ABSTRACT

Empowering Young Women to Lead Change - The Need of the Hour

* Prof.Sunita Agrawal ** Veena Mahesh Baghel

When women move forward, the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves words of Jawaharlal Nehru about the status of women that is closely associated with their economic position, which in turn depends upon their access to productive resources of the country and the opportunities for participation in socio-economic activities. Women constitute half of the worlds population and contribute substantially to the all round development of the world. However, majority of them are the poor, oppressed, under privileged and discriminated. A review of government's various programmes for women empowerment such as Swashakti, Swayamsidha, Streeshakti, Balika samrudhi yojana and another two thousand projects reveal that little has been done or achieved through these programmes. The discrepancy in the ideology and practice of the empowerment policy of women in India constitutes its continued social, economic and social backwardness. Women make up 52% of our country's population. Hence there can be no progress unless their needs and interests are fully met. Empowerment would not hold any meaning unless they are made strong, alert and aware of their equal status in the society. Policies should be framed to bring them into the mainstream of society. There is no doubt about the fact that development of women has always been the central focus of planning since Independence. Empowerment is a major step in this direction but it has to be seen in a relational context. A clear vision is needed to remove the obstacles to the path of women's emancipation both from the government and women themselves. Efforts should be directed towards all round development of each and every section of Indian women by giving them their due share.

Key words- empowerment, intellectual, privileged, discrepancy

Principal, Advent Institute of Management Studies, Udaipur-313001(Rajasthan)

** Research Scholar, Pacific Academy of Higher Education & Research University, (PAHER) Udaipur-313001(Rajasthan) 1

Empowering Young Women to Lead Change - The Need of the Hour

* Prof.Sunita Agrawal ** Veena Mahesh Baghel

BACKGROUND Around the world, resilient and resourceful women contribute in a multitude of ways. Empowerment is a development process which is an offshoot to economic growth. Women constitute half of the worlds population and contribute substantially to the all round development of the world. Women empowerment is a continuous process of enabling them to fight the forces that Oppress them, provide equal access to the resources and opportunities and control over resources. Women empowerment, in short indicates a change from powerlessness to powerfulness under privileged to privileged, and change in socio, economic, political, intellectual and cultural. Empowerment should basically mean (a) economic empowerment (i.e. greater and better access to savings and credit and hence greater economic role in decision making by the women in the household), (b) Increased Well Being (as a consequence of economic empowerment, more decisive role to spend on health and education of women and their children) and (c) Socio-political empowerment of women (a combination of womens increased economic activity and control over resources thereby enhances the womens skill, mobility, access to knowledge and support networks.) The continuity of changes in socio-economic and psycho-cultural aspects of human living has influenced the role of women. With the process of Industrialization, Modernization and Globalization showing its deep impact on the human society all over the world, the role and responsibilities of women has attained new definition and perspective. The women issues have received tremendous attention in the planning circle and in wide intellectual discussions and forums at national and global platforms.

 INDIAN SCENERIO- Status of Women in India Woman has been suppressed under custom and law for which man was responsible and in the shaping of which she had no hand. Woman has as much right to shape her own destiny as man has to shape his. It is up to men to see that they enable them to realize their full status and play their part as equal of men. Mahatma Gandhi The first task in post-independent India was to provide a constitution to the people, which would not make any distinctions on the basis of sex. Article 15(1) of the Indian Constitution guarantees equalities of opportunities for all citizens in matters of employment. Article 15(3) provides that the state can make any special provisions for women and children. Besides, directive principle of state policy which concern women directly and have a special bearing on their status directly and have a special bearing on their status include Article 39(a) right to an adequate means of livelihood; (d) equal pay for equal work both men and women, (e) protection of health and strength of workers . Men, women, children and Article 42 provides for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. It is really important to note that though the Constitution of India is working since more than sixty years. The raising of the status of women to one of equality, freedom and dignity is still a question mark. Rational of study In context to women empowerment special emphasis on enabling women to participate and equally benefit from the opportunities available and appearing from the region. The changed process will automatically enabled the local women to pursue rights and interest and to gain new opportunities.

 Objectives of the studies 1) To understand the women past and today on personal overall developments 2) To explore the past reviews done on the women empowerment 3) To access the percentage of women progress on percentage increased in population.

