Economic Empowerment of Rural Women in India: An Exclusive Approach

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ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL WOMEN IN INIDA: AN EXCLUSIVE
APPROACH
By
Sana Fatima*
*Research Scholar, D/O Economics,
Affiliation: Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
Email: fsana3683@gmail.com,
Mob No: +918979570436
Abstract
This research paper is an attempt to explore efficacious ways to do economic empowerment
of rural women in India with the evaluation of their current economic situation. Despite the
fact that India attained its independence nearly 70 years ago and currently has the fastest
growing economy, the poor status of women still plaguing the country. The findings of this
study give a clear demonstration that though Indian government, constitutional bodies and
international organization including World Bank and United Nations strive hard, proper
access to credit and land is unachievable for rural women in India. Gender disparity in
income and inadequate technical competency are major obstruction in economic
empowerment of rural women. Five major components suggested by United Nations for
economic empowerment of women have been assessed thoroughly in this research paper,
which is wide known as “Integrated Approach”. This paper recommends the implementation
of this integrated approach towards empowering women in rural India.
Keywords: Empowerment, Rural India, Indian Economy, Economic Approaches.
Introduction:
As per the statistics, even though women form 48% of India’s population, they form only
29% of the national workforce. In rural areas especially agriculture and animal contribution
of rural women is 90% of the total work force with 80% of women working in unorganized
sectors. Nevertheless, it is found that 66% of the female population in rural area is not
utilized. Social, economic and political status of women specifically in the rural parts is
atrocious. The census data indicate that the literacy rate of rural Indian women is only

58.75 percent in comparison to men’s 78.57 percent . Only 26% of women have access to
formal credit and the sex ratio is also deplorable.
Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to
shape up resilient economies as it betters the sustainability, and improves the quality of life.
However, empowerment is multi-faceted, multi-dimensional and multi-layered conception,
which requires women to undertake greater share of control over resources which could be
material, human and intellectual like knowledge, information, ideas. It also includes financial
resources like money –providing women with the access to money and providing them with
the control over the decision making be it at home, community, society and nation level and
help them gain `power'. Encouraging Women to be Multifaceted will give more opportunity
to women based on their capability to participate in, contribute to and benefit from the growth
processes in ways such that the value of their contributions is valued, dignity is respected,
and it is made possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. This will
subsequently improvise women's control over economic resources and strengthening
women's economic security. Empowerment of women in rural area is a necessity as this
would help women to get rid of the social violence and atrocities against her. Many
suggestions have been given in this research paper which would open up the doors of
awareness in the surroundings and the society in which women makes the living and make
them actively participating member and thus fight for their rights.
Objectives of the Study:
1. To assess the contemporary economic condition of women in rural India.
2. To find out economic issues facing by women in rural India.
3. To evaluate some government programs for economic empowerment of women in rural
India.
4. To suggest some new approaches towards economic empowerment of women in rural
India.
Literature Review:
The entitlement approach given by Sen (1981) is a substantial contribution in the research
studies related to different approaches for economic empowerment of rural women, which
suggests entitlement of land and credits to rural women for their economic upliftment. Ann

Charleen Marbourg (2015) explored this entitlement approach for economic empowerment of
rural women in Bangladesh by suggesting land inheritance in rural Bangladesh as it is not
inherent there, marriage used to be only a social protect for women in Bangladesh. Many
other conceptual and empirical studies supported that access to land and credit can
successfully empower rural women, K.C. Roy, C.A. Tisdell (2000) pointed out that in rural
India we have got two types of rights on land for women, first is legal and another is
customary where customary is informal right on land, findings suggested that all customary
rights should be transfigured in legal rights. Pranab R. Choudhury, Manoj Kumar
Behera(2016) proposed a legal government framework related to aceess to land of women
and suggested some legal amendments, in Research study by R. Vishnuvarthini and A.M.
Ayyothi (2016) also supported the findings of above researchers, their study presented that
only a legal foundation can do economic empowerment of rural women in India, the potential
role of SHGs have been assessed in their work which showed findings that employed women
in SHGs got better access to financial services. Julia Wiklander (2010) evaluated that women
in rural India should be empowered in economic sector as she will be free from domestic
abuse and will get equal access to decision making process in households and in property
rights. Shabbeer Ahmed (2016) assessed a wide gap between the provisions in Indian
constitution and the real condition of rural women in India. The access of rural women to
information, assets, credits and opportunities is insufficient. He found inter and intra state
imbalances are responsible for low economic empowerment of rural women in India.
Dr.ArjunYallappaPangannavar (2015) explained a holistic approach of SHGs in economic
empowerment of women in rural India; he pointed out that “Self Reliant Village Economy”
can only be constituted if rural women are going to be economic empowered. The role of
SHGs in economic empowerment of rural women has been suggested in the research work of
Sambat (1998), he explored the productive and participatory activities of SHGs in Thiland
and explained the rise of financial standard of people there. Narinder Paul, M.S. Nain (2015)
suggested a new approach towards empowering rural women in India; they presented a
collaborative approach of development with rural tourism for socio-economic empowerment
of rural women. Abdul Ahmed (2015) explained the participation of unskilled rural women
and their contribution in village economy. He suggested a micro level assessment for the
economic condition of unskilled rural women in India. RoopaBernardiner, Mangala S.M.
(2017) supported economic empowerment of rural women as it will stimulate equal
participation of women in household and community.

