A study on Grassroot Women Leaders and Development

Ms. Thapliyal Mishra Nivedita* Mobile. No: 09897848630, Email:reishinivedita@gmail.com

Introduction to the Topic: In a society with uneven distribution of resources the access and control of opportunity is in hands of the haves but not in the hands of have-nots. Same picture of deprivation and inequality is true between men and women. In a country like India where social orientation is based on class, caste and gender, the picture of deprivation and inequality is appalling. Till date the women are not considered as a social group in their own right, rather they are either clubbed with men or are totally ignored. The endeavor to improve the quality of womens life has produced a series of development strategies which have largely aimed at poverty alleviation measures, welfare and marginal approaches. Even in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which are to be accomplished by 2015, out of the eight goals two goals target the development of women thus reflecting on the marginalized status all over the world. The State of Uttarakhand Uttarakhand, the hill state of Indian republic is well known for its rich biotic wealth, high mountainous peaks, and diverse cultural and climatic system. The total human population of the state is around 84,79,562 of which 41,63,161 are women. The state covers about 12.18% of the total Indian Himalayan region and about 40% of its total area has different forest types. The socio-cultural fabric in this region is characterized by diverse ethnic group, which have developed their own cultures based on available natural resources, giving rise to a cultural diversity. About 75% of the total population of the state is dependent on agriculture. Agriculture pattern in this region is very complex. Terraced slops covers about 80% of the hill agriculture land, which is completely dependent on the rain, whereas remaining 20% area lies in the valleys and plains, which is fairly irrigated. Agriculture of the region is inter-linked with farming, animal husbandry and natural

resources (Rao and Saxena, 1994; Maikhuri et al, 1996). Being the hilly region, agriculture system has marginal and low productive. Its development could not take place due to various factors viz. lack of modern agriculture and horticulture research initiatives, inaccessibility, varied topography and extreme climatic and ecological conditions. Uttarakhand consist of thirteen districts that are Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, Udam Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi. Linguistically, and geographically, Uttaranchal is distinguished into two prominent regions, Garhwal and Kumaon.

Women in Uttarakhand Women play a vital part in the mountainous region of Uttaranchal state. Role of women in the hills has undergone many changes in the hills, some of the important reasons being migration of men, poor agriculture, illiteracy, gender based roles, shrinking natural resource base, outside interventions like voluntary agencies. In this region men in most of the families work out side due to lack of industries or other avenues of employment in this region. Women of this hill state are hard working who toil through the day, starting with the family chores like nurturing children and livestock, going out for fodder, fuel, drinking, water, and collection for sustaining livelihoods. Women of this region are aware about the biological diversity and rich in indigenous knowledge of natural resources and management on which they depend for livelihood. They have been active participants in some of the very important national movements like the Chipko movement and the anti-alcohol movement. Chipko movement especially needs a mention as it is a internationally acclaimed movement by the women of the State wherein they would embrace the trunk of the tree when the contractors axe men would come to cut the tree, thus emerging to be the saviours of this valuable natural resource. Besides this the women of Uttarakhand have seen to be involed in income generation activities such as organic farming, mushroom cultivation, food proceesing and cottage industries. The state has crossed the 33% reservation for women and serious discussions are in process for 50% reservation of seats at the level of Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRI) in the State thus

officially assigning the women a platform to participate more in the development of their area.

Rational of the study Uttarakhand is a state with strong womens movement and it cannot be denied that women along with their men have been active participants in the formation of the State. Their involvement in the States Chipko movement and the anti-alcohol movement has been nationally accepted. A reflection on their profile shows that, out of the 50% female population of the Sate, 76% are rural women. Most of the agriculture work is done by these women who look after the land almost completely along with actual cultivation as men migrate for employment. However they face low female literacy, lack of nutrition and health facilities. Further, the patriarchal nature of the society creates hurdles for them in their active participation in the addressal of social and development issues such as violence against women, income generation activities, infrastructural development, female infanticide and child marriage. This is because their efforts get manipulated by bureaucrats, politicians and dominant power brokers in the villages. Most of the women faced the problem of non-cooperation from the officials. These problems have slowed the pace of developmental work.

In such a scenario which is characterized by hardworking rural women who are single handedly managing their home, land, social and developmental issues despite various kinds of resistance, it becomes important to study the various aspects of women and development. Review of Literature: The review of literature examines the available literature on womens involvement in planning, designing and implementation of social and development issues and reflects on the hurdles faced by them during the process and how they have tried to overcome them.

Kumar (1993) exemplifies women in development by giving illustration from various states of the country. Mentioning about the anti-alcoholic agitation and the Shahada

movement, she states that the group of Bhil women went out breaking liquor dens and liquor pots. Beginning in late 1972, the anti-alcohol agitation had continues into 1973 where women from one village go to others to break liquor pots. The Shahada movement moved from protesting against alcohol vending and consumption to attacks on wife beaters. This was indirect protest against violence in the family from making a public issue to what is regarded as a private problem. According to Jena & Mahapatra (2009) female workers dominate (70%) the craft projects in Orissa.

It is important to quote Momsen (1993) study of a Kenya which like India is a third world country.The study mentions about a Professor who during her 14 years of work with the National Council of Women (NCW) persuaded communities through out Kenya to plant more than 10 millions trees, a practice which has been now adopted by 35 other African countries. This endeavor of hers got a lot of opposition from experts who had their own view point regarding greater production of cash crops. The professor continued to work with her conviction because of which thousand of green belts have now been planted and many hundred of community tree nurseries set up. Women in the Kenya community have play an important role by supporting each other in collection of seeds, planting them and tending them. Because of these efforts by women the devastating effects of soil erosion are being reversed.

Momsen (ibid) says that the awareness of the need of the communities tends to be greater among women than men, since it is normally women who have to cope with problems of housing and access to services. Consequently, women often take a lead in demanding improvements in urban services. They may also work together to change social attitudes. She illustrates it by example of groups of women from Bombay who march silently, carrying placards, around houses in which dowry deaths have occured, bringing public shame on the perpetrators. This is more effective than government legislation in reducing the number of these tragedies. Womens groups in India have also lobbied for legal restraints on the abortion of female fetuses. As pressure on womens time increases, their community management role may change.

Bhatts SEWA (Self-Employed Womens Association) established in 1974 is one of the best examples of what women can do for development. For instance SEWA has brought together women of all castes, classes, trades, tribes and faiths together to cultivate in them a sense of sisterhood. Under SEWA, the dry deserts of Gujarat are home to some of the most resilient women: the embroidery workers who labor in their homes, the agricultural workers-marginal farmers, gum pickers and salt farmers. SEWA has helped them to form producers groups in order to build and own assests, enhanced their capacity to stand firm in the competitive market, and enabled them to gain access to health care, child care, shelter, insurance and credit. The struggles of tribal displaced from their forestland and forced to come to terms with a new economy reveal how governments can also perpetuate poverty and vulnerability.

Sivannas (1999) writes about the major constraints faced by the elected women in panchayat such as the caste-politics, inactive participation in the meetings by the members, lack of trust between the block level officials and the representatives from the PRIs. These have acted as hurdles to not only their participation in the meetings but also in working at the village level issues. According to Mohanty (2000) reservation enshrined in the Panchayati Raj Act will not only improve the number of elected women leaders but also will improve their economic independence, access to resources as well as education of women at the grassroots level.

Bhargava et al (1996) writes that it was to improve womens representation that the policy of reservation was introduced. According to them, reserving seats for women in the political institutions will provide them and opportunity to raise their grievances and other related social and economic problems in a formal forum, a political process necessary to ensure the improvement for all women in all spheres of life.

A Study by National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) for Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has mentioned that the economic opportunity for women at the grassroot level has been increased with the coming of NREGA. The programme has not

only improved the identity but also has acted as an important tool for empowerment of rural women.

According to Singla (2007) in her study carried out in Haryana, the elected women members handle various problems of the village like water supply, pension, education and vocational training etc. Further, the men members seem to be addressing construction related aspects more such as sewer related problem or construction of a building in comparison to the women members. This is indicative of the profile of the issues addressed by elected women members. The study also mention about some of the inherent structural constraints which inhibit womens participation in the PRI, such as being related to men in the village which prevents their speaking Gram Panchayat or the very formal atmosphere in the Zilla Parishad meetings. Some of these inhibitions were seen to diminish with passage of time.

An NGO Himalayan Action Research Centre report (2005) highlighted that the women self groups had not only worked for the economic development of the village women but also taken initiative for the social cohesion in the village.For strengthening the social fabric, the group had taken important steps to help the needy persons at the time of illness, marriage, construction of house, education of children and crop failure.

Gender Equality and Empowerment of women is recognized globally in all areas. It is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to which world leaders agreed at the Millennium Summit held in New York in 2000.The Charter of the United Nations assigned in 1945 is the first international agreement that proclaimed gender equality as the fundamental right. Ever since there had been many conventions, programmes and goals at national and international levels to help humankind by conferring on them human rights which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.

In order to promote development of women and protect their rights, the General Assembly of the UN adopted Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women on 18th December 1979 which came into force on 3rd

September 1981.The convention also took notice of particular problems faced by rural women and their significant role in survival of their families. So, all States parties to the Convention agreed to take appropriate measures to enable rural women to participate and get benefit from rural development.

In spite of many conventions and time bound measurable goals, world statistics speaks of deplorable state of women worldwide which is a cause of concern; Two-third of worlds adult illiterate is women. 70% of the worlds poor are women

In India too there are several areas of concern which call for concerted efforts. There is sharp decline in juvenile sex ratio. Maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate are high At all levels there is high gender gap in literacy Drop-out rates is high among girl students Incidence of crime against women is on the increase

Realizing that actual development cannot take roots if it by passes women, who represent half of the total population, the Government of India directed its efforts towards removing various gender-biases to accord women equal status.

