SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN RURAL AND URBAN AREA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

Gandhiji was one of the few noble people in the 20th century who had acknowledged that women had a pivotal role in the Indian society. He realized the importance of participation of women in political, economic and social spheres. So, he fought to attain equal rights for women in every sphere. He endorsed women’s participation in politics and he opened up strongly about it on September 1931 during the Second Round Table Conference in London, UK. He said that if women did not have a place in any legislature, he would boycott attending them. He urged women to take part in the legislature for serving people and not just for politicking on party basis in the Constructive Workers Conference in Madras (now Chennai) on June 27, 1946.Gandhiji wanted everyone to acknowledge that a woman is the better half of a man and not a weaker sex. Women should have equal rights of freedom and liberty. Gandhiji perceived the innate vital differences in the biological function of men and women. He made a remark that the men do not possess the quality of motherhood and the art of child rearing with compassion, care and patience. So, without women, the human race would become extinct. While fighting for women rights, Gandhiji wanted the Indian women to not blindly follow the Western methods, but to modify it based on the Indian environment.1