The findings of study of Dr. AabhaChaudhary (2016) gave a clear demonstration that greater
financial insecurity is present among elderly females in rural India and they have got paucity
of opportunities of creative use of time, so the direction of economic empowerment should be
towards elderly women in rural India, the findings of this study are indirectly supporting that
an exclusive approach should be constituted towards empowering elderly women as they can
be more productive for any economy, it can bring leadership quality among them and can
influence in the community, Sara Pavanello, Pamela Pozarny and Ana Paula(2015). Nitya
Rao (2011) recommended economic empowerment of rural women for optimal agricultural
contribution in economy, it is a glaring fact that its contribution is getting a dismal speed.
Research Methodology:
A conceptual research design has been adopted for the purpose of the study. The present
study explores the various economic issues which have been feminized in rural India which
are eventually creating many stumbling stones in the way of sustainable economic growth of
India. The study is mainly based on secondary data collected from various national and
international reports and various reputed journals. A comprehensive study of available
journals has been performed to examine various initiatives taken by national and international
organization including World Bank towards empowering rural women in economic sector.
This research study extends suggesting some inclusive ideas and approaches for economic
empowerment of rural women in India.
Women in Rural India: Their Potential Role in Economy
Women form 48% of India’s population hence women’s role in economic development
cannot be undermined. Comprising almost half of the population, women form a veritable
human resources base. Female labour force participation at an extraordinary level and in
varied forms contributes to building up of the economy in a massive way. The critical roles
and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and
rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty is phenomenal.
Rural women form the backbone of the agricultural labour force across the country. The
contribution of women towards generating economic activities begins right from home
starting from early hours till late in the night and in between attending to farming activities
including dairy and other activities like horticulture, floriculture and maintaining one full
family. They contribute immense in heavy domestic chorus to farming, weaving,
manufacturing, cottage and these village level activities contribute enormous to the building

up of economy. The quantum of women centric economy in as much as the level of their
investment in Human Capital , for their role in bringing up and teaching their children or
getting them imparted trainings in various skills which is used for generating incomes and
production in agriculture and industry.
The process is considered to have a positive impact if the women have access to economic
opportunities and control over the economic benefits of those opportunities; with knowledge
and skills to utilize the same to make strategic choices leading to positive changes in their
lives. The status of women is instantly uplifted with economic independence. The adopting
and implementing socio-economic programmes for economic development of rural and
needy women is an uncontested idea. This requires positive governmental intervention
and also change in societal outlook.
Issues faced by Rural Women in the path of economic empowerment:
In reality, however, inequality in the status between men and women has stood in the
way of society's granting recognition to women, which resulted in the denial of
opportunities for them and the utilization of their potentialities for the
community's welfare. Women have been subordinated to men almost always and
everywhere. The rural women in India suffers more than their urban counterparts both
because of extreme destitution, hardship caused due to gender–insensitive socio-eco-
political structures resulting into gender discrimination and gender inequity and other acts of
violence against women. Unfortunately the socio-eco status of rural women is inferior and
they are subjected to the tyranny and oppression since centuries and is continued even
today with men occupying focal space in economic life in the Indian countryside. Women
typically in rural areas face constraints in engaging in economic activities because of gender-
based discrimination and social norms, disproportionate involvement in unpaid work, and
unequal access to education, healthcare, property, and financial and other services. They are
typically considered as weaker than men and are customarily expected to confine
themselves to household environs and play a passive role as daughters, daughters-in-
law, wives and mothers. This has constrained their mobility and subsequently resulted
in lack of opportunities for the development of their inclusive personalities. They are
subject to discrimination and exploitation and occupy a lower status in economic scenario.
Women, particularly, in rural areas have proportionately least possessions, skills,
education, social status, leadership qualities and capabilities for mobilization,

