1Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Agartala, Tripura, Email: subhrabaran@rediffmail.com
2Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Cachar College, Silchar, Cachar, Assam. Email: singha.pushpu@yahoo.co.in
Women empowerment is one of the key dimensions for development of the countries. Although women are significant contributors in the families but in most of the cases, women especially belonging to the rural areas are neglected in the society. To accelerate the economic development, empowerment of women is crucial as empowered women can perform a substantial role in the process of development. The study focuses on status of women empowerment through the construction of Women Empowerment Index (WEI). The study also attempts to examine the relationship between women empowerment and their economic development. The study was conducted at the village level in Cachar district of state of Assam in India. This study reveals poor empowerment status of the women belonging to the rural areas and a positive and significant relationship between economic development and women empowerment at the micro level.
Principal component analysis, Women empowerment index, Economic development index