The progress of Indian women The progress in the situation of Indian women are given in Empowerment of women is a gradual and complicated process. It involves changing the way of thinking of the whole society. From long time it has been stamped on the minds of the people that women are inferior to men. It is not easy to change the stubborn attitude of the people. In rural India, Women have inadequate access to education, health facilities, healthy diet etc. In India gradually the percentage of working women is rising. Only by contributing towards income of the family the women can get rid of the status of "burden". Entrepreneur women can positively contribute to attain the goal of women empowerment. Entrepreneurship provides women for what she is longing for - control over the resources and power of decision making. Such women can help in poverty alleviation by providing job opportunities for many other deserving women. Surveys have proved that a large percentage of educated but not trained women are present in the country. Such women can be given training in a specific field like making homemade papads or pickles, handicrafts and many such things and can start their own small enterprise. The literacy rate of females, which was 8.86% in 1951 rose to 54.16% in 2001. Womens work participation rate, which was 19.7% in 1981, rose to 25.7% in 2001. The data base also brings out the areas where the progress has been slow if not retrograde. The sex ratio in the 0-6 years age group dropped from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001, which indicates that society still does not welcome a girl child and the preference rests with sons. Nearly 50% women get married before they attain 18 years of age, and 57.9% pregnant women and 56.2% married women suffer from anaemia. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) is still quite high, at 254 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (in 2006). Thus, there is room for much more to be done to ameliorate the plight of women at the grass root level

Progress of Indian Women, 2008

Development Indicators * Demography - Population(in million in 1971 & 2001) - Decennial Growth (1971 & 2001) * Vital Statistics - Sex Ratio (1971 & 2001) Expectation of Life at Birth (1971 & 2001-06) - Mean Age at Marriage (1971 & 1991) * Health and Family Welfare - Birth Rate (1971 & 2008) - Death Rate (1970 & 2008) Infant Mortality Rate (1978 & 2008) Per 1000 live births - Child Death Rate (2007) (2007) (5-14 years) - Maternal Mortality Rate (1980 & 2006) * Literacy and Education - Literacy Rates (1971 & 2001) Gross Enrolment Ratio (1990-91 & 2006-07) (%) Classes I-V Classes VI-VIII Drop-out Rate (1990-91 & 2006-07) (%) Classes I-V Classes I-VIII (0-4 years) Women Men Total Women Men Total

264.10 24.90

284.00 24.40

548.10 24.65

495.90 21.70

531.20 20.90

1027.10 21.30

930 50.20 17.20 50.50 22.40

50.90 -

933ss 66.91 19.30 63.87 23.90

36.90 15.60 131.00 15.80 123.00 15.70 127.00 6.80 55.00 16.90 1.20 468.00 254.00 8.00 52.00 15.20 1.10

22.80 7.4 53.00 16.00 1.20

7.90

24.90

16.7

54.28

75.96

65.38

85.50 47.80

113.90 76.60

100.1 62.10

107.80 69.50

114.40 77.40

111.2 73.60

46.00

40.10

42.60

26.60 45.30

24.40 46.60

25.4 46.0

Table (Contd.)

Development Indicators * Work and Employment - Work Participation Rate (1971 & 2001) (%) 14.2 - Organised Sector 19.3 (No. in lakhs in 1971 & 2006) - Public Sector (No. in lakhs in 1971 & 2006) * Decision Making - Administrative IAS (2002 & 2006) 535 (10.4%) IPS (2005 & 2006) 142 (4.4%) - Political PRIs (No. in lakhs in 1997 & 2009) 8.14 (31.3%) Legislative Assemblies (No. in 1985 & 2000) 141 (5.1%) 2632 2773 17.84 25.98 10.38 (36.83) 229 (5.6%) 3838 4067 17.79 28.18 3056 3198 4624 5159 571 (11.9%) 150 (4.7%) 3059 3209 4219 4790 (11%) 8.6 (8%) 98.7 107.3 155.6 174.9 51.21 (19%) 30.03 (16.51%) 151.85 181.88 218.72 269.93 52.8 34.3 25.68 51.93 39.26 Women Men Total Women Men Total

