Rajana Ramani

Political Empowerment of Women: a Study on Women Councillors in Urban Governance Andhra Pradesh, India Rajana Ramani

The political empowerment of women in India is very complex one and highly debatable. The Book is about women leaders who work within the representative system of local government. The women, who started as a small minority, in the domain of politics in India at the time of Independence, have not become a large minority even after 63 years of Independence. No doubt there has been progress in the empowerment of women after the enactment of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments to our Constitution in 1992, which provides 33 percent reservation of seats for women in Rural and Urban local bodies in India. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act ushered in a new era in the democratic process of the nation as it not only provided Constitutional Status to the Municipal Bodies, but also provided an enabling environment for women to take direct part in the process of local self governance and brought women to the forefront at centre of the city development. Thus Gender Mainstreaming is a pre requisite concept for the overall development of the country.