Women Specific Policies A number of women specific and women related policies were enunciated in all Plan documents. From the Fifth Five year Plan (1974-78) onwards, there has been a paradigm shift in the approach to womens issues from welfare to development. In addition, an environment has been created to reflect womens concerns.

The National Plan of Action for Women adopted in 1976 became a guiding document for the development of women. A National Perspective Plan for women (1988-2000) was drafted advocating a holistic approach for the development of women. The National

Nutritional Policy, the National Policy on Education, the National Population Policy have significant component for women aimed at their empowerment.

The year 2001 was observed as International Women Empowerment Year by UN. The National policy for the Empowerment of women was evolved in the same year. The policy recognizes the causes of gender inequality which are related to social and economic structure. The policy underlines the need for mainstreaming gender perspective in the development processes. It was envisioned that affirmative action such as reservations, quotas including higher legislative bodies, will be considered whenever necessary on a time-bound basis. Women-friendly personnel policies will also be drawn up to encourage women to participate effectively in the developmental process. Besides empowering women to participate in decision making process the policy also visualized the means of economic and social empowerment of women.

India as a signatory to the UN Convention has taken several measures including legislation, to ensure full development and advancement of women for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men. The women specific programmes are showing positive results in empowering women, yet one feels there are miles to go and promises to keep.

Women in Development planning in India

The importance of the role of women in development had been recognized by the government of India right from the very First Five Year Plan (1951-56). However, women in those earlier plans were treated as subjects of welfare and clubbed together under the category of disadvantaged groups such as destitute, disabled, aged, etc. The Second to Fifth Plans (1956-79) i.e. all the plans till the early 70s thus continued to reflect the very same welfare approach, besides giving priority to womens education and launching measures to improve the maternal and child health services, supplementary feeding for children and expectant and nursing mothers. The Central Social Welfare

Board (CSWB), set up in 1953, served as an Apex Body at the national level to promote voluntary action at various levels, especially at the grassroots, to take up these welfarerelated activities for women and children.

Women as Partners in Development- Government initiatives chronicle

By the beginning of the seventies, there was growing anxiety that development was not proceeding as planned. Prominent among the several reasons identified as the cause for the slow pace of development, was the fact that women had not been participating actively in the development process. It was pointed out that economic growth had suffered because women's role in the economy had been neglected and their capabilities were neither fully developed nor utilized accordingly. In this connection, the failure to provide them with career and employment-oriented education was particularly blamed. It was underlined that women must be urgently equipped with the capabilities required for them to take up these new responsibilities. These revelations and recommendations gave birth to the concept of women as "partners" in development and took the issue of the importance of their education to a new threshold.

However, it was after the early Seventies, that there was a gradual shift in the approach from `welfare' to `development', which started recognizing women as important participants of the developmental process. The shift which took place in the international development thought, affected the national plans too. The various international UN conferences on Women about which we spoke earlier in which India was a participant helped to alter these approaches.

In 1971, in response to a request from the United Nations, the government of India appointed a Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) to examine all concerns relating to the rights and status of women in the context of changing social and economics conditions in the country. The Committee's comprehensive report named Towards Equality saw a significant change in the government's policies for women. Women were now no longer viewed as targets of welfare policies but as critical groups

for development. This was reflected in the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85) where strategies for women's employment & economic independence, education, health care and family planning and the creation of a supportive legal and institutional environment were conceived. It was for the first time that the Planning Commission included a separate chapter on Women and Development in the Sixth Five Year plan. Accordingly, the Sixth Plan adopted a multi-disciplinary approach with a special thrust on the three core sectors -Health, Education and Employment.

In the Seventh Plan (1985-90), the developmental programmes continued with the major objective of raising the economic and social status of women and bringing them into the mainstream of national development. A significant step in this direction was the identification and promotion of the Beneficiary-Oriented Schemes (BOS) in various developmental progremmes, which extended direct benefits to women. The thrust on generation of both skilled and unskilled employment through proper education and vocational training continued.

In the year 1985, the Department of Women and Child Development was set up as a part of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. As the national machinery for the advancement of women and children, the Department formulates plans, policies and programmes, enacts/ amends legislation, guides and coordinates the efforts of both governmental and non-governmental organisations working in the field of Women and Child Development. Besides this, the department plans, implements certain innovative programmes designed for women and children.

The Department has also been implementing the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), providing with a package of services comprising of supplementary nutrition, immunization, and health check ups, pre-school and non-formal education and referral services.

The major policy initiatives undertaken by the Department in the recent past include the establishment of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

(RMK), adoption of National Nutrition Policy (NNP), universalizing and strengthening of ICDS, setting up of National Creche Fund (NCF), launching of Indira Mahila Yojana (IMY) and Balika Samriddhi Yojana (BSY) and Rural Women's Development and Empowerment Project (RWDEP).

In 1992, the National Commission for Women (NCW) was set up to investigate and review matters relating to safeguards for women and also as to act as an agency for redressal of their grievances at national level. India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights of women. Key among them is the ratification of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.

Two important schemes launched in 1993 were Mahila Rashtriya Kosh, the women's national fund to meet the credit needs of women, and Mahila Samridhi Yojna to inculcate the habit of thrift among rural women. Indira Mahila Yojna on the other hand entrusted the task of creating a sense of awareness, particularly among the rural women, to enable them to become active participants in the process of social transformation and regeneration. Thus, empowerment of women and development of children gained priority in the countrys development agenda.

Mahila Samakhya (MS) was launched in 1989 as a pilot programmes in 10 districts of the States of UP, Gujarat and Karnataka and is now functioning in 60 backward districts in the country covering over 9000 villages in 10 states. The genesis of MS can be traced to the National Policy on Education, 1986, a landmark in the field of policy on womens education in India. MS was another important step towards women empowerment. It not only aims at service delivery, but also seeks to bring about a change in women's perception about themselves and that of society with regard to women's traditional roles. It endeavors to create an environment for women to seek knowledge and information in order to make informed choices and create circumstances in which women can learn at their own pace and rhythm. The centrality of education in the struggle to achieve equality is an important focus of Mahila Samakhya. This programme is conceived as

empowerment through education and is part of the programme of the Ministry of Education

The Eighth Plan (1992-97), with human development as its major focus, played a very important role in the development of women. This Plan promised to ensure that benefits of development from different sectors cannot by-pass women beneficiaries, the Eighth Plan implemented special programmes to complement the general development programmes and to monitor the flow of benefits to women from other development sectors that enabled women to function as equal partners and participants in the development process.

The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) which is in the post-Beijing period made significant changes in the conceptual strategy of planning for empowerment of women which became one of the nine primary objectives of the Ninth Plan. The WCP emerged as part of this strategy for the empowerment of women.

In the Ninth Plan, the Planning Commission, with a view to converge the benefits in the social and economic development sectors for women had requested all the Secretaries of the various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India to draw up a Womens Component Plan to identify allocation in all the sectors at the Centre by aggregating them in an integrated manner. In this context, the Minister for Human Resource Development had requested all the other Ministers for their personal intervention in the matter of inclusion of an identifiable Women Component Plan in the programmes of the respective Ministries/Departments right from the planning process and thereafter to monitor allocations and implementation of programmes to ensure the reach of benefits to women. The Cabinet approved one of the recommendations of the National Perspective Plan for Women (1998-2000), which says that the Planning Commission and all the Ministries/ Departments should have a women cell and the annual Reports of all the Ministries/ Departments at the Central and State levels should document and review the work done concerning women. The Department, accordingly, requested all the Ministries/Departments to set up advisory committees for women in

each sector to help in the preparation, monitoring and implementation of the Women Component Plan, to set up a womens cell, to set up gender focal point and to include a chapter on Women Component Plan in their annual reports.

The approach of the Ninth Plan was also to create an enabling environment where women could freely exercise their rights both within and outside home, as an equal partner along with men. This was reflected in the early finalization and adoption of the `National Policy for Empowerment of Women', which laid down definite goals, targets and policy prescriptions along with a well defined Gender Development Index (GDI) to monitor the impact of its implementation in raising the status of women from time to time.

Secondly, the Ninth five year plan also attempted `convergence of existing services available in both women-specific and women related sectors. To this effect, it directed both the centre and the states to adopt a special strategy of Womens Component Plan (WCP) through which not less than 30 per cent of funds/benefits flow to women from all the general development sectors. The operational strategy of Ninth plan directs all the central Ministries and state departments to draw up Time Bound Action plans for women. This is with the aim of translating the policy into a set of concrete actions through a participatory process of consultations with both the governmental & nongovernmental sectors.

An integrated approach adopted in the Ninth Plan works towards empowering women through convergence of existing services, resources, infrastructure and manpower available in both women-specific and women-related sectors with the ultimate objective of achieving the set goal. It also suggests a special vigil to be kept on the flow of the earmark funds/benefits through an effective mechanism to ensure that the proposed strategy brings forth a holistic approach towards empowering women.

While organizing women into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) marks the beginning of a major process of empowering women, the institutions thus developed intend to provide a permanent forum for articulating their needs and contributing their perspectives to

development. Recognizing, the fact that women have been socialized only to take a back seat in public life, affirmative action through deliberate strategies will be initiated to provide equal access to and control over factors contributing to such empowerment, particularly in the areas of health, education, information, life-long learning for self development, vocational skills, employment and income generating opportunities, land and other forms of property including through inheritance, common property, resources, credit, technology and markets etc. To this effect, the newly elected women members and the women Chairpersons of Panchayats and the Local Bodies will be sensitized through the recently launched special training package to take the lead in ensuring that adequate funds/benefits flow towards the empowerment of women and the girl child.