which determines the degree of decision making and power, and as a result, their
dependence on men increases. They have been confined to the four walls of the
household, overburdened with domestic works and controlled of their mobility and personal
freedoms by the men of the household since time immemorial. So they have lagged
behind in the fields of education, skill development, employment and as a result, their
work is greatly undervalued in economic terms. Though our Constitution guarantees equal
rights and opportunities to both men and women, yet gender based visible and invisible
inequalities and inequities persist galore in our society. Despite their role related to
procreation in society, they are suffering due to multiple deprivations such as
nutritional diet, healthcare, institutional delivery facilities, etc.
Illiteracy is the major hurdle in the path of economic empowerment of women in rural areas.
Women in rural areas are deprived of their education as they are either dropped out to take
care of their siblings, engage into domestic work due to poverty or married at a very early
age. High school education is generally out of scope. Girls encounter various barriers to
education, upward economic mobility through higher- skilled employment is
nearly impossible. Most doors remain closed to women and girls; even if they desire to
upgrade their skills or improve their expertise. Education is the basic requirement to bring
about reduction and changes in inequalities and also acts as a means to improve women’s
status within the society. Along with education, health and well-being is also vital. A
woman’s diminishing health which includes problems related to reproductive health or issues
caused due to gender-based violence. Inaccessibility to sufficient nutrition, healthcare and
reproductive facilities and issues of fundamental safety and integrity are also a main
constraint to rural women. Healthy women will definitely have a sound mind and body which
is a foremost requisite for empowerment. Along with these being the basic hurdles, there are
many other handicaps or problems faced which is to be overcome.
In rural India, very few women have ownership over land or productive assets. This
proves to be a road block in institutional credit. Women not owning land and not having
access to credit are another obstacle that limits their control over economic resources. Access
to assets is the most important need for the empowerment of women in rural areas
particularly women who are into farming. The Indian legislation authorizations equal right of
man and women in property however, the condition in reality is not as expected. Rural
women do not get land under their ownership and deed of the land is generally allotted in the
name of their husband. This results in women not being able to independently make any

decisions on any of the agricultural aspects. Although women make substantial contributors
to agriculture development, their access to the most input credit is limited. Since women are
generally not land owners, the credit flow generally in the name of male members (i.e.
owners). Thus this deprives women from getting access to credits and thus money related
matters are reserved specially to male members.
Although women involve themselves in almost all agricultural operations, they still lack or
have inadequate technical competency and information due to their restricted mobility. This
subsequently has compelled them to follow the age old practices used in agriculture and
farming which has resulted in poor work efficiency and drudgery. Women also do not
actively participate in decision making or generally, decision regarding the activities that
require technical competency and money related matters are taken and considered by male
members of the family only. Since knowledge and economic independence are the parameters
of women empowerment, enhancing the technical knowledge, skills and building greater
involvement in various farm activities is required. Most of the agricultural manoeuvres
performed by women are manually and in an unskilled manner. There is very less research
and development done in these areas to reduce their trauma and results into greater drudgery
on the part of farm women. The technological approach and other agricultural information
dissemination are mainly through mass media. However, the women in the rural parts have
limited exposure to media which results in them being not mindful.
Feminisation of poverty:
Feminisation of poverty is social process in which, the incidence of poverty among women
becomes much higher than among men. This is prominently seen that female headed
households are poorer when compared to others specifically in the rural households of India.
Disparate income and feminisation is one of the main reasons. The discrimination in wages
paid to women tends to be higher in physically intensive activities. This inequality prevents
women from attaining resources and converting their monetary resources into socio-
economic status. This subsequently deprives women of their basic needs and capabilities
which eventually lead to cycle to debilitate women’s capability to earn higher income.
Exploitative and discriminatory working conditions, gender segregation in the labour market,
restricted mobility, women’s double work burden are the factors that limit women’s ability to
access and enjoy the returns on their work. Paramount or supreme amongst the obstacles to
women’s economic empowerment is society’s dependence on women’s unpaid work, either at

