Drawing upon the data from the recent period, this paper explores the relationship between women’s involvement in microfinance programs and improvement in their empowerment status.

Formal financial institutions (FFIs) in a developing economy often fail to meet the loan requirements of the poor. It is frequently stated that the poor are non bankable. Given this, several models and structures have emerged for making them bankable.

First, on the basis of primary data collected in a rural setting in the State of Orissa, an attempt has been made in this paper to compare the socioeconomic status of male- and female- headed households.