Empowerment Of Rural Women

The Major Discussion Of Empowerment Process Pertains Mainly To The Profile Of Women Workforce, Status Of Female-Headed Households, Policies And Programmes Related To Women, Empowerment To Women Through Literacy And Women In Panchayat. Hence, Women Empower

To address the goal 5 (Gender Equality) of Sustainable Development, it is deemed vital that we first understand the gender inequalities and the contribution of the second gender, i.e. women. We need to bring women into the mainstream to bring both genders at par. Since most of our population lives in villages, we need to have an in-depth knowledge of rural women's role in the development and understand the means and ways to empower them holistically, be it in terms of education, social, technological, political, legal etc. Today's environment calls for a need for women in rural areas to go in for bringing the various drudgery-reducing technologies into practice as well as empower themselves economically through Self Help Groups (SHGs). Rural women must understand the coping strategies associated with climate change which is again a challenge, and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to be more informed and empowered citizens for the welfare of their families, communities, societies and the nation at large. To attain the national goal of doubling the farmers' income by 2022, rural women's economic contribution must be increased through entrepreneurship. To make this dream come true, rural women need to be educated, malnutrition in rural areas; especially among women, needs to be removed, they will have to be technologically empowered, and rural women need to break the shackles of traditional hiccups and be aware of the latest information related to government programmes and schemes along with legal literacy concerning them to be able to understand the various provisions made available by the government for them and to enable them to enforce the same. This book encapsulated all the required dimensions of rural women empowerment: education, health & nutrition, technological empowerment, political empowerment instruments like the Panchayati Raj system, economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, etc. It covers the health challenges of women labourers, hill women, drudgery issues of brick layering women, women and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and constriants to women's empowerment. A few case studies and success stories of women entrepreneurs find their place in this book. The book also provides solutions to the issues of rural women, such as knowledge about those government schemes and programmes that empower women and provides women strength with the golden rays of constitutional mandates to make them sabla from abla. In a nutshell, this book provides conceptual clarity regarding the concept of women empowerment, the different dimensions of empowerment, issues and strategies to cope with the same in one place.

With special reference to Dindigul District in Tamil Nadu, India.

Reviews the position of women in society, with particular reference to their educational achievements and employment opportunities. Focuses on the potential of microcredit programmes and how women entrepreneurs affect the global economy. Assess where rural women stand in the development process today.

Women Self-Help Groups Are Increasingly Being Used As Tool For Various Developmental Interventions. Credit And Its Delivery Through Self-Help Groups Have Also Been Taken As A Means For Empowerment Of Rural Women.This Integrated Approach, Whereby, Credit Is Only An Entry Point, And An Instrument To Operationalise Other Aspects Of Group Dynamics And Management, Also Caters To The Need For Social Intermediation Of These Groups. A Self-Help Group Is Conceived As A Sustainable People S Institution That Provides The Poor Rural Women With Space And Support Necessary For Them To Take Effective Steps Towards Achieving Greater Control Of Their Lives.It Is With This Perspective That This Book Has Been Attempted.This Work Seeks To Elucidate And Simplify The Approach To Women S Empowerment Through Credit-Based Self-Help Groups, By Both Providing The Theoretical Perspective As Well As Practical Guidance And Tips To Operationalise The Same. This Book Is Meant Primarily As A First Level Reader For Middle Level Functionaries In The Development Sector.

All over the world there is a realization that the best way to tackle poverty and enable the community to improve its quality of life is through social mobilization of poor, especially women into Self Help Groups. Ever since Independence a number of innovative schemes have been launched for the upliftment of women in our country. Indian Government has taken lot of initiatives to strengthen the institutional rural credit system and development programmes. Viewing it in the welfare programmes of Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) and shifting the concept of Development to Empowerment. The Indian Government adopted the approach of Self Help Groups (SHGs) to uplift the rural women. The empowerment of women through Self Help Groups (SHGs) would lead to benefits not only to the individual woman and women groups but also the families and community as a whole through collective action for development. The book will be highly useful to students of social studies especially Women Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Economics and also to the students and research scholars specialising in Human Development and NGO s and also other functionaries dealing with women.

Based on the author's dissertation and field studies carried out in 2003 in three villages in Mymensingh district. Assesses the perceived status of rural women and gender division of labour at household level. Analyses the nature of rural women's empowerment and factors influencing it, and develops a strategic framework for promoting the status of rural women.

Contributed articles on economic status of Indian rural women presented in a seminar held in October 2004 moderated by G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad and Working Women's Forum, Tamilnadu, India.