home or the market like in the agricultural sector. They shoulder the primary responsibility
for unpaid care work within the home too. Our society is heavily dependent on women’s
unpaid work to provide the necessary care of the young, old and sick members of the family.
This limits women’s time to engage effectively in income-generating work and results in
women’s acute ‘time poverty’, which actually outcomes in restricting their ability to engage
in paid and formal work and having increased time poverty. Rural women endure heavy
workloads both outside and inside the home and their work day is relatively longer than
men’s. However for the proportion of work done, the economic remuneration received is
smaller. Women's jobs are more likely than men's to be forms of informal employment, which
takes place in small, unregistered enterprises and are not protected by government
regulation. Women have often been associated with specific kinds of work, such as teaching,
caring for children and the elderly, domestic service, etc. These kinds of jobs lack stability
and security and the possibility of working at higher salaries. There is also for increased
numbers of single-mother families due to higher rate of male mortality after periods of
conflict, illness and other causes. As a consequence, women lack access to valued resources
and opportunities and continue to have a subordinate status in society.
Findings and Discussion:
Initiatives taken by the Indian Government and World Bank imparted Different
Approaches:
Against the background of the patriarchal system of society, the Government of India has
shown increasing concern for women's issues through a variety of legislation and schemes
with an objective of overall women empowerment. World organizations like the World Bank,
United Nations and also Non-Government organisations have focused on women’s issues
mainly the women in rural areas.
Indian government is continuously been adopting programmes aiming to ameliorate the
impoverished conditions of rural women specifically by introduction of Five Years Plans.
Empowering women economically, developing their work capacities, poverty alleviation,
employment and justice, self-reliability in agriculture, education, income, women and
children health care were the primary objectives. Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and various
constitutional protections are done for accounting wage inequality between men and women.
The Ministry for Women & Child Development was established with the intension and
powers to formulate plans, policies and programs; enacts and amend legislation policies,

guide and co-coordinate the efforts government and non-government organizations working
in the field of Women and Child Development. National Commission for Women was
launched by the government of India on International women’s day in 2010 to provide a
single window service for all programs run by the Government for Women under guidance of
various Central Ministries.
The introduction of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the year
2006 which was rechristened as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act (MNREGA) is one of the affirmative programmes. It was introduced with twin
objectives of rural employment and development and been perceived as a powerful
instrument for inclusive growth in rural India because of its triple impact on social protection,
livelihood security and democratic and economic empowerment.
Swayamsidha Program supports establishment of women’s self-help groups which will
empower women to have increased access to all kinds of resources that they are denied, in
addition to increasing their awareness and skills. This has brought about tremendous
improvement in the socio-economic status of rural poor women and facilitated in providing
skill enhancement to the poor women for income generating activities. STEP (Support to
Training and Employment Programme for Women) is scheme to educate poor and
marginalized women in traditional trades. It also aims to provide schemes that give
employability to women and to provide competencies and skills that facilitate women to
become self-employed or entrepreneurs.
Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) program was established to provide micro-finance services
which would bring about the socio-economic elevation of rural women. Women are imparted
professional, skill-based certified education like stitching, computer literacy and other
vocational courses which would thereby endow women to be financially independent and live
with dignity. Bharatiya Mahila Bank was established with objective to serve the banking
needs of women with facilitates are pre-dominantly for women to promote economic
empowerment. This is an all-women’s bank and provides services to women and women-run
businesses, supporting women’s self-help and their livelihoods to promote further financial
inclusion. Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari is micro finance institution that provides finances to
women in rural areas. A direct online marketing platform Mahila E-haat was launched to
support women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Non- Governmental
Organisations (NGOs).

There are number of schemes coined by the government for the benefit of women that
includes girl child education, Women Helpline Scheme, National Creche Scheme, Working
Women hostel, Various pension schemes, Technology Development and Utilization
Programme for Women, Scholarship programmes for girls, “UJJAWALA” - comprehensive
scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, which also helps in rehabilitation of victims
of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation,“GREH” - scheme for rehabilitation of
women who are deserted, victims of domestic violence former prisoners and without any
social and economic support, “NIRBHAYA” - the scheme for enhancing women's
safety.“Nari-Shakti-Puruskars” are the awards for the recognition and appreciation of the
efforts made by women and institutions in rendering distinguished services for the cause of
women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.
The World Bank is helping the Indian government to scale up a women's empowerment
initiative in India to bring transformational change in the lives of rural women, their families,
the economy, and society. National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) has promoted women's
economic empowerment in many states in India as part of its backing to the government of
India's flagship rural poverty reduction program. This program supportsrural women
producers through agriculture and livestock productivity enhancement, value chain
development, and non-farm activities along with supporting women to form producer groups
for collective training and skill development, to aggregate their produce, and to control
quality. While government initiatives are in place, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
have also taken on an increased role in the area of women’s empowerment. NGO’s,
previously catering to women’s health and educational needs have moved beyond this
traditional focus to addressing the underlying causes of deprivations through promoting the
economic and social empowerment of women. NGO’s like CARE India are committed
towards building an environment that is conducive to women empowerment especially those
who reside in the remote areas of the country, belonging to marginalized communities.
Suggestions/ Approaches for Economic Empowerment of Rural Women:
Literacy or providing education to women is foremost and the most powerful instrument
inempowering women in the society and main step towards economic empowerment. In order
to encourage education of women at all levels and to dilute gender bias in the provision and
acquaintance of education, schools, colleges and even universities must be established
exclusively for women. Government and several NGO’s are striving hard and been providing

