Rural Development and Empowerment of Weaker Sections : Practices, Promotion and Programmes

Contents: Foreword. Preface. I. Empowerment of women and other weaker sections: 1. Impact of self-help groups on women self empowerment/B.S. Vasudeva Rao, P. Viswanadha Gupta, K. Baby Sarojini. 2. Empowerment of rural women: issues and concerns/M. Venkataraman, D. Sunder Raj. 3. Women empowerment: the key for rural development/Himanshu Sekhar Rout. 4. Women empowerment and poverty alleviation to micro finance is away to rural development - a study of SHGs in Anantapur District/K. Govindappa. 5. Women empowerment and role of self help groups in rural development: A study in Mangamari Peta village of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh/V. Subramanyam. 6. Women\'s empowerment needs a radical approach/T. Kumara Swamy and K.G. Bharathi. 7. Empowerment of women: A study of DWCRA programme in Guntur District/K. Somasekhar. 8. Gender issues in rural development/B. Ratna Kumari and A. Rajani. 9. Child labour: a challenge to the nation/D. Chenna Reddy. 10. Segmented labour market for children- Is it a demand side creation? A case study of slate industry in Markapur/K. Suman Chandra and Y. Gangi Reddy. 11. Strengthening social development among tribal in Andhra Pradesh focus on capacity-building of Angan Wadi workers/Neela Rani R. II. Empowering community and role of education: 12. Role of community towards school development/M.S.R. Sarama. 13. Elementary education in rural Jharkhand: some emerging issues/T. Vijayakumar, Gyanmudra. 14. Rural development through continuing education programmes/P. Adinarayana Reddy, D. Uma Devi and Mahadeva Reddy. 15. Adult education: A strategy for sustainable rural development/G.V. Sagar Reddy. 16. Rural development and strategies to promote life long learning/K. Devan. 17. Rural development - Role of education and sports/V. Krishan Murthy and R.V.L.N. Ratnakara Rao. 18. Continuing education programme: an approach to rural enlightment/B.S. Vasudeva Rao and P. Viswanadha Gupta. III. Successful practices in rural development: 19. SHGs in rural development: evidence from rural Orissa/Prasant Kumar Panda. 20. Impact of DWACRA scheme on alleviation of poverty of rural women-a case study of Srikakulam District/Chandraiah Mirayala and Suryanarayana Neduri. 21. Different strategies and women\'s role in rural development/J. Anu Radha. 22. Women benefits in rural development programmes: the experiences in West Bengal/Dilip Kumar Ghosh. 23. Awareness and participation of women in a Rural Development Programme - a case study in Srikakulam District/Chandraiah Miriyala and N. Vijaya Kumar Moparthy. 24. Swashakti Project: a study in Karnataka/A.V. Yadappanavar. 25. Successful project management for rural development/M.C. Obulesu, G. Stanley Jaya Kumar and V. Reddeppa Naidu. 26. Involvement of tribal women in a rural development programme - A case study/M. Chandraiah and M.P.N. Vijaya Kumar.

"Though India is the largest democracy in the world yet it is unfortunate find unequal access to development among different social and economic groups whether it is scheduled castes, Tribes or women and so on. Efforts were on for quite sometime to provide needful opportunities to weaker sections to access development avenues yet the results were not quite encouraging. However, it is heartening to observe that the recent past has been witnessing a sea change in terms of efforts to empower weaker sections, especially in terms of targeting appropriate communities and the strategies adopted. Several of the initiatives promoted, especially for women has indeed been noteworthy. Similar is the case with emphasis on education while empowering weaker sections. Given the India\'s status as the second most populous country in the world and the quantum of weaker sections to be covered in this regard there has always been scope and room to future refine the approach to develop weaker sections by studying the practices adopted and programmes undertaken.

The above in background, an attempt has been made through the collection of works, as presented in the book, to elucidate on important issues needed for empowering weaker sections and the strategies emphasized. The conceptual and empirical outcome presented in the book provides outcome presented in the book provides an opportunity to widen the scope for developing weaker sections in the society." (jacket)