The Finance Minister in his Budget Speech of 2000-01 had announced that the year 2001 will be observed as "Women Empowerment Year". He had also announced setting up of a Task Force to chalk out specific programmes for observing the year 2001 as "Women Empowerment Year".

The announcement has been made in the context of an urgent need for improving the access of women to national resources and for ensuring their rightful place in the mainstream of economic development. The Government stated that it is committed to improve the status of women in India and towards this end, apart from the Constitutional guarantees; several schemes and programmes have been planned and executed from time to time. The declaration of the year 2001 as the "Womens Empowerment Year" is therefore, significant as it reiterates the Governments commitment to bring about equality for women in all walks of life. The objective of the Womens Empowerment Year was to create large-scale awareness with the active participation of women themselves. The Department proposed to launch yearlong activities to bring about a change in the environment, which will be conducive to develop self-confidence and assertiveness among women and children, especially girls.

The National Policy for the Empowerment of Women reflected these important changes and concepts introduced in the Ninth Plan. This is clearly reflected in the goals and

objectives of the policy.An overview of how the Government of India looked at women in the context of development gives us a clear picture of changes in its vision, strategies and programmes. The shift from viewing women from beneficiaries of welfare to involving women in their own empowerment has happened. Several factors have contributed to this, including international commitments, pressure from womens groups and movements and also the factor of efficiency that has contributed to hastening the development process. The Beijing Platform for Action and the review which has been taking place every 5 years is one such case of international process. The womens movement in India has been instrumental in bringing about several legislative and policy changes. In 1992 Earth Summit a special emphasis was also on women and environment, agenda 21 of the earth summit extensively incorporated the important role of women in sustainable development. (UNIFEM, 1993)

Women and Development- Indian perspective

Development, according to Olopoenia (1983) and Pradip (1984), is not an isolated activity, for it implies a progress from a lower state to a higher and preferred one.

Development is a process by which people are awakened to opportunities within their reach. Development, therefore, starts with people and progresses through them (Gwanya, 1989). This is the reason, according to these authors, why rural women should be involved in on going development initiatives. They are the most marginalized group in terms of their needs, while being the people who produce almost 80% of the food consumed in most of Africas rural areas (Hunger Project, 1999).

The History of womens participation in Indias development and practice can be traced through many strands. For example international space and development came into place only in the 1960s, and more visible in the 1970s, especially after the first UN announced International Womens year 1975, with a UN world conference on women in Mexico in 1975. Broadly, it is argued in this tracing that there has been enormous forward movement, in incorporating gender into development thinking and practice. Intellectual

as well as institutional mechanisms are in place to ensure inclusion nationally and internationally. Further analysis also revealed that it was a combination of revelator knowledge, also described as making the location and status of women visible, and collective lobbying, that brought about whatever little advancement took place in ushering in gender justice, and accepting womens ideas.

The argument of this review however is that India, and the evolution of its political economy, and womens contribution to development design and practice had its own unique history and began much earlier. Gandhijis ideas for the regeneration of India attracted women in multitudes. This participation of women both at the levels of visible leadership such as of Sarojini Naidu and Kamala Devi, the Jain woman who went into the fray with an undaunted spirit and physical determination, she sat in picketing lines, marched with thousands of other women and was jailed. Women who came from reformist families seeking to challenge their subordinate position had preceded these efforts. Swarnakumari Devi had started the Sakhi Samaj in Bengal in 1882, Pandita Ramabai the Arya Mahila Samaj and Saraladevi Chaudhurani started the first all India Womens organization. These organization and individual women set the stage for the role of women in the development history of India much earlier than UN and other international initiatives. According to Kamat (2006) women were integral part of Gandhi's non-violence movement. The fact that there was no material weaponry involved, made women equal, and perhaps even better soldiers. Even the most common and uneducated women sacrificed time and materials volunteering, campaigning, protesting, fasting, and donating to the causes of freedom.

There were a variety of movements against the divisive expressions of caste, religion and class. Women rights and location passes through many disputed. However women spoke from within these movement of Periyar, or the Marxist revolutionary armed struggles, the Gandhian organizations, the India National Congress, and the socialist parties. Looking back there seems to be unity amongst these women in their articulation, challenging the various locations and images that the men were creating for them. They were able to perceive and accommodate a multiplicity of identities and roles for themselves they

flourished in fluid and flexible in challenging the mono typing and rigidity that was and is so much a part of male rationality.

Women stand beside in protects, doesnt matter it is concern to herself or for others or any policies which worked against the women welfare. For example Rameshwari Nehru advisor to the government in the Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation, resigned in protest against a policy that she believed worked against women (Jain, 2007).

Thus, in pre-independence India and Immediate post independence India, the womens movement was aware of the front-line, ground level political issues being debated within the political parties.

In 1939, a sub-committee on women called Womens Role in Planned Economy, was set up as part of the structure of the National Planning Committee for the future planning of India and was also to deal with woman in planned economy. The chairperson of the Committee was Rani Lakshmibai Rajwade, and the committee included prominent women of that era. Its depth understanding as well as recommendations could have been drafted today. It was so farsighted that it covered many rights like property rights, education, marriage, family and issues like widowhood, caste, prostitution etc. which are still being addressed today.

However it can also be argued that some of the initiatives and campaign choices of women in post independence India were both basis for lobbying for voters. Registration during elections or emphasizing womens education and consumer vigilance. Many set up institution made up in the concept of Public private partnership, such as the Central Social Welfare Board, master minded by Durga Bai Deshmukh and the All India Handicrafts Board, and Cooperative marketing by Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay, amongst many other innovative development initiatives which determined public policy and influenced national budgeting.

From the very first plan 1951-56, the goals of development in India were specifically addressed to removal of poverty, unemployment and historical inequalities. There was also the Ghandhian touch, of swadeshi and swalambh, which was a political ethic to emancipate India from dependence on the colonizer. Women were some of the main actors in the programms of Khadi and Village Industrries or the development of Handicrafts. However, the energy and mobilization generated in the post 1975 era, that went into uncover the situation of women, their status and bring them into the development design as a special category, led to the inclusion of a chapter on womens employment in the Sixth plan period. Employment was the critical issue and goal and bringing the data on womens position in the occupational classification of Indias labour and other such information was a leap forward. Simultaneously, an enormous amount of research unfolds womens location in the political economy as well as their capabilities in organizing themselves to walk out of poverty and powerlessness. Several reports on womens status and location in the political economy appeared both from Government as well as from women led institutions.

Over the next two decades 1981-2001, and four plans, the issues of gender have been brought into the five year plans, as a chapter. Vibhuti Patel point out that the planning Commission of India has always focused on womens issues as per the perceptions of their members on the status of women in the economy.

Margaret Alva in 1986 elected Chairman of the first SAARC Ministerial meet on women in Development and the UNICEF sponsored conference on children in South Asia, which highlighted the plight of the girl child. She has represented India in all the major UN conference during the decade for women. Elected President of the world women Parliament for peace in 1986. In March 2007, she was honored at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC with the Global Leadership award by vital voices global partnershipheaded by Senator Hillary Clinton. In 2009 she was appointed as the Governor of the State of Uttarakhand for a period of five years and took oath on August 6th, 2009.

One of the inferences that is emerging from the various analytical reviews is that the women are the major contributors to the economic, social and political sector, be it be agriculture, export industries, science and technology, environment, Social institution and political leaders. Despite that there are still certain issues worldwide that their claim for the right full place is not achieved (Jain 2007). They are the victims of poverty, low paid wages, unprotected migrants, malnutrition, illiteracy etc.

The question that arises is why does the disjunction exist after decades of what appears to be a vibrant and ostensibly effective partnership between policy makers and the womens movement. But the identity of women as equally intellectually endowed citizens will rock the boat of women journey towards development. The voices of the women now have become the policy attention like demand for access to safe drinking water, bhu- swaraj, rights to forest, demand for the reservation in the parliament etc.

Status of Women in India

Women occupy an important place in the evolution of human society. Being always looked down with regards to the position enjoyed by men in society, there had always been a point of doubt on the nature to the real status that women enjoyed in group.

The collective consciousness of women regarding the feminine mystique, which saw womens identity restricted to the roles of wife and mother was challenged by the early writings of Betty Friedan and Germaine Greer. Friedans approach to feminism was seen as individualistic and liberal and in this form was acceptable to many women (Beck 1990). Friedan (1982) identified the discrepancy between the reality of the lives of women and the image to which they were trying to conform. Greer (1970) challenged the notion that whilst women were seeking pay parity, equal work opportunities and maternity leave they were not in any way attempting to lose their femininity. Since then, there has been considerable impetus for considering the role of women outside of the family and much has been written, aimed at gaining equality between men and women.

The Swedish Sociologist, Gustar Geigor wrote that the position of women in society provides an exact measure of the development of society.

In India, as in any other country, the problems women faces are specific depending on the socio economic milieu in which she has been nurtured and moulded. Her problems are influenced by various social considerations. Furthermore, she and her life necessary determine the welfare of the home, family and society.

Jawaharlal Nehru said, To awaken the people it is the women who must be awakened; once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves.

Many sociologists are of the view that there are certain irreducible bases for the determination of ones status in society. Among them age, sex and occupation are important. Status, whether the by-product of support or the result of birth, carries with it an image of exemplary behavior, a model of collective expectation. Hence, the role performance by individual in society is a functional determinant of the status determination.

Social status is ordinarily acquired and consolidated or diminished and even lost over a considerable length of time, and it is during this period that life-style is elaborated as symbolic tokens of materials achievement. In India the position and status of women has been continuously changing in the course of time.

