An Analytical Study Of Modernization And Women Empowerment In The Context Of Economic Development Of Assam

Abstract

Assam is the pioneer state of the North- Eastern region in India whose economy is full of
potentialities. It should be noted that the geographical area of the state is 78523 square kilometers
constituting 312.05 lakh population of which 98.4 percent area is rural as per 2011 census. The state
is sharing about 2.4 percent of country’s geographical area by providing shelter to 2.6 percent
population of the country. Assam, as a North East state constitutes total population 311.69 lakh as per
2011 census out of which 152.66 lakh are females. Though Assam comprises of almost 50 percent of
women out of total population, traditionally they are not treated as equal to men, but in recent times
their role in economic upliftment of the state economy has gradually been changing. In modern times
specially after economy reform 1991, Assamese women are started to show their respective
capabilities in various aspects including self employment, health consciousness, increasing literacy,
improving decision making process, etc. All such can play a dominant role for accelerating the pace
of domestic economic development. In order to enhancing the condition of women, the government is
implementing a number of programmes for improving access to employment, education, health,
infrastructure, etc. In this paper, there is an attempt to study the impact of modernization on women
empowerment in Assam in recent years with the support of secondary sources of data