Parliament (No. in 1989 & 2009)

47 (61%)

721

768 (10.12%)

80

710

790

Notes: @ Refers to 1995 in respect of only 9 States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura and West Bengal. Figure in parentheses indicate the percentage in the total and year of the data in respective columns. Data from Planning Commission. Source: India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Women and Child Development. (2001). Working Group on Empowerment of Women: Tenth Plan (2002-07): Report. New Delhi. p.43. India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education and Literacy. (2009). Annual Report 2008-09. New Delhi. p. 307-08, 317-18. India, Registrar General. (2008). Sample Registration System: Statistical Report 2007. New Delhi. p. 83-84. India, Registrar General. (2009). Sample Registration System Bulletin, October 2008. New Delhi. p. 1-5.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE Robeyns (2003), womens development can be attained by improving her status and bargaining power in the economy. The World Bank has suggested that empowerment of women should be a key aspect of all social development programs (World Bank, 2001). International organizations like the World Bank and United Nations have focused on womens issues especially the empowerment of poor women in rural areas. NGOs, previously catering to womens 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 (McNamara, 2003). There are many challenges that face NGOs who make it their goal to empower women (Narayan, 2002; Mayoux, 2000; Malhotra and Mather, 1997). Although the notion of womens empowerment has long been legitimized by international development agencies, what actually comprises empowerment, and how it is measured, is debated in the development literature. Malhotra, Schuler and Boender (2002) provide many ways that empowerment can be measured & can be measured by factors contributing, of their personal, economic, familial, and political empowerment. Household and interfamilial relations have been included here as it is a central locus of womens disempowerment in India. (Batliwala 1994; Bisnath and Elson 1999; Kabeer 2001; Narasimhan, 1999; and Sen and Grown, 1987). A womens role in household decision-making: control over money matters and other important household matter is a function of the family structure (Malhotra and Mather 1997). Education has been argued as one of the indicators of empowerment (Malhotra and Mather, 1997). Empowerment includes cognitive and psychological elements, such as a womens understanding of her condition of subordination and the causes of such conditions which may be enabled by education (Stromquist, 1995). According to the UN 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, women empowerment has five components that include womens sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and resources; their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally. Eleventh Five Year The 7

Eleventh Five Year Plan proposes to undertake special Plan (2007-2012) measures for gender empowerment and equity. The Ministry of Women and Child Development would make synergistic use of gender budget and gender mainstreaming process. The Eleventh Five-Year Plan aims to achieve inclusive growth and reduce disparities. Programmes for Women Although there are multiples of government schemes and programmes running through various development agencies and department foe betterment of womens Swawlamban, the erstwhile Training-cum-Employment Programme for Women provides skill training to women to facilitate their employment or self- employment on a sustained basis in traditional and non- traditional trades. Till December 2002, 902 projects including 262 continuing projects benefiting 58,458 women were sanctioned. With effect from 1.4.2006, Swawlamban is being transferred to the States. During 2005-06, 7660 beneficiaries availed benefits under the scheme. The Department has initiated the gender budgeting exercise to assess the impact and outcome of Government spending on Women. Gender Budget Cells have been set up in 9 Departments/Ministries namely, Health, Family Welfare, Elementary Education and Literacy, Labour and Employment, Rural Development, Social Justice and

Empowerment, Tribal Affairs, Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation and Small Scale Industries. A National Resource Centre for Women (NRCW) Portal has been set up to inform and empower women, and lodge complaints of womens rights violations on-line. Gender Budget analysis of various Ministries spending was undertaken to assess the utilization of funds for women. SCOPE AND FOCUS The global context which impacts the livelihoods and overall well-being of rural women often in different ways than men and the subsequent impacts for their families, then turns to an exploration of rural womens roles and the most critical issues that must be addressed by governments, civil society and other stakeholders to enable rural womens economic empowerment. 8

