Published Paper Details:

Abstract : Women�s empowerment in India is heavily dependent on many different variables which include geographical location (urban/rural), educational status, social status (caste and class) and age. Policies on empowerment of women exist at national, state and local (panchayat) levels. Still women face differentiation in many sectors like health, education, economic opportunities and political participation which shows that there are significant gaps between policy advancements and actual practice at the community level. This paper reveals current status of women empowerment indicators in India. The origins of the concept of empowerment go back to the civil rights in the USA in the 1960. Since the mid-1980s the term empowerment has become popular in the field of development, especially in reference to women. Women Empowerment in India The status of Women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millenniums. In early Vedic period Women enjoyed equal status with men. Rigved & Upanishads mention several names of women sages and seers notably Gargi & Maitrey. Later the status of women began to deteriorate approximately from 500 B.C., the situation worsened with invasion of Mughals and later on by European invaders. The real change came after independence. The group level deals with the collective action and sense of agency that woman experience together, in a group.