ISSUES IN WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT

In a developing country like India women are the most important national resource as half of our human population constitutes women. Despite successive decades of activism, and a large number of movements and legislations, the efforts at improving the status of women have not been successful and still women in India continue to suffer social and physical stigmas. The present study, conducted among the Maharashtrian women in Pune city, examines such issues as socio-cultural, educational, economic and political and also the role of mass media in women’s development. It is seen that women with the attainment of education and better economic status are found to be developing new and modern outlook and opinions. They have started questioning the traditional image of a submissive woman and are trying to come out of it by asserting their rights through participation in the decision-making process in the family, opposing many traditional customs, beliefs and practices, having a positive attitude towards role fluidity between husband and wife and also towards education, employment, economic independence, political participation and so on. On the whole, an overall change is observed in the position of women. This book may be helpful to policy makers, development administrators, planners, social workers, and non-governmental organizations involved in women’s development programmes.