Women in Indian Economy

Abstract

Women in India constitute nearly half of the population. During the vedic times women occupied a key position; they were worshipped and called as shakti. The status of women was high and they were given education equally with men. In the early centuries India even witnessed women rulers like Jhansi Lakshmi Bai and Rudrama Devi. Foreign invasions made the situation of women worse. Women were confined to the four walls, education was given least importance, their role in decision making almost became negligible. Their role was limited only to performing household activities. Freedom movement brought a drastic change, women started coming out of their homes. Education, participation in social activities, taking up jobs, involving in literary works, etc., caught up, but remained with the higher class women. No change is seen in the middle and lower class as they still believed in remaining indoors. After independence, India realised that leaving out women is not conducive to development. By the time of sixth plan itself major concern was shown towards empowerment of women. In the early years of independence, development of women was slow. Education and entrepreneurship prevailed mainly among the upper classes while middle and lower class women were still confined to household activities. In the coin se of time, however, women started getting education, stopped believing that their sole duty was 3 ks (kitchen, kids, knitting). They began to come out and have eventually become a part of the working population. Now, she has to take up dual responsibility, i.e., earning as well as taking care ofhousehold activities. Hence, women prefer taking up a job to starting their own firms. With the advent of new technology, the world started moving at a faster rate, so too the women. Development started at three levels: lower, middle and upper classes. Development also took place at rural and urban levels. The following discussion focuses on development in bringing about women empowerment basically dealing with the working women and woman entrepreneurs.