It is claimed that womens position was better during Vedic period than the later period. The position of women deteriorated considerably in epic and smriti periods. The introduction of the non Aryan wife into Aryan households was the key to the general deterioration of the position of women (Manu, 1962). Owing to different causes, there arose a tendency to lower the marriageable age of girls and as a consequence their general education and culture were affected adversely. The position of women in India underwent many changes with the advent of Muslim invaders. Her honoured position

deteriorated further. Many saints and poets of this age denounced her as the root cause of the fall of man (Mishra, 1995).

When the Britishers arrived in India, the position of women in Indian society had reached its lowest ebb. The neglect of education for women, child marriage and the custom of polygamy, seclusion and purdah brought about a tremendous degradation in the status of women. The degradation position of women in the beginning of the nineteenth century was indeed most deplorable. It was a long tale of sufferings and humiliation almost from birth and death. English education opened the floodgates of western ideas which proclaimed supremacy of reason over faith, of individual conscience over outside authority, and brought in its trained new conceptions of social justice and political rights.

Nineteenth century witnessed for the first time social legislation enacted by the government. Due to the reform movements initiated by enlightened intellectuals and reformers, the alien government took bold steps in enacting a series of laws concerning liberation of women.

The process of liberation of women which started in the nineteenth century was further accelerated during the twentieth century. Consequently various legislations were enacted to improve the condition of women.

The national movement and expansion of education facilities drew women out from the seclusion of home.

The movement of emancipation of women slowly started from middle of nineteenth century gained momentum in the twentieth century and was accelerated after Independence.

Many factors of change such as industrialization, urbanization, higher education and new value system have greatly affected the womens position. According to Klein (1982)

view, new industrial organization made women an integral part of the new economic order and an important part of its manpower resources.

Status of Women in Third world countries

Womens participation in the development process has been the focus of intensive debates by most international forums in the past years. According to the philosophy of these forums, each member state should promote womens economic independence, which includes the creation of employment, access to resources and credit, eradication of the persistent and increasing burden of poverty, malnutrition, poor health and illiteracy. Although such declarations have been able to increase an awareness and understanding of the problems facing women and their needs, as such they have not yet resulted in significant development priorities for rural women (UNIFEM, 2000).

The rural women have a certain consciousness about their position as rural women, although there are no strategies developed to affect change on them (McIntosh and Friedman, 1989). Following the Lagos Plan of Action for Economic Development of Africa, it is advocated that the needs, rights and concerns of all women be fully integrated into individual countrys development planning to benefit all sections of the population (Hunger Project, 2000). This paper investigates factors that act as bottlenecks to the active participation of rural women in development in South Africa. It is assumed that if these factors are not investigated and analyzed, they are likely to cause a continuous impediment on rural womens participation in on-going developments, as well as on the viability of development efforts in the country itself. This helps to increase our understanding and commitment toward upliftment and empowerment of rural women, by eliminating plans, policies and projects that constrain their increased participation in developments. The critical levels of poverty and unemployment currently experienced in South Africa mean that considerable pressure must be exerted on the economy to increase growth rates and to provide all the people with access to economic opportunities (Lightelm and Wilsenach, 1993).

The impact of development on women in South Africa is quite different for both urban and rural women. In fact, there is substantial evidence that rural women are mostly neglected and consistently have lost in this process (Meer, 1998). There is also overwhelming evidence of development policies and projects formulated bypassing the involvement of rural women in most African countries (Hunger Project, 2000). The majority of the population in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) lives in rural areas, approximately 70% being women (Cartledge, 1995).

To date, many scholars have written on the issues related to the participation of women in development in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The various studies undertaken by the researcher suggests that the on-going initiatives by the policy makers have not yet resulted in specific solutions to the problems facing rural women and development. Although each rural settlement in South Africa has its own articularities, there are still specific solutions or universally accepted development strategies to deal with development problems in these areas. Meer (1998) strongly expresses the opinion that unless more effort is put into organizing women in poor rural communities around their common interests, they are unlikely to benefit from favourable development policies. In the same way, Friedman (1999) stresses that unless development policies include guidelines for the process and practice of delivery; they are unlikely to challenge unequal power relations.

A report by the Hunger Project (2000) reveals that when women are included in official planning, they are often treated as powerless individuals who should be given assistance. In the foreword to the alternative framework for structural adjustment programmes for socio-economic recovery and transformation, it is recognized that women play a crucial role as producers and agents of change in rural transformation, and that the negative effect on rural development is brought about by their marginalization.

Ntombfuthi Zondo (1995) advocates that the very tradition regards women as inferior to men. The situation in rural areas is such that female do not play any role in the societal debates. Even the 1994 African Common Position on Human and Social Development

Forum describes women as part of the marginalized, vulnerable sections of the population and they are grouped with children, youth, elderly and the disabled. No matter which rural government option is chosen, it seems that women especially in rural areas will always remain where they are, and ultimately will end up in a worse position (Hunger Project, 2000).

For this reason, to see any change coming to their ways, the women themselves need to stand up for it (Ntomb' futhi Zondo, 1995). A situation of past practices of relegating women to an inferior position in a society cannot be allowed to continue. To do otherwise will be a negation of our commitment to social justice and equality (Mwamwenda 1994). As part of development goals, there ought to be specific policies geared to the promotion of womens participation in local planning in most rural areas to contribute to overall welfare in society (Kelly, 1987), so that whatever resource rationalization is undertaken, it is not executed to the detriment and disadvantage of rural women, because these women have attributes of which outsiders are unaware (Kelly, 1987). A study by Buvinic (1978) observed that women in most African rural areas women work an average of 12 to 18 hours per day compared to an average of 8 to 12 hours per day by men. Sneyder (1995) comment on rural women who worked almost 90% of roadwork under the Foodfor-work programme in Lesotho. A time allocation survey for Tanzania shows that women work for twice the number of hours campared to men (Acharya, 1987)

The various studies stated that the role of rural women is not only central to social, but also to economic progress in their respective countries. They also recommended work done by rural women in Gabon and Tanzania during the 200 days in a year, saying that men worked only 1,800 hours compared to 2,600 hours by women in agriculture, and that rural women worked harder than anyone else in these countries.

Women in South Africas rural areas are the ones who run the families, while their husbands are working in the cities. Traditionally, women in rural areas have been regarded as people who belong at home, expected to minister to their husbands and children, but when it comes to making decisions on economic and political issues, men

take the lead (Zondo, 1995). In most African countries, rural women are the food farmers, and carry the burdens of life. Africas 100 million rural women grow almost 80 % of Africas food, including food for subsistence and food for markets. This amounts to food production of 3 metric tons each year per woman. Rural women do almost 80% of the work to provide the proper transport and storage of Africas food. They do almost 90% of the work to process Africas food, including the tasks such as threshing, drying, winnowing, peeling, grating, sieving, and pounding. They also do almost 60% of the work related to marketing Africas food. Yet they face gender-specific barriers in accessing financial services, and can receive less than 1% of the total credit to small farmers and 10% of the total credit to agriculture (Hunger Project, 1999).

While it does not directly address the role of women in agriculture, the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development held in Arusha (Tanzania) in 1990, recognizes the critical contribution made by women to African societies and economies, and the extreme subordination, including discrimination, which they face. This forum posits that the attainment of equal rights by women in social, economic, and political spheres must become a central feature of a democratic and participatory pattern of development (Hunger Project, 2000). The majority of women in rural South Africa believe that rural governments offer them no real hope for change or empowerment in terms of community power relations. Their experiences of these actions suggest that the more they are exposed, the more worried they become. This is mainly because whatever decision is reached, they are the ones who live with the implications (Zondo, 1995).

Women make a major contribution to the economic production of their communities and assume primary responsibility for the health of their families. Their active support is crucial to the utilization of development objectives. There can be no societal transformation without their involvement, support, and leadership (Kruppenbach, 1987). Addressing the effects of gender discrimination and inequality is a necessary part of the socio-economic project of transformation. Despite the equality provisions in the South African constitution and land restitution process established since 1994, it has become highly unlikely that rural women will be in a position to make claims as individuals

(Friedman, 1999). Rural women are typically allocated small pieces of land, usually about 1000 to 5000 square metres, which are used to produce food crops such as vegetables, chickpeas and groundnuts for home consumption and, to a very limited extent, for sale. The family plot used to grow cash crops takes first priority, leaving the women only limited time to work on their plots, either very early in the morning or in the afternoon when they are not cooking, tending to the children, gathering firewood or otherwise engaged by their husbands (Hunger Project, 1999). The restructuring of the South African agricultural economy requires affirmative measures to give effect to the principal of equality of opportunities (Van. et al, 1993).

Women in Africa have a long tradition of participating in savings, production, marketing and mutual-aid organizations. Many rural women rely on cooperatives and market groups as a way to pool resources, reduce their workload, and optimize limited income. Microcredit programme results have shown that women tend to be more prompt and reliable in their repayment of loans, and spend their increased earnings on children first, thereby improving nutrition, health and educational opportunities (Hunger Project, 2000). There has been insufficient political will and sustained commitment to meeting economic needs and interests of most rural women by the local authorities and governments. While many African countries have ratified the UN agreements on this issue, there seems to be no subsequent informed policy decisions. Most governments macroeconomic policies do not incorporate gender perspectives in their design in order to there has been insufficient political will and sustained commitment to meeting economic needs and interests of most rural women by the local authorities and governments. While many African countries have ratified the UN agreements on this issue, there seems to be no subsequent informed policy decisions. Most governments macroeconomic policies do not incorporate gender perspectives in their design in order to enforcing its application and implementation. As well, they often ignore the structure of households in Africa and the social relations that influence womens roles in production (Hunger Project, 2000). To this effect, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) acts as a catalyst within the UN system, to support efforts that link the needs and concerns of women to all critical issues on the national, regional and global agenda.

