Women Empowerment through Education: An analysis of the Mahila Samakhya Programme in India

Abstract

Education is globally considered as the most powerful tool to empower women. A low level of female literacy is a matter of serious concern because it not only adversely affect a women’s life but also has a spill-over effect on the society at large. In India, the National Policy on Education, 1986 as revised in 1992 is often considered as the landmark in the field of policy on women’s education in India. The Mahila Samakhya Programme was initiated in 1989 to translate the goals of National Policy on Education, 1986 and Programme of Action, 1992 into a concrete programme for the education and empowerment of women in rural areas, particularly of women from socially and economically marginalised groups. In this paper an attempt is made to analyse the Mahila Samakhya Programme, identify the bottlenecks in the implementation of the programme and to suggest recommendations that could contribute to the future of the programme.