Published Paper Details:

Women constitute almost half of the population in India at present. The long standing demand of women to be treated equally in socio-economic and political sphere seems to be fulfilled by passage of legislation by the government of Karnataka as fifty per cent seats are to be reserved for women in the Panchayat institutions. In the male dominated society like India, entry into political process was not so much easy. The contribution of women during national struggle for independence was recognised and this made the members of constitutional assembly to offer them with equal political rights in our constitution. But after Independence things started changing as women were not adequately involved in the political development of the nation. The experiment of thirty three per cent reservations for women at the local government has proved successful in accommodating large number of women in exercising political power. In this perspective, the contribution of women�s organisation could be considered, as these were constantly striving for better standard of life for women in India. Women organisations are playing significant role in empowering women and preparing them for formal and informal political participation. Reservation at the grassroots level has proved as the boon for women to enter into politics and prove their calibre, as today we have professionally qualified girls. In this regard, this paper � based on both primary and secondary data � tries to focus on the role of the women organisations in arousing political consciousness among women in India and their contribution in building India into a truly democratic state.