Women make up about half of the workforce in most developed countries yet they comprise fewer than 5% of senior executive roles (Tharenou 1999). Ragins, Townsend and Mattis (1998) suggest that while women are flooding the managerial pipeline, their efforts to attain the more senior levels are being blocked. Rindfleish (2002) argues that womens participation in the paid workforce has been one of the most remarkable social changes over the past 40 years, yet women are excluded from the most senior positions within organisations or on their boards.

A survey carried out in 1980 to access the impact of the agrarian reforms on women showed that women on an average owned less than the stipulated land size of five hectares. Women were also rarely full time members of the agricultural development cooperatives. The agronomists services were extended to male farmers only and the extension workers who met the women had poor or no background in agricultural practices. The extension department still carries the view that modern mechanical work and heavy work in agriculture are principally mens job, in spite of the fact that 59% of the women were involved in sowing, 41% in hoeing, 39% in harvesting and 22% in weeding. It has been noted that women farmers were members of agricultural development co-operatives only if they had sons who would gradually replace them, indicating womens overt dependence on male members. Longhurst (1979) Womens farm activity is limited to helping the man in planting and picking crops.

In Asian countries low levels of female work participation rates are observed. On the whole it appears that countries in East and South East Asia are marked by relatively high work participation rate among women in comparison to countries in South Asia. The participation rate being 5.6% and in Malaysia and Korea the rates being 25.9% and 32.3% respectively (Jose, 1989).Women have always been at work, only the definitions of work and work plan have not been realistic enough to include their contribution to the economy and society (Ahooja, et.al 1995).Women workers face several constraints and their lack of access to productive inputs such as raw materials, technology, training and markets are major impediments (Kanesalingam 1989). The structural adjustment

programmes adopted by the government to boost the process of economic development does not improve the self employment opportunities for women but rather aggravates their problems (Srivastava 2001).

Much of the literature has attempted to explain the reasons for womens low representation at executive levels. Over a 30 year period the research framework has changed significantly, from an initial focus on the differences between female and male managers, in terms of style, traits and personality and even capacity to be leaders, to a consideration of organisational practices, structures and systems that create barriers to womens career advancement. Oakley (2000) argues that explanations for the low representation of women at chief executive level must go beyond organisational policies and practices and should examine the impact of gender-based behavioural dynamics.

Most women in Africa are directly dependent on their local environment and sustainable natural systems for their own and their families survival. As daily managers of the living environment, they are experienced in the management of agriculture and food production, fisheries, forests, soil, energy and water resources, and have developed skills in conservation that are built into their traditional subsistence activities. At the local level, co-operative action taken by women demonstrates that by sharing their knowledge and experience they can improve the environment and promote sustainable development.

There certain tasks, activities or enterprises may be regarded as male or female. For example, women typically gather forest products for fuel, food for the family, fodder for livestock and medicinal uses. Men more often cut wood to sell or use as building materials. In order to secure sustainable and equitable management of forest resources, therefore, both women and men need to be consulted in the design and implementation of forestry projects. Similarly, where livestock is concerned, women and men often own different animal species and use different animal pro ducts, and any policies or programmes would need to address the needs of both (World Bank, 2000).

As predominantly small farmers, women have been largely responsible for activities such as the selection, improvement and adaptation of plant varieties. This has both supported and increased agricultural biodiversity which the Food and Agriculture The collective consciousness of women regarding the feminine mystique, which saw womens identity restricted to the roles of wife and mother, was challenged by the early writings of Betty Friedan and Germaine Greer. Friedans approach to feminism was seen as individualistic and liberal and in this form was acceptable to many women (Beck 1990). Friedan (1982) identified the discrepancy between the reality of the lives of women and the image to which they were trying to conform. Greer (1970) challenged the notion that whilst women were seeking pay parity, equal work opportunities and maternity leave they were not in any way attempting to lose their femininity. Since then, there has been considerable impetus for considering the role of women outside of the family and much has been written, aimed at gaining equality between men and women. The study conducted by Chavangi and Hansen, (1983) in East Africa reflects that the Masai women process milk products but give the proceeds to the men.

There are representations of women in an organization as a head or members to run the organization. The power of women in the establishment of farmer organizations in Mozambique where the National Farmers Union represents some 11,000 farmers nearly all women. The first president was a woman and the organisation has a membership which includes widows, wives abandoned by their husbands and the partners of migrant workers. As predominantly small farmers, women have been largely responsible for activities such as the selection, improvement and adaptation of plant varieties. This has both resulted in increasing the agricultural production and crop diversity. In the same context the women of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh participated in the micro credit activities improved their socio-economic condition as well as shown an excellent result in entrepreneurship development. The success of women proved to be instrumental in widening the socio economic base of economic growth. (Yunus, 2004)

When discussed on great women leaders of third world countries one cannot forget the contribution of Sheila Irena Pant (Began Raana Liaquat Ali Khan). Began Raana from

Almora, wife of the first prime minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan devoted herself to the task of creating political consciousness amongst the Muslim women. Her struggle for emancipation continues till the creation of Pakistan for Muslim of India in 1947. She continued her services for the social and economic upliftment of women of Pakistan till her death in 1990. Began Raana served as Pakistans ambassador to the Netherlands in the 1950 and to Italy in the 1960s. She was the first women Governor who also won the United National Rights Award.

Dankelman (1988) Dr Wangari Maathai, a biologist by profession, was the first women to be appointed professor in natural sciences in Eastern Africa. Her commitment established Kenyas Green Belt Movement in 1977. Presently she is Assistant Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in Kenya. She was honored with the coveted Nobel Peace Prize in year 2004.

Womens leadership in environmental matters is reflected in the fact that women take on major environmental issues and seek drastic solutions. Organized women groups are fighting against deforestation, pollution and other forms of environmental degradation. There are also an increased number of womens groups and unique self-help projects regenerating the environment. Often a woman takes the lead in such campaigns and individual leaders often become role models for natural leadership and a source of inspiration for a wide range of women. The role of women in decision making had placed many women in the system and many changes took place (UNEP, 2005). In Brazil the women organization Acao Democratic Femina Gaucha fought for ecological justice and sustainable development (Dankelman 1988).

In Uganda, women hold a high number of positions in local and national government, because of the affirmative-action policy of the national government (Hassim 2003). However, women elected at local levels still face seemingly insurmountable challenges: the patriarchal culture of discrimination in government institutions; and the lack of support and capacity-building to give the women to combat that discrimination (Goldenberg 2008).

During informal research conducted by an organization in Uganda mentioned that there are lot of inferiority complex for women councilors, so most of them kept quiet during deliberations, there were threats from men to women and in case one was outspoken, they would be ignored by the male speaker or not given chance to speak or threatened, womens issues were not treated as priority and the women councilors also lacked skills in dealing with the issues related to the areas of social concern by the weaker section of the society (Goldenberg 2008).

There are cases of failures in the government extension services to reach women farmers and the cultural bias in the third world countries, prevented women from active participation in group training, extension meetings and, most importantly, access to inputs such as fertilizer and credit. These services have been predominantly staffed by men. According to the FAO (1999) only 15% of extension workers are women and they tended to direct their services to male farmers or heads of households, excluding femaleheaded households and women members of male-headed households (World Bank, 2000). However, any consideration of gender in relation to these points must be considered in the context of the radical changes which are taking place as governments reduce research commitments and withdraw from the responsibility of extension services, and as NGOs increase their reach and influence.

It is noted that socio-economic formations in the rural are the primary organizations of production in which womens role has a pivotal importance in most parts of the developing world. In the rural areas of these countries women work in all capacities, in growing food, post harvest operation, marketing, animal husbandry and other related activities. In addition, they spend considerable time in gathering fuel and fetching water. In several cases they also work as wage labour on farms. The FAO has estimated that sometimes womens work could be longer than men work by as much as 43 per cent (FAO 1983). Many parts of Africa have a large incidence of female headed households where women take sole responsibility of growing food. It is in spite of these facts that women have generally been seen as consumers and not as producers in the book keeping

system of development (UNDP, 1980). Such attitudes have resulted in not only adversely affecting the consumers status of women but have also put developing projects in jeopardy (Dey 1981). Since womens role is vital in sustaining rural economic system in these countries, it is imperative that they include as explicit groups in development, land reform and technological infusion. This requires an understanding of womens work in different geographic and cultural setting. (Acharya 1987)

Womens Participation in Development

The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millenniums. From equal status with men in ancient times through the low points of the medieval period, to the promotion of by many reformers, the history of women in has been eventful. In modern India, women have adorned high offices in India including that of the President, Prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition, etc. The current President of India is a woman.

Contrary to the common perception, a large percent of women in India work. The National data collection agencies accept the fact that there is a serious under-estimation of women's contribution as workers. However, there are far fewer women in the paid workforce than there are men. In urban India Women have impressive number in the work force. As an example at software industry 30% of the workforce is female. They are at par with their male counter parts in terms of wages, position at the work place.

In rural India, agriculture and allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89.5% of the total female labour. In overall farm production, women's average contribution is estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour. According to a 1991 World Bank report, women accounted for 94% of total employment in dairy production in India. Women constitute 51% of the total employed in forest-based small-scale enterprises.

One of the most famous female business success stories is the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. In 2006, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who started Biocon - one of India's first

biotech companies, was rated India's richest woman. Lalita Gupte and Kalpana Morparia (both were the only businesswomen in India who made the list of the Forbes World's Most Powerful Women), run India's second-largest bank, ICICI Bank.

