At over 12L, Bengal has highest no. of SHGs in India with 1.2 cr members
Times of India | 22 November 2025
Kolkata: At over 12 lakh self-help groups (SHG)s for women, Bengal now held the national record of the highest number of such organisations, comprising 1.2 crore members, said Sudip Sarkar, additional CEO of the West Bengal State Rural Livelihoods Mission (WBSRLM), on Friday. Sarkar was speaking at a state-level workshop on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), where 120 officials from different departments joined to draft a roadmap for rural WASH sustainability.
"SHGs are not just beneficiaries but also the change-makers who can drive hygiene habits, monitor village water systems and ensure timely maintenance," said state coordinator & additional secretary (P&RD) Pijush Goswami.
Organised by WBSRLM and Water for People, a charitable trust, the workshop marked a step towards strengthening community-led WASH systems. Launched in May 2024, the initiative, being conducted under WBSRLM, with support from Water for People, has been empowering SHGs, district-level trainers and community resource persons to lead behavioural change in safe water use, sanitation management, hygiene awareness and solid and liquid waste management. The workshop brought together departments, including panchayats & rural development, PHED, WRIDD, SWID, health, women & child development and horticulture, which will align infrastructure, governance and social mobilisation strategies for better water management.
Officials noted that despite progress under Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin Phase II, gaps remained, where SHGs needed to step in. A special WASH initiative—Swochho Sobuje Anandadhara—underway in Birbhum, South and North 24-Parganas, Howrah and Jhargram, is designed for replication in Bengal, said Bishwadeep Ghose, country head, Water for People.
The workshop aims to scale up community-managed water supply systems and strengthen SHG-linked models for water use and sanitation sustainability in rural Bengal.