About one’s rights and responsibilities and socio-economic and political

opportunities (Panday, 1993). Empowerment implies a fundamental re distribution

of power, which also enables women to re-negotiate their existence on equitable
bases (Banerjee, 1992).

As far as India is concern, observers notice conflicting views on empowerment.

While some feel in India that though various development and policies and
programs particularly through the panchayats for empowerment of the people have
been placed, there is also a view that empowerment in real sense of the term has in
the papers only. Similarly, women constitutes to lag behind and not empowered this
will constitutes an embalance in the overall process of social development. On the
realization , a number of policies, programs and actions has been taken to ensure
empowerment of women of India. Under the circumstances , the present research
seeks to focus on this as to whether empowerment of women has been achieved
and if not, what are reasons that come in the way of empowerment of women in
India.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

‘Empowerment’ is seen as a process where outcomes would lead to

renegotiations to gender relation, enhance women’s access and control over
human, material financial and intellectual resources. Empowerment of
women’s sections can be understood as a process which enables woman to
question and analysis the basis of their subordination, to articulate the
problem, ways of addressing their problems and to take decisions, to march
forward and act upon. Empowerment does not end with election but in
decision making, planning, implementation of development programs,
monitoring and evaluations of the program and sharing the benefits of
development. Women participation in politics of local bodies through
reservation is certainly a positive development but to make it work needs
sincere efforts from different quarters. Something than participation is
required to which the term empowerment focuses. It is concerned with
women empowerment through ideas, education and consciousness. The
empowerment is