Medha Patkar for her role in Narmada Bachao Andolan. She has also filed a public interest petition in the Bombay high court against Lavasa along with other members of NAPM, including Anna Hazare. Medha Patkar is one of the recipients of Right Livelihood Award for the year 1991. She received the 1999 M.A. Thomas National Human Rights Award from Vigil India Movement. She has also received numerous other awards, including the Deena Nath Mangeshkar Award, Mahatma Phule Award, Goldman Environment Prize, Green Ribbon Award for Best International Political Campaigner by BBC, and the Human Rights Defender's Award from Amnesty International. She was also a Commissioner to the World Commission on Dams.

Education Savitribai Phule, a social reformer who along with her husband; Mahatma Jotiba Phule played an important role in improving women's rights in India during the British Rule. Savitribai was the first female teacher of the first women's school in India and also considered as the pioneer of modern Marathi poetry. In 1852 she opened a school for Untouchable girls.

Arts and entertainment Singers and vocalists such as M.S. Subbulakshmi, Gangubai Hangal, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle are widely revered in India. Anjolie Ela Menon is among India's lending contemporary female artists, who have created a name for themselves in the domestic as well as international art scenario. Her works are a part of significant painting collections across the globe. One of her art works, 'Yatra' was recently picked up by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco at California in the year 2006.

Sports Although the general sports scenario in India is not very good, some Indian women have made notable achievements in the field. Some of the famous female sportspersons in Indian include P. T. Usha, J. J. Shobha (athletics), Kunjarani Devi (weightlifting), Diana Edulji (cricket), Saina Nehwal (badminton) , Koneru Hampi (chess) and Sania Mirza (tennis) to name a few. Karnam Malleswari (weightlifter) is the only Indian woman to have won an Olympic medal (Bronze medal in 2000). Not to forget Mary Kom, from Manipur, a mother of two, is five times World Boxing Champion, successively.

Politics Through the Panchayat Raj institutions, over a million women have actively entered political life in India. As per the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, all local elected bodies reserve one-third of their seats for women. Although the percentages of women in various levels of political activity have risen considerably, women are still under-represented in governance and decision making positions. Women are changing governance in India. They are being elected to local councils in unprecedented numbers as a result of amendments to the constitution, which mandate the reservation of seats for women in local government. The women whom PRI has brought into politics are now governing, be it a in one village, or a larger area such as 100 villages or a district. The sheer number of women that PRI has brought into the political system has made a difference. The percentage of women at various levels of political activity has increased dramatically. Panda (1996) in her study of village panchayat in Orissa found that women who reluctantly entered into politics showed great maturity in outlook, enthusiasm, increasing political consciousness and increasing perception of their role and responsibility. In another study Panda (1999) brought out that prevailing caste feelings and women belonging to upper caste have not come forward to representing the panchayat. This has provided an opportunity to the women from labour and lower caste to emerge as a potential force in village politics.

Literature Indian women writers have garnered critical praise for their scintillating literary prowess and making social issues a key part of their work. Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Surayya, Shobha De, to mention a few. Indian women authors writing in English such as Kiran Desai and Arundhati Roy have earned international renown. But a number of Indian women writing in regional languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, among others, have gained wider recognition thanks to a strong and growing market for quality Indian fiction in translation. Kiran Desai, Only the second Indian woman to ever win the Man Booker prize in 2006 for her second novel The Inheritance of Loss. Arundhati Roy made headlines around the world when she became the first Indian woman to win a Man Booker prize for her debut novel, The God of Small Things (1997).

Eco feminism The connection of the environmental movement and the feminism movement is one of the combinations of multiple movements using gender equality as a stating point for working. Academics and activists like Vandana Shiva, Bina Aggarwal, Ariel Salleh, Maria Mies and Gloria Goldstein are important representatives of this movement. The world Conservation Union (IUCN) and the United Nation as Environment Programme (UNEP) have adopted policies that aim to enhance gender equality in environment and very useful documents on gender and environment have been developed. (Ngece, 2005) Other areas Women are playing a vital role in the business. In India, however, women have made comparatively late entry. Although , certain ethnic communities in the country,

especially the Newars and Burman Highland group such as the Manihar, Kumawat, Mouchi are known to have a long tradition of women being involved in small business enterprises. After a long period of time women gained recognition of unique talents which could be harnessed for development and for creating employment opportunities for others who are not suited to an entrepreneurial career, developing women as entrepreneurs has become an important part of national development planning and strategies (Tuladhar, 1996)

Dankelman (2007) in her study mentioned the case of women in Japan, in 1950 where the Nakabaru Womens Society and Sanroku Womens Society protested loudly against pollution from Industries and power plants in the Tobata region. While Industrial development had made the society richer, the environment destruction began to threaten the health of local citizen. Women stared to raise their voice in opposition and organized an increasingly powerful movement.

The key role played by women in agriculture was in the past largely unacknowledged in government statistics and decision-making. This situation has changed over the last two or three decades, and much has been achieved in giving recognition to the importance of women in the agricultural sector. The empowerment of women engaged in farming is gathering pace in many parts of the developing world.

The empowerment of women engaged in farming is gathering pace in many parts of the developing world. (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2001). Women have traditionally earned valuable income through the processing of foods at the household level for sale, but there are severe constraints on the expansion of this due to a lack of information about markets, the absence of cold storage facilities and packaging technology and an inability to obtain credit. These limitations are now understood and one challenge is to foster this business acumen and to encourage small-scale agro-processing.

The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development sets forth a number of goals, strategic objectives and actions to be taken for the advancement of gender equality, and has specific suggestions for the agricultural sector. In addressing sustainable development, the necessity is highlighted of mainstreaming womens concerns into effective agricultural and rural development Agrarian reform programmes of resettlement and land distribution which were popular in the past have not tackled this problem and have typically failed to recognise the land ownership rights of married women, women heads of household and women producers with partial or temporary land rights. In many cases, they have simply awarded new tenancies to men despite the

womens responsibility for growing all the family subsistence food supply. Women may be prevented from owning or inheriting property by discriminatory property and inheritance laws and policies, or there may be customary laws which conflict with secular state laws.

Arunachalam (2006) in her study focused on the contribution made by the women SHGs against alcoholism and how they have improved their economic and social conditions with the help of micro finance.

Womens participation in a movement reflects their concern about social issues. Two historic peasant movement (Tebhaga Movement,1946-47 and Naxalite Movement, 196771) in West Bengal witnesses women in the forefront of the struggle with the policies, in forcible harvesting of the crops, in the meetings and campaigning and organizing activities, in supplying food and maintaining communication network among the underground activities and in stimulating the moral strength for resistance.

The first recorded Chipko which took place in village Khejarli, in Jodhpur district, in 1730 AD, was led by Amrita Devi who sacrificed her lives while protecting green Khejri trees, considered sacred by the community, by hugging them, and braved the axes of loggers sent by the local ruler.. Similar movement the Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan is a socio ecological movement that practiced the Gandhian methods of satyagrah and non-violent resistance, through the act of hugging trees to protect them from falling. The modern Chipko movement started in the early 1970s in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, was also led by women.

The women elected in the three tiers have shown startling results, particularly in the sectors of health, education, access to basic services and in ensuring a significant change in the living conditions of their respective communities. They have made remarkable achievements for the development of their villages and quite often have been successful in resisting the forces, which try to subservient their new roles. Even in the strong

patriarchal culture, the one-third reservation has encouraged women to demonstrate their leadership.

According to the studies carried out by the Institute of Social Sciences in 1990, women in panchayats in Karnataka express their views in the meetings. They have perceived their roles by familiarizing themselves with the laws and regulations and there is a qualitative improvement in their participation. The study also found out that the women are less corrupt and take a special interest in human development issues.

According to Singh (2004), relatively younger women have begun to replace the elderly ones. The hegemony of the higher castes no longer exists but their dominance continues. Reservation of women has lead to formal empowerment of women in Panchayats and there is emergence of new women leadership. These women have been able to have considerable extent of participation in deciding the day-to-day activities. The Anganwari workers and the members of mahilla mandals persuade women representative to participate actively in the meeting of the Gram Sabha.

It is known that through women comprises about half of the Indian population they have been subjected to discriminatory social ethos resulting in denial of equality of status and opportunities in social, economic and political sphere. Development of a nation requires maximum utilization of human resources without any discrimination. A more developed society is a more participant one. So the participation of women in political process is a major step towards inclusive politics. The participation of Andhra Pradesh Women in the PRIs has resulted in social identities and developed political awareness among them. It has created an urge in them to become the part of the mainstream political, economic and social life. In spite of many social and cultural limitations, women have proved better leaders than their male counterparts. (Prasad.et.al.,2004).

Chaturvedi (2004) observes that the representation of women in the PRIs have enabled them to participate in the democratic process of the country. The number of women

participating at the level of Gram Sabha has since increased. The active role of women in these institutions has led to a situation where they have become the power sharer and consequently have become more confident and assertive. There has been a mixed of the success stories as well as failures. Initially there was social bias and women were not given proper treatment but now the traditional society and the political authority have undergone a serious change during the last more ten years of the working of PRIs in the state.

The Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) studies done in 1995 found that the women in the state organize rallies against the illegal distillation of liquor, protection and preservation of environment. Women dont want unnecessary intervention by the males in their work, thus are moving towards self-dependence. Sharma (2004) observes that after the 2000 panchayat elections in the state, there has been an increased participation of women in the grass roots governance. The state government is also committed to accord reservation in the leadership structure of the community to give women their overdue share in power so that they exert pressure and exercise authority in the decision making process. According to Sharda (2004) there has been increased affiliation of the Panchayati Raj leaders to political parties after the 73rd Amendment Act. The local MLAs and MPs involve themselves fully in rural politics and allocate developmental funds, which leads to more development in the rural areas.

