International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development
2024, Vol. 7, Issue 3, Part H
Rural women: Empowerment for sustainable development
Jyoti Nayak, Mridula Devi, Arun Kumar Panda and Lopamudra Mohanty
Women play a vital role in the sustainable development of a nation. Because we know that basic unit of a nation is family. The women are the backbone of the society but worldwide her hard work has mostly been unpaid. Achieving sustainable development means not only reconciling economic and environmental sustainability, but also prioritizing social sustainability. Poverty and exclusion increase the amount and intensity of unpaid care work, as a result of limited access to public services, inadequate infrastructure, the lack of resources to pay for care services and time-saving technology. Unpaid care work is also intensified in contexts of economic crisis, health crises, environmental degradation, natural disasters and inadequate infrastructure and services. A just and sustainable society is one that recognizes unpaid care work by making it visible through statistics and by ensuring that policies are in place to reduce its drudgery, through appropriate public investments in infrastructure and social services, and to redistribute it between women and men within households, and between households and society more broadly. Vocational trainings are being conducted, to impart skills to undertake different vocations. In extension activities the women are now the center point and activities are being planned keeping her in view. Her enlightenment will change the face of rural India. Providing more training opportunities to women will give them ownership of assets like land, access to credit and other inputs, adoption of women-friendly technologies, involving them in planning and decision making at all labels can foster sustainable development of the society.