EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL WOMEN: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Dr.T.Sambalaxmi Year of Publish -2016 Month - April ISBN : - 978-1-365-09440-8 M.A, B.Ed, Ph.D, (PDF)         WOMEN EMPOWERMENT Download : - ****

Women empowerment has been one of the most important items in the agenda of national development. Out of 146 countries, India ranked 118th in the Human Development Index in 2007 and in Gender related index it ranked 118th . The aggravations of the human development gap by gender disparities illustrate the need to empower women with information and knowledge and allow them to emerge as leaders with confidence to guide their own destinies. The urge for empowering women through effective training and, extension services also arises from the gradual decrease in availability of arable land increasing population pressure and growing environmental degradations which have far reaching implications for good and nutritional security in future. Women’s equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s perspective at all levels of decision making the goals of equality, development and pace cannot be achieved. Despite the wide spread movement towards demoralization in most countries, women are largely under-represented at most levels of government, especially in ministerial and other executive bodies and have made little progress in attaining political power in legislative bodies or in achieving the target of 30 percent women in positions at decision-making levels. The Seventy Third Constitutional Amendment provided reservation of seats for women and this has raised new hopes and all the states are in the process of making the elected bodies at the grassroots level to take up the new challenges.