In India according to 1991 census the male labour force participation rate is 51.55% and the female work participation is 22.69%.There are many reasons put forward by the sociologist for the low participation rate of women. According to National Perspective plan for women (1998-2000) the social and economic factors like segregation in the labour market, adverse implications of technological growth for women, lack of unionization of female workers, absence of purposeful human resources development policy are some of the reasons for low rate of participation of women. The many activities women perform are not included in the national statistics. According to the International Labour organization women represent 50% of the population, make up 30% of the labour force, perform 60 % of all working hours, receive 10% of the worlds

income and own even less then 1 5 of the world property. According to Human Development report 1995 poverty has a women face. Of 1.3 billion people in poverty 705 are women.

In recent years the policy makers and planners have become acutely aware of the economic significance of womens productive activities and the nature of their contribution to income generation. It has been firmly realized that women in India are vital and productive contributors to the national economy but their access to knowledge, skills resources, opportunities and power still remain rather low (Shakti, 1995)

It is a fact that 96 per cent of the total working women are in the informal sector. Their lower level of education and training as compared to men, the traditional allocation of roles and limitations of formal labour market for women are reasons for discrepancy in employment. Further, due to the modernization in agriculture and high technological plane of formal markets, influx labour force has no other go than work in the informal sector. Apart from that, informal sector provides them ready-made jobs where there is no hard and fast rule for their entry into such jobs.

Coming to the urban areas also, women are over represented in unorganized and nonmodernized occupations. They are invariable engaged in low paid and low skilled jobs. According to 1981 census 80% of the women workers are in agriculture, constituting 87% in rural areas and 17.5 percent in urban areas.

Ambannavar (1975) observed that the failure of structural change in employment to accompany urbanization can be traced to the fact that the growth of modern industry in towns and cities death blow to rural household industry. With change in technology, the scale of production there was a shift in the location of industry from rural to urban centres, especially large metropolitan cities. These changes were unfavorable to womens participation.

Status is the key term in understanding the social differentiation and stratification of human society. As inequality is the universal and accepted phenomenon of human society. As inequality is the universal and accepted phenomenon of human society, so status differentiation and status categories are the universal features of a society.

Lal ( 1979) holds that while the status of women in a society determined by a number of factors, it is clear that the pattern of task differentiation in the family also provides clues to the prevailing status of women in the society. Womens status will be the lowest in a society characterized by firm differentiation between mens work and womens work.

Pitchard (1965) holds that in society where section of the population is in a service position, the position of women is correspondingly low compared to male sex and especially in the marital status. He further contends that womens position is particularly evident in the lower hierarchy of stratified societies where working class is subjected to exploitation by marginal classes.

Occupational structure shows the number of people who are working in various occupations to their livelihood. Through females contribution is very small as compared to males in employment, these problems and conditions are in fact, inseparably linked everywhere with the general problems of the society they live in. Generally, women are employed largely in the unorganized sectors, both in the urban and rural areas. The occupational structure differentiates the nature of jobs from rural to urban.

Emmanuel Romatat (1991) having surveyed some slum industries in Calcutta, has brought out a demarcation between formal and informal sector. In the formal sector the level of employment is fixed by a demand for labour at given wage rates, in the latter the abundance of stock and flow of labour means that demand variables like productivity do not play any role in determining wages.

In a number of city surveys it has been found that most of the urban working women are uneducated, unskilled and participating in manual occupations.

Lakdawala (1963) reported that in Bombay employment opportunities were limited to only a few occupations which did not require much skill and training. Professional occupations were second in importance for women. But even in this category most of the women are concentrated in lower grades. A similar pattern was revealed by Sen, in his city surveyed Kolkata. He found that most of the women were working in unskilled manual work.

A Town and City Country Planning Organization Survey of 1975 found that 38.4% of adult women in Delhis squaller settlements were employed as against 5.1 percent of Delhis total female population.

Findings of the Madras Singh (1978) showed that at least 30% of the adult women were employed in the development sector which is low compare to the total population of the city.

In the early 70s, Sharma (1975) calculated that 75% of all working women were concentrated in occupation which required low education qualification. Banerjee (1976) found out that, of 400 women surveyed, the majorities were domestic servants and the rest were distributed in various unskilled and semiskilled occupations. Nearly 25% were employed as piece rate workers, usually under the put out system. She also observed that not only women did work in low paid jobs but were also prepared to work in socially tabooed areas. In the absence of land, lack of employment opportunities was identified as a persistent problem among the female participants. As the village economy is agrarian, the only employment available within the village economy is in agriculture. However, agriculture provides employment only for a short period. Women do not get employment within the village and they seek employment outside. Migration data in South Asia for rural-rural and rural-urban flows in which women are represented in large numbers, is usually ascribed to marriage or association. Only recently data been questioned since it appears to be conclusion linked to sex based stereotypes regarding economically active women.

Several research studies on the micro level as Singh (1971) pointed out, show that women also tend to migrate for economic reasons and not merely because of marriage and association. Regarding the rural urban migration of women the World Bank (1978) has estimated that the volume of migration has been increasing rapidly than that of males for the last several decades.

A study made by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India, New Delhi on socioeconomic conditions of women engaged in unorganized sector suffer from disabilities and exploitation of higher magnitude that those employed in the organized sector. Similar study by Kartan revealed that the social conditions in which they live continued to be traditional, exploitative and anti women in nature.

Another issue is the problem-ridden conceptualisation of womens and mens work in rural environments and, in particular, the failure (by census-takers and researchers who are not gender-aware, for example) to recognise the importance of their differing roles. Analysis of the gender division of labour has revealed that women typically take on productive role, the repr- oductive role and the community management role in terms of the paid and unpaid labour they undertake (Miller.et.al , 1997).

Despite the constraints, the upsurge of womens power in Panchayats in Haryana has been noticeable. They have started asserting themselves and have been able create a political space in a rather conservative and orthodox society. Since the performance of these women largely depend upon their educational level, exposure to outside world and understanding about their roles and responsibilities, the situation is going to be better with the improvement in their levels of education, health and employment. The cases of women asserting their rights and brooking no interference from husbands have started sneaking in Bangladesh. The situation beyond doubt is going to improve in the times to come. Women in panchayats are capable of showing their representation provided they are given time, support, resources, training and freedom from men. (Hemalatha, 2003). Kathel (2007) Women are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they are more prone to the adverse impacts from climate change. Further, changes in the climate

usually affect sectors that are traditionally associated with women, such as paddy cultivation, cotton and tea plantations, and fishing. Their limited adaptive capacities arising from prevailing social inequalities and ascribed social and economic roles means increased hardship for women. Women thus bear a disproportionate burden of climate change consequences such as decreased food security, shortage and access to water resources and threatened existence given their dependence on natural resources for their livelihoods.

For instance, studies show that climate change has an adverse impact on fishing, as the sea level rises and saline water enters into freshwater systems, making fishing difficult thus impacting their livelihoods. Climate change in particular exacerbates existing shortages of water. Women are largely responsible for water collection in their communities and are therefore more affected when the quality of water and /or its accessibility changes.

Hassan (2008) women have long been the mainstay of communities and are heavily involved in community initiatives in various forms. Though often the unsung heroes of community action, womens role in community development has become increasingly important. In some communities, they have established themselves as leaders in community development and acquired the skills that have brought positive change to their communities. Women leaders play key roles in establishing and maintaining important relationships and networks in their communities. They face cultural, economics, and social barriers in leading the community and in many cases overcoming those barriers become their motivation. While their comprehensive approach has influenced the evolution and nature of community development, womens contributions have been neither widely acknowledge nor explicitly credited. The results of this study provide deeper insights into womens thinking about leadership and community development; the barriers they perceive to womens leadership, their leadership styles and strategies that should be undertaken to facilitate and promote their status and roles in community development.

As the recent Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 stresses, the quality and existence of our earths ecosystem is threatened at an unprecedented rate. These development are major obstacles for meeting the global development goals. There is a growing acceptance that global environmental change will jeopardize environmentally based livelihood strategies. Climate change is predicted to accentuate the gaps between the worlds rich and poor, as people living in poverty are more vulnerable. Effects of climate change are very likely to be gender focus and significance dimension in understanding disasters: female livelihood strategies are vulnerable to environmental change (World Bank, 2001). Like the lesson learnt from the recent Tsunami impacts. Therefore gender approach and the active participation of women in disaster mitigation and adaptation are priorities for environment change management. More recently women are also organizing to influence the international climate change negotiations and national policies, e.g. through the recently established Gender and Climate Change Network.

Women in Uttarakhand According to Nautiyal (2009) Uttarakhand movement has been the only one, after the independence of India, which witnessed the spontaneous participation of people, because of the continued neglect and political apathy of the region by the different governments. Also women from the remotest corner of the region became very active in this movement, as they believed that the creation of a separate state was necessary for the welfare of their community. However, in a state created to satisfy the demands of the holistic development of the area and to bring the people in to the national mainstream, the quality of life of women, particularly in the remote hill areas, has not improved. These women share the same plight being shared by their counterparts in other rural areas of India, but the magnitude of their drudgery is very high due to a tough terrain, adverse weather conditions, scarcity of agricultural land, and paucity of basic facilities like water, electricity, health, fuel, and fodder. In this paper an attempt has been made to analyze the problems of the hill women of Uttarakhand and their prospects of becoming active and empowered partners in political institutions.

