentage (%)
0-50,000 (Shishu)	227	75.9%
50,000- 5,00,000 (Kishore)	65	21.7%
5,00,000 – 10,00,000 (Tarun)	7	2.4%

Women have also responded on the question related to the repayment status of the loan amount. Almost every women repays her loan instalment timely except a few. Only 3.7% ladies have said that due to covid they are struggling to pay their instalments which is resulting in late repayment but they are trying hard to pay in time. However, less than 1% have agreed default in the loan repayment. No income or earnings in the family is the reason of default.

Impact of Mudra scheme on socioeconomic variables

The primary motive of seeking financial assistance from external sources is to initiate an income generating activity. The loan funds are utilised by women in setting up an enterprise which would generate income and improve their standard of living. A comparative analysis of their level of income before and after obtaining loan would provide useful insights in terms of impact of loan on their living.

The figure 9 given below describes the monthly income level of all the respondents. 54% of women belong to the income group of Rs. 20,000 – Rs. 50,000 whereas 28% have confessed that their monthly income is less than Rs. 20,000. Only 13% lie among the income bracket of Rs. 50,000- Rs. 80,000 while the remainder 5% are elite women from rich background with average monthly household income of more than Rs 80,000. Overall, most of the loanees fall under the income bracket of 20,000 to 50,000 per month.

Figure 9: Current Average household Income (per month)

Although it is difficult to ask respondents directly about the growth in their monthly income. A variety of questions were asked on telephonic interviews if they witness an increase in their income post taking loan. For example, if they have started eating at restaurants at least once a week, take holidays or made any kind of assets (car, expensive mobile phones, jewellery). These questions give a fair idea of the family income and their lifestyle. Around 47% female respondents did not experience any improvement in their life style nor in their family income. On asking the reason behind it, it was revealed that they could not optimally use the funds for the desired activity thus resulting in loss in business, some took loan for self-consumption, while others took to repay their old debts taken by their husbands. The core purpose of taking loan in those cases was not to earn a living but to meet their daily needs. On the contrary, a significant percent of women (42%) have agreed that they have witnessed expansion in their business and an increase in their family income (Table 3). On an average, their family income has increased up to Rs 5000 per month. Lower limit is 2000 (for those who have taken loan of Rs. 50,000 and the maximum is 20,000 (for those who have taken loan of Rs. 5-10 lacs). 11% women were not sure if their average monthly income grew or not.

Table 3: Improvement in average monthly income

Improvement in average monthly income	No. of Respondents	Percentage (%)
Yes	126	42%
No	141	47%
May be	33	11%

Average monthly savings is an equally important parameter in assessing the socioeconomic condition of women. Figure 10 elaborates the average monthly savings brackets of the respondents. 42% women belong to the family where average household savings are recorded to be less than Rs 5000 per month. However, an equal number of women (42%) say that their families are able to save money somewhere in between Rs 5,000 – Rs. 12,000 every month. While there is only 6% of them who enjoy monthly savings of more than Rs. 20,000. In totality, a significant number of loanees are from families with small savings hence they have chosen mudra loan to combat their financial distress.

Figure 10: Current average monthly savings (Per Month)

To evaluate the impact of Mudra loan on socioeconomic development, women were asked if they witness any improvement in their average monthly savings after taking mudra loan. As per the data collected, 34% are happy with their increased savings (Table 4). According to them, the average increase in monthly savings is attributable to the mudra loan which has helped them with required capital to run their business successfully. They have reported an average increase in savings within the range of Rs. 1000 to Rs. 10,000. On the contrary, more than half of the females responded that there is no increase in their savings. People who did not invest the loan money into productive activity (for instance, self-consumption, daughter’s marriage) have complained for no growth in income or savings.

Table 4: Improvement in average monthly savings

Improvement in average monthly savings	No. of Respondents	Percentage (%)
Yes	103	34.3%
No	162	54%
May be	35	11.7%

It is generally believed that working women have higher chances of taking loan as compared to non-working women because of their higher risk taking capacity. Their ability to earn gives them the confidence to seek financial help from external sources. Surprisingly, it is observed from table 5 that 56.2% of respondents were not working before taking loan which means mudra loan policy has such a powerful impact on the unemployed/ non-working women that they decided to become financially independent by taking loan. While 44% of them were already earning before taking the loan. During their telephonic interview, many working women revealed that they were working in the private sector earlier. To grow professionally and enlarge their income bracket they decided to quit job and start their own business with the loan amount. Beauty parlour, boutiques, e-rickshaw, retail garments stores and cosmetic stores are some of the business projects that women have taken up through mudra loan.

