Sustainable livelihood of rural & urban Assam: Gender perspective

The paper aims to understand the role of women in the context of livelihood strategy in north east part of India – Assam. Women in North East are always placed in a separate dimension mainly for the diversity in religious background, tribes and customs. In the inclusive growth strategy for sustainable livelihood role of women has a separate place and importance. With this objective in mind a very comprehensive study is made both in rural and urban Assam to understand the present status of women and the changes occurred in the time period. Effort is also made to understand the factor influencing the sustainable livelihood of women in Assam. A holistic approach is made both in the macro and micro perspective with secondary and primary data analysis respectively. To get a more vivid scenario and for a comparative analysis between rural and urban Assam intensive study is made through field visit with different religious background and livelihood strategies. Case studies with graphic presentation are used to make a vivid analysis of the disparity in the livelihood strategy of women in rural and urban Assam. Gender equity and gender security are analysed with the components like educational background, employment status, ailments, domestic violence, female work participation. The analysis indicates that the rural urban gap is less in female ailment and literacy level. Migration is the common coping strategy used for livelihood. Without any entitlement the livelihood of artisans and migrants are identified as less secured and in more vulnerable state. Huge disparity in income with the male counterpart both in rural and urban Assam displays the significant gender inequity in livelihood. The scope of diversification in livelihood is relatively less which limits the sustainability of livelihood in both rural and urban areas.