The Chipko movement in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, a landmark event in this struggle was started by a group of peasant women in Reni village, Hemwalghati, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, acted to prevent the cutting of trees and reclaim their traditional forest rights that were threatened by the contractor system of the state Forest Department. Their actions inspired hundreds of such actions at the grassroots level throughout the region. The movement was the first environmental movement in the developing world

The women constitute the backbone of Himalayan economic system, as hill agriculture is absolutely dependent on them. A Survey on womens input to agricultural work across in hills showed that women perform 61% of the total framework, against mens 39% (Bhati and Singh, 1987). They are primarily responsible for cattle care, but in addition, spend many hours in the fields sowing, weeding, hoeing, harvesting and processing of the crops. The myth continues to be propagated that womens tasks in the field are light and require less drain on energy. But in fact, while men only plough the field once in a year, the women works throughout the day in the fields, leveling the ground, sowing the seeds, watering, weeding, fencing, harvesting, husking etc. They also carry the grain to the barter for sale. Women have shorter time to rest than men and environmental degradation is increasing womens workload. (Janet 2000). If calculation is done on the calories spent for all these work, acknowledge has to be made that women do more work. In addition to the farm work, women also have to bear the burden of domestic work. They are responsible for collection of water and firewood for use in the homes etc.; they even cant leave the villages on their own, without the permission / support of their husbands.

Promila Kanwar conducted an series of interviews to determine and compare the participation of women in dairy farming and management practices in the sub mountain and low-hilly subtropical (zone I), mid-hilly and sub humid (zone II), high-hilly and temperate wet (zone III) and high-hilly and temperate dry (zone IV) zones of hills. It was shown that the level of participation of women in dairy farming practices increased from

zone I to zone IV. In conclusion, the level of participation of women in dairy farming activities increases with increasing altitude in the hilly terrain.

Ecological problems are ever increasing in the hills. Water and drought problem are becoming intense for parts of the year and floods and heavy rains during the monsoons resulting in heavy losses to crops and sometimes even lives of cattle. Occurrence of floods and cloudbursts has been leading to loss of life and property in the districts of Uttarakhand. The reasons are many, varying from melting of major glaciers to heavy grazing pressure resulting in loss of support area and forest cover in parts of Uttarakhand. These factors further make life difficult for women. Declining Bio-fuel resources, poor quality of the available bio-fuel and insufficient devices have pushed women into greater hardships. (Shailaja, 2000) However, women have a greater awareness than men about the need to protect environment. The Commission on State of women (2002) reported that involving women in protecting the environment would help societies to develop the sense of responsibility needed to maintain a good balance between humans and the earths resources. (Kashwa 1999).

The participation of Uttarakhand women in the development sector has been recognized world wide. Bali Devi, Head of the Mahila Mangal Dal, (Women Welfare Group) of village Reni (Chamoli Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India) has recently returned from the Global Womens Conference on Environment, organized by UNEP at Nairobi (Kenya) on 11-13 October 2004, where she shared the inaugural stage with Nobel peace laureate Prof Wangari Maathai. In the 30-odd years since the Chipko Movement, Bali Devi is the first grassroots woman to have attended and addressed an international gathering abroad. Sunita Devi managed the food grain in the district of Tehri in Uttarakhand. As head of the grain bank, Sunita Devi is well aware that this initiative is owned and managed by the community and the members will themselves have to ensure its sustainability. (WFP 2011).

Jagdamba Devi, an assertive housewife from Srikot village and a district Panchayat member has motivated the SHGs to blaze a new trail by fighting against social evils and

as a result they bid for the building of a public road in the village. With the help of the SHGs member Jagdamba Devi won the election of panchayat and much determine to work for her village. (Rao 2005).

Women from Uttarakhand also participated in the movement (Beej Baacho Andolan) to defend diversity, peace and democracy from the growing threats of monoculture, war, totalitarianism and fundamentalism. (Navdanya 2009).

The women work very hard and live a poor life due to a number of constraints; they are deprived off most of the privileges of life although they play a vital role in all types of house hold, farm and allied activities. Several researchers have studied and confirmed that women work for 14-18 hours daily (Ancheta, 1982) on live stock raising, fetching fodder, farming operations, collecting fuel and water from far off places and expend more total energy a day as compared to men. Kishtwaria (et al, 2009) studied the extent of participation and time spent by women in different activities of Uttarakhand. Under the study area, maximum time was spent on cooking food, washing vessels, serving food, sweeping and fetching water. Majority of women were involved in performing various farm activities, dairy and tea plantation. The rural woman has limited time and hence her space gets limited also. The onslaughts on her time and space are subtle but numerous. Malinowski (1913) suggested that women, owing to their docility, are forced to do domestic work: division of labour is rooted in the domination of the weaker sex by the stronger.

In hills, the condition of women is somewhat different from their counterparts elsewhere. Some development indicators pertaining to women are very favorable compare to the elsewhere in the State of Uttar Pradesh. For example the literacy rate is comparatively better, sex ratio and the age of marriage is also higher.

But despite these advantaged the status of women is low and remain the second sex. Although women have been playing a very important role in the economy of the state for generation the women have been deprived from availing various kinds of opportunities

and advantages from the society. (Palliwal, 2008).Women in Uttarakhand are involved in agriculture and road labour, animal rearing fuels collection, fodder and management. Due to modernization urbanization and technological advancement, the role of women in all spheres of life is continuously increasing thus, national development cannot be possible without involving the traditional practices practiced by women in the hilly region. They are the mother of next generation and share a number of duties and responsibilities of maintaining the daily life of its family more than on equal terms with its man folk, hence require greater attention.

Objectives The main objective is to study the involvement of grassroots women leaders, both formal and informal, in development of their area (village, block and district) that is, their association in planning, designing, implementation of the plans, schemes and projects for their respective area along with initiative taken for addressal of social and development issues. The other objectives are as follows: To study the socio-economic profile of women leaders. To study the perspective and vision of the women leaders towards development of their village/block/district. To understand their awareness regarding the various development programmes and their implementing. To study the nature of work and initiatives undertaken by the women leaders in their respective areas. To understand the problems and constraint faced by the women leaders in performing their role in development domain. To study the opinion of the public regarding the development work done by women leaders.

Research Methodology

The scope of the study covers the Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand state. The study included women leaders, both formal and informal from the area . a sample of the public (Gram Sabha) and the government officials of the regions was also incorporated in the study. The study is descriptive in nature. The universe comprises of both formal and informal women leaders from the region of Garhwal and Kumaon and Public of the selected villages inclusive of the government officials. The sampling unit for the purpose of the study was Women leader and Voter.Multistage purposive sampling used to select the district, block and the villages. Sample collected from the Garhwal and Kumaon region. The study proposes to select two district each from the mentioned two regions, two blocks from each district and villages selected from the mentioned blocks. Convenience sampling used for selection of the public and the government officials.The major criterion for selection of the geographical units was the Human Development Index of the selected unit, the education status of the women being a major indicator.A sample size of 250-300 respondents taken for the study. Data collection and Analysis Both qualitative and quantative data collected for the purpose of the study. For this purpose two different schedules framed for the primary data collection of the women leaders and the public repectively. The data from the government officials collected through Interview Guide. The secondary data collected from Uttarakhand Development report, reports from the Department of Women and child development, Department of Rural Development and the annual reports from the NGOs working in the area.

Result and Discussion

Participation of women (70%) in Joint forest management activities mostly as partners and supporters through attending general meetings, patrolling, formation of SHGs in the regions.

From the study it reveals that there lies uncertainty of actual integration between the government agencies and the PRIs and the concept of bottom to top planning is still a distant dream. Therefore, it is suggested that a system be put in place wherein an active coordination could be achieved, and, one of the ways to achieve it is to place the services of a full time rural development consultant at the disposal of the PRIs, both at the Gram Sabha and the block levels.

There are a large number of success stories in different Commonwealth countries that show how women have been getting empowered through collective decision-making and collective action. There are also a large number of success stories about how women have worked at the local level to promote peace in the family and in the community. Documentation of such success stories, however, is still weak and needs to be undertaken urgently. Womens use of traditional knowledge, whether in agriculture, in health, in medicinal herbs, is an important area for documentation.

Participation of women in development sector like heath, education, micro planning and politics is not a new phenomenon. The women in Garhwal (70%) and Kumaon (75%) followed the age old practices for the development of their villages. They have been involved even in the government programmes but most of the women are not the beneficiaries (50%) but facilitation in the work of development in educating the children, health awareness, environment protection.

Networking, building alliances and linkages at all levels is essential for documenting the womens contribution programs who have achieved any degree of success. Workshops, exchange programs, study visits can be organized to facilitate and strengthen the women and platform to learn from each other experiences. There is a high level of awareness among the women population (80%) on climate change but they have little options left. Measures are taken by some women to conserve their surroundings, but they are far from sufficient. Lesser economic incentives and hardships faced by the women compel them to think more economically than ecologically.

Some of the women in the Garhwal and Kumaon region do rely on traditional practices for making their livelihoods few women(20%) are aware of the modern practices.

The study also highlighted the problems faced by the women while contributing in the development of villages. Some of them are lack of cooperation from other villagers (20%), lack of fund and infrastructure (45%), lack of cooperation from the official (20%), lack of transportation (45%).

Migration from the villages to town alone with their husband also creates a problem for the other women who stayed back in villages. Some of the women reveal that due to the change in the livelihood pattern most of the villages go out from the villages for earning.

Most of the women no doubt gained benefit from the development programme run by the government and NGOs. For the women who are representing particular institution for the first and for those who are elected as a leader in local self governance and Community based organizations. But for the better output few suggestion are suggested by them like timely training to update knowledge based practices, field visits, proper coordination among the three tier system, timely disburse of fund

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