This study is an attempt to analyze women's empowerment through participation in rural development. This paper mainly uses the secondary data from various sources to justify the role played by women in various fields of development activities towards removal of gender inequality, work force in agriculture, political participation, entrepreneurship development, and rural development. In the present context of globalization, this paper is meaningful from the viewpoint of exploring potentialities for empowerment of women and the required policy prescription suited to different socioeconomic environment. It reveals that women are participating in every activity which is sine-qua-non for rural as well as economic development of any country. Therefore, the government should take appropriate policies towards reservation of women, information access with proper data base system exclusively for women, paving the way for integrated women's development in rural areas. Besides, appropriate education facilities for rural women should be provided for their socioeconomic upliftment as per situationspecific technical feasibility, coupled with effective information access system to make any policy fruitful.
The
main tasks of women were to bear and rear children and do
other household works within the four walls of the house
- this was the old concept. In the present context of development
and globalization, the role of women has changed. The dimensions
like cultural expression, work and mobility, education,
health and family size, political expression, and social
awareness have changed the role of women over the years.
The role of women changes depending upon the factors such
as cultural environment, economic and social development
process and the influence of science and technology as well
as modernization.
In
many developing countries, the International Women's Year
in 1975 served as a catalyst for an examination of the role
of women in society. The role of women in economic activities
was given focused in the World Conference on Agrarian Reforms
and Rural Development in 1979 (Giriappa, 1988). The conference
mainly focused on participation of women along with men
in social, economic and political process of rural development
and equal access to the benefits. |
