Are Women Empowered in India? A Perspective of Women Participation in Mgnrega From Ladnu Block of Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Women empowerment is about promoting their sense of self-worth and ability to make choices which may create social influence in society. Moreover, it emphasises sharing equal responsibility in the family as well as society in terms of accessing their choices without any hindrances, contributing economically to the family and society, and representing equally everywhere in the process of development. World’s largest employment guarantee programme, i.e. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has provisioned providing 100 days of jobs to one-third of women in the country to ensure livelihood security and asset creation. The current paper tries to highlight the experiences of the beneficiaries from Ladnu block of Rajasthan about their improved lifestyles in terms of qualitative research and suggests ways to bridge the existing gaps to achieve the goal. In other words, it tries to explore whether women, as a beneficiary of the MGNREGA, are contributing to the programme or not, and creating assets for maintaining a better lifestyle. To answer this question, a blended methodology was implemented in two villages of Ladnu block of Rajasthan with 97 respondents. The results are positive from the numbers; however, to achieve the real goal of the Act, the government must actively mull over creating awareness among the community through Gram Panchayat (GP), orient the GP members towards implementing the Act with transparency, timely payment, increase the wage as per the inflation rate and converge different schemes with MGNREGA .