Published Paper Details:

Women empowerment schemes refers to various programmes for attaining gender equality, economic independence, education and safety for women. The Government of India has started several schemes for promoting women empowerment in India like Mahila E-Haat, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana,One stop centre scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana,Women Entrepreneurship Platform, Swadhar Greh Scheme,Stand up India scheme and others. This research paper tries to make an in-depth understanding about some women empowerment schemes of the Government of India, its effectiveness and level of satisfaction among women beneficiaries and the challenges women face in accessing these schemes. The research focuses on beneficiaries of women empowerment schemes in Ernakulam district, Kerala, using a well-structured questionnaire for data collection. The collected data was classified and analysed based on the objectives of the study. Percentage analysis along with graphical representations and weighted mean score is used to interpret the data. The study reveals that most of the beneficiaries of women empowerment schemes are satisfied with scheme accessibility, quality of benefit and timeliness of benefit delivery. Women empowerment schemes contribute to education, health, employment opportunities and social status. But many respondents opined that lack of awareness and financial independence about the schemes pose a challenge to enjoy the benefits.