Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their capacities.The subject of empowerment of women has becoming a burning issue all over the world including India since last few decades. Many agencies of United Nations in their reports have emphasized that gender issue is to be given utmost priority. It is held that women now cannot be asked to wait for any more for equality.Inequalities between men and women and discrimination against women have also been age-old issues all over the world. Thus, women’s quest for equality with man is a universal phenomenon.The sex ratio in India has improved from 930 in 1971 to 940 as per 2011 census. The female literacy has also increased from 18.3% in 1961 to 74% in 2011, in addition to decrease in male-female literacy gap from 26.6% in 1981 to 16.7% in 2011.These indicators may show improvement, however, the pace is not desirable.The economic empowerment of women is a vital element of strong economic growth in any country. Empowering women enhances their ability to influence changes and to create a better society.Empowering Women through Education: “Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process”. In the political field, the reservation for women is a significant step forward towards their political empowerment. When thirty-three percent reservation for women in Parliament becomes a reality, women’s voice will be heard in the highest forum of democracy.into lime-light the constraints and benefits of empowering women at the integrated process of development and social change. All the articles have been covering a wide range of issues relating to women, particularly women living at grassroots level, downtrodden and helpless.The Article on ‘Efficacy of Entrepreneurial Training Self Help Group Women’ presents the entrepreneurial training given to SHG women to equip them with all the skills required for the establishment and smooth functioning of their micro-enterprises and their responses during pre-training, training and post-training phases.I hope that this book is highly useful to the students and researchers in women’s studies and related fields. I derived encouragement and support from my Husband Mr. P. Muthukumar, Daughter Er. M. Sangeetha and Son Er. M. Vignesh for finalizing these papers. My thanks are due to Mr. Janarthanan of MJP Publishers, Chennai, Tirunelveli and New Delhi, for his constant support and meticulous care in publishing this book.

Chapter 1 Social Exclusion of Women in India, Chapter 2 Inclusive Strategies for Women Development, Chapter 3 Media Depiction and Gender Inclusiveness in Gender-Based Social Violence, Chapter 4 Inclusive Society: Vision of Women’s Studies, Chapter 5 Health Hazards of Women-Economic Empowerment: Some Issues, Chapter 6 Employment Oriented Programs for Women in Rural Nagpur— Exclusion in Inclusive Policy, Chapter 7 Including the Excluded Through Aftercare: The Odishan Experiment and Experience with The Aging out Orphan Girls from the Care Homes, Chapter 8 Violence Against Women: A Denial of Human Rights and Dignity, Chapter 9 Impact of Gender on Family Planning Decisions, Chapter 10 Battle Against Oppression: Feminist Response of Bapsi Sidhwa, Chapter 11 An Extensive Analysis on Women’s Education and Women’s Education for Future Prosperity in India, Chapter 12 Performative Gender and Technology: Rearticulating The Digital Argument for Women Empowerment, Chapter 13 The Effect of Social Exclusion of Women from Development in India, Chapter 14 Disaster and Development Communication Among Self Help Group Women, Chapter 15 Trends In Crime Against Women in India, Chapter 16 Strategizing Alternative Communication for Overcoming Social Discrimination of Women: A Study of the Enabling Practices to Eradicate Witch Hunting in Assam, Chapter 17 ‘Is Employment Really Empowering?’—A Study on The Plight of Working Women, Chapter 18 Social Exclusion of Transgender Women in India, Chapter 19 Strategies for Promoting Gender Mainstreaming, Chapter 20 E-Learning: the Tool for Women Empowerment.

The Indian state of Kerala has invoked much attention within development and gender debates, specifically in relation to its female capital- an outcome of interrelated historical, cultural and social practices. On the one hand, Kerala has been romanticised, with its citizenry, particularly women, being free of social divisions and uplifted through educational well-being. On the other hand, its realism is stark, particularly in the light of recent social changes. Using a Bourdieusian frame of analysis, Development and Gender Capital in India explores the forces of globalisation and how they are embedded within power structures. Through narratives of women’s lived experiences in the private and public domains, it highlights the ‘anomie of gender’ through complexities and contradictions vis-à-vis processes of modernity, development and globalisation. By demonstrating the limits placed upon gender capital by structures of patriarchy and domination, it argues that discussions about the empowered Malayalee women should move from a mere ‘politics of rhetoric and representation’ to a more embedded ‘politics of transformation’, meaningfully taking into account women’s changing roles and identities. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Development Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology and Sociology.

Gender and Development the Indian Scenario, is a book basically intended for the Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate students of the Course-Gender and Development. It indeed gives an immense pleasure to share that this can be a text-book for Under-graduate, to orient them with the areas: Gender-role, rearing, discrimination socialization agents " Policies and Programmes for gender Development " Women s Studies " Women Administrators " Reproductive Health Concerns " Women Enterpreneur and Enterpreneurship " Women and Violence and so on. This book also will be ready reference material for teachers at Under-graduate level.

Ram Narayan Prasad, b. 1941, Professor of Public Administration, Mizoram University.

Comprises 12 papers which assess the contemporary situation of women in India in four broad domains: the cultural, the social, the political and the economic. Argues that despite apparently positive indicators of progress, particularly education and paid employment, little has changed.