Women empowerment: A step towards development

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. Women can make a new world, much happier to live in, provided we help the ‘women do this for us and empower them’. The word “empowerment” means to give power to someone. Empowerment of women involves many things – economic opportunity, property rights, political representation, social equality, personal rights and so on. India ushered in the new millennium by declaring the year 2001 as ‘Women's Empowerment Year’ to focus on a vision ‘where women are equal partners like men’.