a package of concessions to bring more girl children, especially from marginalized BPL
families, into the main stream of education. Vocational and technical training, life skills and
other literacy programmes for women to help them develop marketable skills and better
decision-making abilities are undertaken which enhances the mainstream employment of
women.
For rural women to promote access to resources like land and credits, concerted efforts are
taken. To promote access to land by women, measures for the distribution of land to the
landless women is considered. Policies on distribution of joint deeds to husband and wife and
short term operational ownership of land female farmers while giving land on leasing is
arranged. Fiscal and monetary policies must be analysed and revised from gender
perspective since they have impending impact on the lives of women. The gender
affirmative role of direct taxation must be further enhanced through various incentives
like reduction in stamp duties for women if assets are registered in their name,
lowering of income tax slabs, lowering of loan interest for women etc.
Financial inclusion policies towards must be normalized so that women gain better financial
identity, it must be aimed towards rural women having better access to financial services
such as credit sources, saving services, insurance, loan, pension . Special financial
literacy programmes must be chalked out the coverage of rural women folks , and also
availing of the transfer benefits and subsidies that are offered by the government. All
financial inclusion schemes needs to incorporate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
to assess gender outcomes to women and in particular to the women belonging to the
marginalized and vulnerable sections. District level voluntary agencies may be identified
which could help in developing and setting up women empowerment organizations in
villages. Credit organizations should simplify and streamline the procedures and guidelines to
best suit the rural women and loaning policies need to be orientation towards women. Credit
camps must be organized in village exclusively for women to imbibe awareness in them.
Farm women should also be recipient of credit facilities for which ownership of assets may
not be insisted upon.
Though several technological breakthroughs have been observed they are not tailored to the
specific needs of the farm women. Some of the tasks and jobs which women specifically are
involved with are drudgery prone include transplanting, weeding, harvesting, threshing,
winnowing etc. Measures to reorient the research system to cater to the needs of the farm

women may be taken that would lead to women specific technologies. Special attention must
be given by the farm scientist for evolving relevant technologies or modifying the existing
ones. While evolving agricultural technologies; indigenous practices used by women should
be paid due attention for blending with the frontier ones for greater adoption of new skill
development programmes. Local artisans must be consulted for designing, development and
testing of agricultural implements and machinery should be undertaken with the active
participation of rural women and it should serve as a blessing and reduce the burden on the
farming women folks.
Training serves as a significant component for the enhancement of skill, knowledge and
attitude .Specialized need based and skill oriented training should be organized preferably at
village level for building and improvising the technical competency among farm women.
Conservation and management of natural resources, pest management, renewable energy
sources, and seed production technology, use of fertilizer, post-harvest management, and
usage of latest technology in farming are some of the significant areas in which rural women
need training. For effectiveness trainings must be organized at appropriate time specially the
pre- seasonal training along with proper followed-up of the programmes and synchronization.
Important macro-economic policies need to be engendered and mainstreamed so that
women’s concerns are adequately reflected and they benefit equally from the fruits of
development. Gender wage gap across rural and urban, agricultural and non-agricultural jobs,
regular and casual employment needs to be addressed. Ensuring pay parity, satisfactory
conditions of work are critical subjects for insecurity for women particularly in the
formal employment. This growing in-formalisation and casualization of women’s work and
labour in the rural parts needs to be adequately addressed.
Women entrepreneurs in rural areas must be supported through microfinance and their
services and produces must be got into supply chains. Enhancing women’s access to the latest
digital media, Information and communication technologies can create a merging market of
connected women who can be linked to business opportunities. In addition, as employers, the
private sector must invest in women’s security against violence and take steps to ensure their
mobility through inclusive transport.
Women undertake the bulk of unpaid care work such as looking after and educating
children, looking after older family members, caring for the sick, household chores and
are the invisible life line of the rural community .This unshared burden of unpaid care

