Abstract: When the Self-Help Group Initiative was launched to provide the poor with access to formal financial services, it was somehow expected that cooperatives would step in to provide these services. Already existing small local level institutions with their readily available support structure as seen in the case of the agricultural credit societies were ideally placed to serve as outlets for financial services to SHGs, given their numbers and reach. Despite these advantages, agricultural credit societies and cooperative banks have thus far played a limited role in the programme of linking SHGs to formal financial institutions. This paper examines the spread of the cooperative-SHG linkage across states, the relationship between commercial success of cooperative banks, the extent of the linkage established and the impact of such linkages on performance.

Keywords: financial services, cooperatives,  SHGs 

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