 INDIAN SECNERIO Women empowerment in India is a challenging task as we need to acknowledge the fact that gender based discrimination is a deep rooted social malice practiced in India in many forms since thousands of years. Formulating laws and policies are not enough as it is seen that most of the times these laws and policies just remain on paper. The ground situation on the other hand just remains the same and in many instances worsens further. Addressing the malice of gender discrimination and women empowerment in India is long drawn battle against powerful structural forces of the society which are against women's growth and development. 1. Women empowerment in India: The need for ground level actions We have to accept the fact that things are not going to change overnight but because of this we cannot stop taking action either. At this juncture the most important step is to initiate ground level actions however small it might seem. The ground level actions should be focused towards changing the social attitude and practices prevalent in the society which are highly biased against women. This can be initiated by working with the women at the root level and focusing on increasing women's access and control over resources and increasing their control over decision making. Further working on the aspect of enhanced mobility and social interaction of women in the society would positively influence all round development and empowerment of women in India. 2. Women empowerment in India: Reality check at the ground level Today there are lots of things that are happening in the name of women empowerment in India and lot of resources are spent in this direction. Keeping this in mind it is crucial to have a reality check on what is happening on paper and what is the actual ground situation. It is worthwhile to ponder on the fact that we are one of the worst in terms of worldwide gender equality rankings. In India women are discriminated and marginalized at every level of the society whether it is social participation, economic opportunity and economic participation, political participation, access to education or access to nutrition and reproductive health care. A significant few in the society still consider women as sex objects. Gender disparity is high, crimes against women are increasing and violence against women is all time high and in most cases go unreported. Dowry related problems and death is increasing and is profoundly manifesting in the urban population. Workplace harassment of women is another phenomenon which is rapidly increasing as more women join the workforce. Early age marriages are still 9

taking place in large numbers and the number of girls going to school is abysmally low. Moreover majority of the girls who join the school drop out by the age of puberty to get married and live a life of drudgery. Female feticide and infanticide is starring the nation as one of the biggest social crisis. All this is happening despite the fact that there are number of programmes and policy initiatives that is being run by the government and other bodies. The year 2001 was declared as the National policy for empowerment of women. So it is time to ask the question whether we are moving in the right direction and where are we in terms of the paper actions and the actual ground realities. 3. Women empowerment in India: Discrimination against women in all walks of life One of the major aspects of women empowerment in India is to change the attitude of society towards women. The problem in India is that the society never worked on the premise of gender equality from a long-long time. Atrocities and discrimination against women is a way of daily life in Indian society. There is an attitude which still prevails in India where women are considered to be only worthwhile of household activities and managing the children. The veil system, child marriage and dowry are testimonies to this truth. Women have never been part of the mainstream society in India and they are still considered as a great liability. If we just look at the sex ratio it will show the plight of women in India. It is the lowest at around 933. Female literacy is just 54.16 % as per 2001 Census. In Indian parliament and assemblies women have never represented more than 10%. Most of the women workers in India are outside the organized sector. Administrators, managers, professionals combined together and technical workers on the other hand are the lowest at 2.3% and 20 % respectively. Now these figures gives the real truth of the actual mentality of the society which has restricted women, marginalized women and discriminated against women quite openly. Can we achieve women empowerment in India with these alarming and dismal figures? 4. Women empowerment in India: Women not in control over their circumstance The government had declared 2001 as the women's empowerment year but nothing much has happened even after that. Women even today are not able to exercise full control over their circumstances or actions. From a welfare society at the inception, India moved on to embrace the developmental model and now the latest fad is the empowerment model. But with all these initiatives however genuine they might have been or they are, nothing substantial has happened on the ground. Majority of Women in India are poor, uneducated and insufficiently trained. They often end up in the daily struggle of managing an ill equipped family and are not in a position to propel out themselves of the oppressive and regressive social and economic 10

