Socio-economic status of rural women: selected part of Cooch Behar district, West Bengal, India
Ms. Mervelous ChoudhuryRural economy of India is characterised by a massive presence of merely paid women workers. Rural women workforce plays a significant role in the economy who participated in large number of economic activity in agriculture and allied sector. Equitable access to more and better jobs in rural areas enable rural women to become effective economic actors and engines of growth. In India female participation in labour market has increased due to increasing rate of employment opportunities. The entry of women in labour market has fundamentally changed the status of women in the family as well as in the society. Today, indigenous women are increasingly entering the formal and informal labour market, as self-employed workers or wage earners. However women are facing new challenges regarding their social status which varies from rural to urban areas and various families in one area. Gender inequality, limited access to credit, health care and education has posed a number of challenges for rural women in all states of India. They also face many domestic and social problems. For the work, primary data was obtaining through field survey. Again, secondary data were collected from various sources and analyzed with suitable statistical and cartographic techniques. Present research study has tried to explore the status of rural working women of Tufanganj Block-I and their distribution in different sector. Most of the women workers of the study area belong to poor economic condition which is the main reason of their work. In conclusion part proper suggestions are incorporated to arrest the problem.