Empowerment of Women in Semi-Urban/Semi-Rural Regions of Delhi and Haryana

Abstract

Ensconced within the urbanized environs of the Delhi metropolis and its umbrella towns, there exists several semi-urban semi-rural pockets which are inhabited by communities with agrarian backgrounds who had sold off their lands to merge with the fast developing city spaces. Still holding on to their traditional socio-cultural ethos, these communities have taken to sundry businesses and fringe jobs to fulfill the requirements of surrounding urban settlements. The womenfolk living in these areas are at an interface between the traditional and the progressing worlds. Despite voluminous research on different sections of city-based women, very little attention has been paid to this particular category. This paper analyzes the scope and potential of women empowerment in such areas. We conducted a survey based on a questionnaire targeting representative womenfolk of four such pockets in and around Delhi. Our findings indicate that there is a latent potential among these women which, with due support is waiting to be tapped for the progress of the human populace.