conditions. Female infanticide is one of the biggest crimes against humanity that is being carried out in India. The patriarchal system encourages a male child and considers women as a property or liability from the day she is born. We need to accept the truth that there is a great discrepancy in the ideology and the actual practice of empowerment policy in India. Everything is happening at a very superficial level and the time has come to find out an actionable path at the ground level for real and measurable change. 5. Women empowerment in India: Issues to be tackled There are quite a large number of issues which need to be addressed to streamline the existing women empowerment programmes in India as well as initiating actual work at the ground level. Women make up to 52% of country's population but their living conditions are very tough and torturous. To initiate measurable actions at ground level, education of women should be given top priority and female literacy programmes need to be enforced across the country. Further to improve the socioeconomic conditions women need to be trained and better equipped for taking informed decisions. The real change will be only visible when social attitudes and norms change. Here inclusive programmes involving the men are the need of the hour. This will be helpful for working out adjustments and sharing of gender based specific performance or tasks which are currently overburdening the women to no end. Unless we improve the ground level living standards of women in India we might not be able to influence their empowerment in any other possible way. Various issues that need to be addressed for improving overall conditions of the women in India include making access to affordable coking fuel for rural women, providing safe drinking water, sanitation, increasing decision making capacity among women, providing equal wages as that of men, ending their exploitation, improving the political participation of women, eradicating poverty among women, increasing the security of women who are engaged in agriculture as daily wage workers, providing affordable healthcare and nutrition and managing the risk of unwanted pregnancies, HIV infections and sexually transmitted diseases. 6. Women empowerment in India: Ending gender inequality and gender bias Unless we change the basic social attitude which cultivates gender inequality and gender bias we would not be able to achieve much in terms of women empowerment in India. There are many laws and there have been many amendments that have been carried out to end the discrimination against women and empower women in all aspects of life. Gender equality is enshrined in Indian constitution and constitution empowers the state to end the gender based discrimination against women. There is reservation of seats in local bodies and municipalities 11

and another law is being envisioned for reservation in parliament. But the sad part is that all these laws and amendments have become toothless as the fundamental problems lies in the attitude of the society which is highly biased against women. Now what is the solution? The only solution is for women to come together as a unifying force and initiate self empowering actions at the ground level. Let it happen even if it is at a slow pace initially but it must happen despite however small the initial steps might look like. So the connection is very clear. Once we work towards self empowerment through small number of infinite actions, we become aware of the ground realities and then we can think about taking further recourse towards changing the mindset of the society which fosters gender inequality and bias. 7. Women empowerment in India: Ending violence against women When we talk about women empowerment in India the most important aspect that comes into the mind is the attitude of the society towards women. Women are still considered as burden and liabilities. They are also considered as properties. These kinds of attitudes give birth to the evil of violence against women. Women empowerment in India is not possible unless violence against women is eradicated from the society. National Commission of women was created in 1992 and Convention of elimination of all forms of discrimination against women was ratified in 1993. Apart from the laws and policy formulations the violence against women can be only tackled through attitudinal change that need to take place in the family, in the society and the female members of the society as well. Gender sensitization and gender training is primary need of the hour. The struggle of gender equality should be carried at every level and it should overcome the barriers of caste, class, race and religion. 8. Women empowerment in India: Cooperation among women Womens empowerment cannot take place unless women come together and decide to selfempower themselves. Self empowerment should be all round in nature. Once this happens then we can think about galvanizing the system towards the direction of better health facilities, nutrition and educational facilities for women at a very large scale. Self empowerment can begin by addressing day to day issues faced by individual women and tackling them with a mindset of improving the overall living conditions of women at every level and strata of the society. In this regard progressive and resourceful women in the society need to come forward to help their less privileged sisters in as many ways as possible. This shall help us sow the seed for real women empowerment in India.

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This site envisions the rise of womanhood in true sense that is the rise of the "essence" of womanhood in the physical, mental, intellectual and the spiritual planes. It calls for the beginning of a campaign for the true rise of women in all spheres of life for the restoration of the balance in nature. Somewhere we have to make a beginning and it's always better if we make the initiation at our own self. We can strengthen this mass movement for the "rise of womanhood" by bringing about the necessary changes in our own life as felt by our inner self. Further we can transmit the new thinking to others who care to listen. A small step today will definitely lead to a giant leap tomorrow. Critical Areas of Concern A. Women and Poverty _ Strategic Objective: Review, adopt and maintain macroeconomic policies and development strategies that address the needs and efforts of women in poverty. _ Revise laws and administrative practices to ensure womens equal rights and access to economic resources. _ Provide women with access to savings and credit mechanisms and institutions. B. Education and Training of Women _ Ensure equal access to education _ Eradicate illiteracy among women _ Improve womens access to vocational training, science and technology, and continuing education _ Develop non-discriminatory education and training _ Allocate sufficient resources for and monitor the implementation of educational reforms _ Promote lifelong education and training for girls and women