Table 5: Number of respondents working before mudra loan

Working before taking Loan	No. of respondents	Percentage (%)
Yes	130	43.8%
No	170	56.2%

At the end, an open ended question was asked to all the respondents that whether they have witnessed a change in their standard of living after obtaining the desired loan. The idea is to assess the contribution of mudra loan in shaping a women’s life in a better way. Maximum number of females have said that they have experienced a holistic growth in their lives after obtaining mudra loan as their monthly income have increase manifold which has led to better facilities at home. Many women procured loan to set up their beauty parlours, boutiques, retail shops, tuition centre etc while some of them already owned the stores but wanted to reconstruct their shops. Better infrastructure of their business shops have helped them charge higher prices for their services than before. In a way, they have uplifted their status from being a normal shop owner to a expert/ specialist in a particular service.

On the other hand, a large number of women have confessed that they obtained loan in their names but the funds were put in the family business which is run by the husband but they have also witnessed massive growth in business.

Though there are a few respondents who have have not explicitly utilised the loan amount in their income generating activity but in a way they have spent loan money on things which has improved their status in the society and offered them a better standard of living. For instance, children education, repair of their house, buy assets like car, scooter, smartphone etc. On the contrary, some women relied on loan to meet their daily needs (self-consumption), daughter’s marriage, to repay their old debts etc.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

The analysis of the data provides a fair view of the socioeconomic condition of women in our society and the role played by the Pradhan mantri mudra yojana in improving their standard of living. The demographic characteristics analysed above summarises the profile of our respondents. It is seen that a large portion of the total sample comprises of adult women mainly in the age group of 25 - 40 years who have obtained loan. It indicates that women in their productive age are highly enthusiastic to start a business venture and willing to take the financial risk involved in external funding. It is also seen that maximum percentage of loan takers are married women with minimum two kids which reflects their dedication towards their family and their zeal to contribute financially in the household to fulfil daily needs. Though, a large chunk of respondents lack technical or vocational knowledge which is considered as an essential thing to start any income generating activity but these women are believed to have a sound understanding of the business world as majority of them are graduates and have solid support from their educated husbands. In addition, more than half of the sample does not own any property in their name and belong to family of only one or maximum two earning members.

The assessment of socioeconomic dimensions of women respondents highlights the positive impact of mudra yojana on women’s overall growth (professionally and personally). It is found that more than 50% of women were not working before taking loan. In a way, mudra loan has made them financially independent and helped them establish their own business. Many respondents have also reported an increase in their monthly household income and savings after taking loan. On an average, women have experienced a monthly increase of Rs.2000 to Rs 20,000 in their earnings while their savings have increased within the range of Rs. 1000 to Rs. 10,000. While some of them did not see any positive change in their household income but they admit to experience an impactful change in their life styles. They own valuable assets such as car, better house, property etc which adds value to their lives. Thus, mudra loan has played an influential role in uplifting the social and economic status of women.

Overall, a positive impact of mudra yojana is observed on the socioeconomic growth and development of women. They are willing to take another mudra loan once they repay their old debt.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

Our sample is restricted to the women living in urban area (Delhi-NCR region). The results of the study might vary if the study is conducted in a rural area. Women residing in metropolitan area have better access to facilities, better exposure of such schemes and policies hence the outcome of the study could be positive but the study might generate a different outcome if conducted in the poor or rural area. The challenges and problems faced by rural women are yet to be studied.

SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH:

The present study primarily deals with the socioeconomic aspect of women lives. Tabulation and graphic analysis is conducted to draw inferences from the primary data. To account for the role of mudra scheme in holistic growth and development of women of our society, there are several aspects which could be highly dependent on the availability of financial assistance such as women entrepreneurship, women empowerment. Such dimensions of women’s lives need to be studied from an empirical lens as well because they contribute substantially in the overall development of women.

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Received on 12.04.2021 Modified on 11.05.2021

Asian Journal of Management. 2021;12(4):411-419.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5763.2021.00062