Empowerment of rural women through income generating activities to achieve quality family life

To achieve the Millennium Development Goal empowerment of women is necessity of the time. Therefore, in this present study, an attempt has been made to determine Empowerment of rural women through income generating activities to achieve quality family life. The particular research study was conducted in three districts of Odisha namely, Cuttack, Puri and Khurda. About 240 women were selected randomly as respondents being member of SHG. Data were collected through survey method by using a pre-tested interview schedule and attempt was made to know the Empowerment of rural women through income generating activities to achieve quality family life. The output of the study reveals that 32.50% respondents doing income generating activities without training, subsidized inputs and exposure and from this their average monthly income is Rs. 2000. Major constraints in marketing are not getting proper price, selling the produce, depends on male member's cooperation and competition in locality. The suggestions came out for effective marketing are creation of local market, production as per market demand, better transport, infrastructure facility, creation of societies, easy availability of raw materials and skill training for better production. After involvement with the income generating activities the average growth rate in empowerment is 45.11%. Therefore, involvement of women in income generating activities is essential for their empowerment and better quality family life.