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C. Women and Health _ Increase womens access throughout the life cycle to appropriate, affordable and quality health care, information and related services. _ Strengthen preventive programmes that promote womens health _ Undertake gender-sensitive initiatives that address sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health issues _ Increase resources and monitor follow-up for womens health D. Violence against Women _ Take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women _ Study the causes and consequences of violence against women and the effectiveness of preventive measures _ Eliminate trafficking in women and assist victims of prostitution and trafficking E. Women and Economy _ Promote womens economic rights and independence, including access to employment, appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources _ Facilitate womens equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade _ Provide business services, training and access to markets, information and technology, particularly to low income women _ Strengthen womens economic capacity and commercial networks _ Eliminate occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination _ Promote harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women

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G. Women in Power and Decision-making _ Take measures to ensure womens equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making. Increase womens capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership. CONCLUSION India is not famous for its democracy alone; it is also famous as the second largest populous country with huge segment of its population under the trap of abject poverty. It is a matter of fact that anti-poverty measures in India have achieved nothing substantial to uplift a major segment of the population from the poverty trap. The Government of India has adopted many democratic poverty alleviation strategies and mechanisms with the pumping of huge financial resources. However, it is a matter of regret that chronic poverty continues to hound major segments of the rural populace in India. India is on the 94th position, as per the Global Hunger Index, out of 119 countries. India occupies the 132nd position among 179 countries in the UNDPs 2009 Human Development Index. Rural womens economic empowerment can have a positive impact on, and is interconnected with, their social and political empowerment, through their increased respect, status, and self-confidence and increased decision-making power in households, communities, and institutions. While there is a strong business case: for addressing rural womens economic empowerment namely alleviating poverty. The situation of women and girl child is improving in India. The government of India is making umpteen efforts to uplift the girl child. The education for girl child is free till high school and particularly in capital region the state government pays a certain amount to the parents of girl child in lower strata of society for their upbringing. Still we cannot talk of women empowerment when cases of violence against women are rampant everywhere. Society needs to change itself and the way it thinks. What needs to begin is a movement to empower the girl child from the very beginning of her existence. Her upbringing needs to be changed. She cannot be brought up in an environment where women are taught to remain subdued; their aspirations cannot be curbed because they are females, they cannot be ignored. The girl child needs to grow learning that she is no less than her brother. She needs to know that a wide range of avenues wait for her to be explored in this world of hi tech lifestyle. The urban India has already tasted this change, 15

but the situation has to be improved in rural parts which constitutes the major part of our population. The government and NGOs are doing their very best to bring out changes in these areas. Women empowerment drives and initiatives will continue and some will do wonders in achieving their goals. But the real difference will come only once the foundation of our society undergoes dramatic transformation. References 1) Dainty, A.R.J., Bryman, A. and Price, A.D.F. (2002), .Empowerment within the UK construction Sector., Leadership and Organization Development Journal,Vol.23, No.6, pp.333-42. 2) Kabeer, N. (2001), .Reflections on the Measurement of Women.s Empowerment., In Discussing Women.s Empowerment-Theory and Practice, Ida Studies No. 3, Novum Grafiska AB: Stockholm. 3) Kishor, S. (2000a), .Empowerment of Women in Egypt and Links to the Survival and Health of Their Infants., In Womens Empowerment and Demographic Processes: Moving Beyond Cairo, Harriet Presser and Gita Sen, eds. New York: Oxford University Press. 4) Malhotra, A., Schuler, S.R. and Boender, C. (2002), .Measuring Women.s Empowerment as a Variable in International Development., paper presented at World Bank Workshop, Washington, DC, pp.1-58. 5) Mayoux, L. (2000), Sustainable Micro-finance for Women.s Empowerment: A Participatory Learning and Action Approach,UNIFEM. 6) Menon.Sen, K. and Prabhu K.S. (2001), .The Budget: A Quick Look through A .Gender Lens. Economic and Political Weekly, April 14. 7) Narayan, D. (2002), Empowerment and Poverty Reduction: A Sourcebook, Washington: World Bank.

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