EDUCATION AS A TOOL FOR EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN IN INDIA: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

The empowerment of women has now widely been acknowledged as an important goal in international development. But so far as Indian scenario is concerned, in spite of governments continued efforts in the form of allocation of resources and formulation of policies for the empowerment of women in general and rural women in particular, no significant stride has been made so far. It has become striking clear that political and social forces that resist women's right in the name of religious, cultural and ethnic tradition have contributed to the marginalization and oppression of women in India. It is also observed that no amount of physical help in the form of entrepreneurial development programs will do much in eradicating the maladies that cripple the Indian women if they are not socially or morally uplifted through education. The present paper will, therefore, attempt a critical appraisal of the role that can be played by education in empowering rural women in India. The paper will first focus on participation of women in the process of education and by doing so it will examine whether the education of the girl child in India is a fallacy or reality. Then it will try to throw light on the maladies that handicap women's education in India. Finally drawing from a review of theoretical, methodological and empirical literature from the fields of demography, sociology, anthropology and economics, the paper will try to endorse same strategies that might be beneficial in bringing about moral and attitudinal changes in rural women of India through education.