| Empowerment in its simplest form means the manifestation of redistribution of power that challenges patriarchal ideology and the male dominance. It is both a process and the result of the process. The concept of women's empowerment, throughout the world, has its roots in women's movement. It is since the mid 1980s that this term became popular in the field of development, especially in reference to women. In India, it is the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980- 1985) which can be taken as a landmark for the cause of women. Ills here that the concept of women and empowerment was introduced for the first time. |