Women\'s Development in India : Problems and Prospects (Essays in Honour of Prof R.N. Prasad)
Contents: Foreword/P.L. Sanjeev Reddy. Introduction/Arvind K. Sharma. Preface. 1. Women\'s development--problems and prospects/Shanta Kohli Chandra. 2. Women\'s development--historical perspective/K.L. Noatay. 3. Policies and programmes for the upliftment of women in India/Lalneihzovi. 4. Women\'s participation in politics and decision-making--problems and prospects/R.N. Prasad. 5. Political empowerment of women/Yogendra Narain, S.N. Sahu and L. Lakshmi. 6. Women\'s empowerment through Panchayati Raj Institution--a case study of Wambori Gram Panchayati in Maharashtra/Neelima Deshmukh. 7. The genre of women leaders in local bodies experience from Tamil Nadu/G. Palanithurai. 8. Women leaders and Panchayat Raj--a micro study/Srinibas Pathi. 9. Empowerment of women in urban administration/U.B. Singh. 10. Empowerment of women--from North East Indian women\'s perspective/T. Vanlaltlani. 11. The women\'s reservation bill--a crisis of identity/Roopa Sharma. 12. Reservation for women in union and state legislatures--a perspective/Snehlata Panda. 13. Administration of women prisoners in Orissa--problems and issues/Sabita Mishra and Amarendra Mohanty. 14. Women empowerment in Haryana--the educational dimension/S.S. Chahar and Neelam. Index.
"Development is a process of societal transformation from a traditional society to a modern society. It emphasises the elimination of poverty, unemployment, social, economic and gender inequality. Women are at the heart of development. Development plans ought to take into account women\'s abilities, rights and needs at every stage. It also means a better life which calls for equality of opportunities and social justice to all people across gender, caste/class and religion. The process needs to involve the poor and deprived men and women enabling them to get the benefit there from and to save their own future that can be possible only by political and economic empowerment. A development strategy without involving gender as a category appears wasteful and self defeating.
The edited volume which comprises fourteen scholarly papers deals with the concept of development and various issues/problems and constraints, viz., political and economic empowerment of women, and suggests to resolve the degrading socio-politico-economic conditions affecting the poor/neglected women adversely who are the victims of chronic poverty, unemployment, exploitation and gender inequality because of unequal productive and property relations. It provides policy insights and will be highly useful and valuable." (jacket)
