Page 1 of 7
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 672
Women Empowernment in Rohtak District of Haryana: A Case
Study of Bhainsru Kalan Village
Sandeep Gulia
M.A. (Sociology) NET
Abstract
Women constitute about one-half of India's population, without their engagement and
empowerment; rapid economic growth is out of the question. There have been significant
progress in the status of women in the society, but still they are fighting against many social
issues in the male-dominated society. Autonomy in the decision making has been considered as
an important indicator of women empowerment. The main aim of the paper is to ascertain the
influence of working and non-working women on the autonomy of decision making related to
households responsibilities. For fulfilling the objectives of the study primary data has been used.
The results showed that the women’s participation in decision marking was higher among
working women as compared to the non-working women in all the issues related to the
households’ decision making.
Key Words: Women Empowerment, Decision Making, Autonomy, Economic growth.
INTRODUCTION
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is
meant brute strength, then, indeed, woman is less brute than man. If by strength is meant
moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior: Has she not greater intuition, is
she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater
courage? Without her man could not be. If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is
with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?”
Mahatma Gandhi
Women empowerment means liberation of women from various grips of social, economical,
political, caste and gender-based discrimination. It means granting women the freedom to make
life choices. Women empowerment does not mean to worship women rather it means replacing
patriarchy with equality. India is known for its social, economical, cultural and geographical
diversities. There is strong patriarchal and male dominant social structure exists in north and
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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 673
north-west part of the country and patriarchal social setup always adversely affect the social and
economic wellbeing of women.
A country cannot go on the path of progress if it’s around half of the population are concentrated
in the kitchen only. In India after independence gender equality has been ensured through
various provisions and regulations in the Indian constitution. There is no denying in the fact that
after almost seven decades of independence women have made a significant progress, but still
they are fighting against many social issues in the male-dominated society. Many evils still
prevail in the modern Indian society that resists the women development. There has been
amelioration in the position of women, but their true empowerment is still awaited.
Thus, in order to achieve the status of a developed country, India needs to work hard to
transform its women force into an effective human resource and this is possible only through the
empowerment of women. Empowering women to participate in all sectors is necessary to build
strong economies and to achieve internationally accepted goals for the sustainable development
of a country; and to improve the quality of life in a society.
Independently decision making power of women in the society as well as in family is closely
linked with the term women empowerment. Hence, autonomy in decision making of women has
been measured in terms of women’s participation in households’ responsibilities in this paper.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the study is to ascertain the influence of working and non-working women
on the autonomy of decision making related to households responsibilities, as decision making
power is an important indicator of women empowerment.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Review of literature is an important exercise in research because it helps the researcher to find
out the research gap. A number of research studies have been undertaken by different researchers
in the field of women empowerment in Haryana.
Mahata et al. (2017) examined the women empowerment and female work force participation in
Haryana. The researchers revealed that by increasing women’s participation in the mainstream of
the society either through sex balancing or by enhancing the workforce participation we can
change the picture of male dominant society of the state.
Page 3 of 7
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 674
Nagpal, R. (2013) assessed the women empowerment in terms of their participation in
Panchayati Raj Institutions. The study was conducted in Sirsa district of Haryana. The author
concluded that the female representative were rarely attend the general meetings of PRIs as they
were busy in their family work and majority of representatives were dependent on their husband
or family members to help the people.
Devi, T.R. (2017) examined the gender equality & women empowerment in political field. The
study indicated that the women in India discriminated and marginalized at every level whether it
is social, economic or political participation. The researcher suggested that education, especially
higher education of women can be a key enabler in reducing the disempowerment.
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is based on the primary data and the data was collected from Bhainsru Kalan village of
Rohtak district. Bhainsru Kalan village was selected purposively as the literacy rate of this
village was highest in the district. After that a simple random sampling method has been used for
the collection of data. A total of 180 women have been interviewed out of them 90 were working
and 90 were non-working. The respondents were interviewed with the help of a well-structured
and pre-tested questionnaire. After collecting the data from the respondents simple statistical
tools like average, percentage has been used to analyze the data.
NULL HYPOTHESIS
There is no significant difference between the working and non-working women on their
decision making power regarding households responsibilities.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Independently decision making power of women in the society as well as in family is closely
linked with the term women empowerment. Here the autonomy in decision making of women
has been measured in terms of women’s participation in households’ responsibilities. The
influence of working and non-working women on decision making has also been ascertained, as
an important indicator of women empowerment. In the study the difference in decision making
autonomy of women on various issues has been categorized under working and non-working
women.
