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Women are the backbone of rural development and act as change agents in our society. Rural women are an integral part of the social system. They live within the system to internalise their role and value in search of alternatives for better performance of their functions. The prosperity and growth of a nation depend on the status and development of its women, as they not only constitute nearly half of its population but also positively influence the growth of the remaining half of the population. FAO recognises that we cannot achieve food security and agricultural development without women’s and men’s full and equal participation in rural areas.

Introduction Women and girls in rural areas bear the brunt of poverty, feminisation and its intergenerational ramifications and the effects of desertification, extreme weather events, and natural disasters. Women are most at risk in conflict situations, as migrants and refugees and in humanitarian crises. Rural women have higher rates of disability, have inadequate or non-existent support services, and are stigmatised. Despite being the leading food growers and processors, the paradox is that they are often the last to consume the nutritious and healthy food they need to stay strong.

Women have contributed significantly and selflessly since ancient times to uplifting and bettering any nation. A literate woman builds a country; truth cannot be closer than that. Women have always carried the burden of being a wife, mothers, sisters and daughters, all on their own magnificently. They are leaders, decision-makers, entrepreneurs and service providers in different fields. The valuable contributions of women are significant to the well-being of families and communities and the economic growth of any society. Rural women have tremendous potential for developing culture, and their leadership, participation, and education will help eradicate poverty and hunger.

The core concept of empowerment is the idea of power and thought of control. Empowerment is the process of strengthening, encouraging, obtaining opportunities, and mobilizing assets and resources for the welfare of individuals, groups or masses. Over the past two decades, discourse and focus on the concept of empowerment have steadily and relentlessly increased within international development discourse. Empowerment has evolved to develop a more extensive physical and mental well-being, freedom from domestic violence, unpaid work and reproductive health. However, the wealthy body of work has wrangled the thought of empowerment of women.

Our country today is considered independent. We have the freedom to live by our choices, and there is no discrimination between women and men. Nowadays, women and men get equal opportunities to earn their livelihoods. Women’s work is restricted to the households and jobs outside the home to contribute to the family’s economy. As industrialization occurs, the demand for labour and employees is also increasing. This has created opportunities for both women and men to work equally.

Rural Indian women are extensively involved in agricultural activities. In rural Uttarakhand, women contribute about 90 per cent of the total work in agriculture and animal care. Women’s participation rate in the State’s economy is much higher than in several states and the national average. In Uttarakhand, women’s role ranges from managers to landless labourers. Women’s average contribution is 55% to 66% of the total labour in overall farm production, with percentages higher in certain regions. From a demographic perspective, nearly 17% of households are women, higher than the national data (~11%). The main reason for this shift is migration other than divorce, separation or widowhood.

Almost half of the population in the world comprises women, indicating that women are at par with men, but the issue is ‘Is she really at par with men in the status too?’ Numerous studies have drawn attention to the fact that women are half marginalised in every society; they have not yet got their share. The concern over women’s problems started with the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, which led to the declaration of 1975 as ‘International Women’s Year’ and the years between 1975- 1985 as the UN Decade for Women. For the first time, the attention was focused on the unnoticed and forgotten halves, who by birth were women, performing 2/3rd of the world’s work, receiving 1/10th of the world’s income and owning less than 1/100th of the world’s property (Rath, 1996). 

Pulses are widely acknowledged as superfoods, three times the protein in rice and double in wheat. Besides, they are also rich in complex carbohydrates, micronutrients, protein and B-vitamins and minerals like folate, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and potassium. High iron content in some pulses also minimizes the risk of anaemia. Long storability without loss of nutritional value, low prices, and broader availability make pulses an affordable source of minerals, and protein, thus contributing to food security at all levels of society in India. Besides human nutrition, pulse crops are also utilized as fodder and fuel for farm households.

India has experienced marked changes, both at international and national levels. Technological progress, ICT penetration in rural and urban areas, and changes in current government policies have resulted in changes in the country’s social structure and power relations. The government initiated various programmes like Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), Mahila e-Haat, and Support to Training & Employment Programme (STEP) etc. are there to improve the state of rural women. 

The informal associations of individuals who come close to seeking ways to enhance their living conditions are known as Self Help Groups (SHGs). They are generally self-governed and peer-controlled. An NGO or Agency usually governs people of comparable economic and social backgrounds to resolve their issues and improve their living conditions. It is a local committee of 10 to 20 women or men between 18 to 40 years. It acts as an intermediary financial committee. Self-help groups are a gaggle of each person on daily wages, and among that group, one person collects the cash and provides the case desired to the person in need.