and nurturing that a woman is liable to under mines women’s participation in economy.
Recognizing women’s unpaid work and undertaking suitable strategies and support services
to integrate unpaid work with the programmes and measures to free woman’s time for paid
work through time-saving technologies, infrastructure, child/parental care services
(Crèches) and child care/parental leave needs to be undertaken. Such provisions would create
an enabling environment and to ensure the full cooperation in social, political and economic
life.
Identification of differently abled women and supporting such people with counselling and
education and special provisions under various rural and urban livelihood schemes for
women with different forms of disabilities need to be made. In order to prevent
marginalization of women migrant workers at their place of destination, a system of
new registration of tribal migrants by panchayats must be ensured. Special efforts need
to be made to safeguard the interests of migrant tribal worker especially domestic women
workers by registration, monitoring and accountability.
Integrated approach by United Nations for women’s Economic Empowerment: An
Exclusive Approach:
Women Empowerment requires a holistic approach that addresses their multi-faceted lives.
The overall empowerment would subsequently lead to socio-economic-political
empowerment. The United Nations Population Fund has characterized women’s
empowerment through five note worthy components - Women’s realization of self-worth and
self-esteem; their entitlement to have and decide on choices; their entitlement to have access
to prospects, opportunities and possessions; their entitlement to have the ability to control
their very own lives both within and outside their home; and their ability to influence and
impact changes to create a more just social - economic order globally. These five constituents
are predominantly pertinent to women’s economic empowerment. Furthermore, strengthening
their legal status and rights and ensuring their voices are perceived by including their
participation in economic decision-making are few other initiatives to expand women’s
economic opportunities. Intensifying women’s economic opportunities leads to more and
better opportunities, jobs for women across a wider range of sectors, a business environment
that supports women in starting their own businesses, and building their management and
entrepreneurial skills. Commercial banks and microfinance institutions provide women with
access to a range of financial services and products personalized to their requirements and

needs with additional credit and savings instruments. Also, providing with livelihood support
and security in times of inflation for women from rural areas.
Of all the strategic priorities identified by the Millennium Project Task Force on Education
and Gender Equality the following policies are of particular importance for women’s
economic empowerment.
• Coming up with plans and strategies and investing in infrastructure to reduce women’s and
girls’ time burdens, as unpaid work is as it determines women’s ability to devote time and
energy to economic activities.
• Expanding women’s formal employment, decreasing their dependence on informal
employment, terminating the income disparities, decreasing occupational segregation,
strengthening women’s entrepreneurship helps in improving livelihoods and eliminating
gender inequality. It serves as a direct means of promoting women’s economic opportunity
and a major contributor to meeting other approaches. All these are central contributors to
women’s economic empowerment.
• Guaranteeing women’s and girls’ property and inheritance rights, which reinforce women’s
access and control over, assets and other resources have a particular importance and enables
their access to finance and credits.
• Increasing women’s share of seats in governing bodies is a means of bringing women’s
voices into decision-making, boosting accountability and facilitating women’s inclusion in
the economic sphere.
Empowerment of women is only possible by adopting definite social and economic policies
with a view of total empowerment of women. This would make them realize that they have
the potential to be strong human beings and not vulnerable. This requires a concentrated
effort focused in the right direction that would rest only with the liberation of women
from all forms of evil.
Conclusion:
This research assessed several economic issues faced by rural women. In reality, women face
obstacles throughout the process of empowerment. Overcoming them require society to
actively reduce gender discriminatory norms and practices, as well as ensuring that public
institutions are accountable for putting gender rights in to practice. Women population

constitutes about 50 per cent of the population. Employment of women can help to boost
economic growth and in turn the GDP. The economic empowerment in turn upsurges
women’s access to economic resources and prospects including jobs, financial services,
property and other productive assets, skills development and market information. Some
suggestions have been provided in this study. Increasing women’s and girls’ education and
women employment will higher the economic growth and there will be reduction in the gap
between women’s and men’s labour force. This will bring about equilibrium in a society
which is highly dominated by men and give an opportunity for women to be self-sufficient. It
reduces economic dependency and provides with an opportunity to challenge many gender
stereotypes and discrimination. It is strive towards an equitable society and improved voice
and participation in all spheres of society with women in the community feeling confident,
and accorded to the main stream social processes. At last it has been concluded that the
integrated approaches implemented by UN has a great impact on economy growth. A core
suggestion has been given that a potential strategy is quite essential for balancing unpaid
work.
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