Women have been seen as necessary as a man. The status of the women and the work progress of the women have been seen as a nation’s overall progress. Without the penetration of women in socio-economic and political activities, the country is considered to stagnate. Still, the devaluation of women commences at birth with the preference for male offspring. This continues through childhood conditioning to the submissive and, later on, the subservient role required of them in the marital home.

The decadal Census, 2011 puts India’s population at 121.08 crores (cr.), split into 83.37 cr. of rural and 37.71 cr. of urban inhabitants. Of the total population, the working population was 48.18 Cr. comprising primary workers at 36.25 cr. Regarding gender analysis, the male and female populations counted 62.32 and 58.75 crores, respectively. The female population was rural-dominated,with 42.77 crores living in villages and 10.51 crores in urban centres.The Census also showed that the women accounted for a substantive size of the working population, 14.99 crores (12.19 rural+2.80 urban). The primary workers of this female working population were as high as 8.93 crores, with 6.77 crores living in rural India and 2.15 crores in urban centres. The details may be seen in Table 1.

Although women work in household chores, agricultural activities, factories, and different workplaces in days of yore, their valuable work is still not recognized as a financial entity (Kathrivel and Sivakumar, 2003). The multiple roles performed by ‘Nari shakti share many working hours, but financial terms are off the records. Women’s power at construction work is greater utilization as labour and their daily routine employment. 

People worldwide are getting affected by the changing climate and associated natural disasters. These climate changes affect both genders differently. Changing climate is not often thought of as an issue related to gender, yet it is increasingly evident that women are more affected by its impacts. Women of all ages are more vulnerable due to persistent cultural norms and low socioeconomic status. Women’s domestic roles often make them inconsistent users of nature-based resources such as firewood, water, and forest products. When these resources become scarcer, they experience an increased work burden. This is proved by many researchers that women in developing countries share the primary responsibility of providing basic needs like food (to feed) and water for their families; this is the cause behind their dependency on natural resources.

ountains occupy twenty-four per cent of the global land surface area (about 25 million km²) and are home to twelve per cent of the world’s population (GTOS, 2008). Water is present in snow, glaciers, wetlands, and rivers in the mountains. They supply watersheds by providing groundwater recharge to hill communities and communities living in vast basin areas (Hua, 2009). Whatever happens in these mountains affect nearly 1.2 billion people, one-fifth of the world’s population living in the river basins, and up to three billion indirectly in food and energy production. Despite harbouring some of nature’s richest natural resources, mountains are home to some of the world’s poorest people, many of whom are marginalized subsistence farmers. These communities living in the mountain region have hardly benefited from the ‘green revolution’ and global economic growth.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is generally a policy to assess its impact on society and estimate its societal responsibilities. The CSR plan of any organization ensures that it complies with government norms, their investments in respect of growth, development of weaker sections and the environment. CSR’s primary requisite should be sustainable, involving interventions that an organization can justify without negatively affecting its profit goals.

s per the advancement in technology, our society is steadily moving towards adapting the new ordinary technologies for their normal affirms of life. While many’s daily lives are far from ordinary, one critical enabler for humans to survive and sustain their livelihood has been the accelerated adoption of digital technologies, especially in the last two years. We have witnessed how things happened because of the emerging technology in various sectors: education, business, communication, interaction, socialization, professional work, agriculture, etc. This will be the norm for the new normal and the “Gig Economy” evolution. Technology disruption has helped almost everyone in their many walks of life. When we consider the rural women at large, technology has, directly and indirectly, helped each procure food and other commodities to manage their livelihood. 

Empowerment in the women’s development context can be defined as defining, challenging, and overcoming the hurdles in women’s life. She enhances her ability to mould her life, personality, and surrounding environment. The buzzword “empowerment” synchronises with women metaphorically when we think of women empowerment. Such has been the issue and its importance in society today. However, why it matters so much can be attributed to “constraints”. 

Rural development is transforming the lives of the rural people by creating awareness and mobilizing the people for self-help and pastoral help. Rural development is not new in India, where more than 70% of the people live in villages, their primary source of livelihood being agriculture, animal husbandry etc. Any area’s development initially occurs when changes happen in the home and family. Rural development focuses on the holistic development of the rural population by helping them to recognize their needs & interests and guiding them to meet them. This would result in personal, social, economic, and spiritual development.

A woman is the backbone of the family. The Self-reliance of women is the first step in the nation’s development. For generations, women have fought for their existence. Women’s softness and humility have developed new dimensions of self-reliance; as a result, the image of a woman with a veil of weakness has ended. The position of women in ancient times was excellent. The most significant decline occurred in the status of women during the Mughal period.