Women's Empowerment-Efforts in Independent India: The ongoing efforts to empower the women of India are made by the state, voluntary organizations and women's groups. Voluntary women's groups are also known as autonomous women's groups. The common element in efforts being made both by the state and autonomous women's groups is the recognition of the fact that there is gender discrimination in our society and that special emphasis must be placed on eliminating it. If the Constitutional guarantee of equal opportunities and prohibition of discrimination has to become a reality (put into practice), there has to be a constant effort to identify and remove gender inequalities. The approaches and strategies of the state and voluntary efforts, however, are different. So, it is important to study the two separately.

Women's Empowerment Through Voluntary Actions:

(i) The women's movement in India has been a strong force in the struggle for empowerment of women. Prior to independence, organizations such All India Women's Conference, Bharat Stri Mandal, Women's Indian Association. The National Council of Women in India came into existence. These organizations no doubt raised issues of women's inequality, but their thought and action were not radical enough to question. patriarchy.

(ii) However, they organized campaigns against child marriage, purdah and demanded voting rights for women. These organizations were founded and managed mostly by women of middle or upper classes. By 1940 when the freedom struggle was at its height, the All India Women's Congress had raised this question. ‘Today our men are clamouring for political rights at the hands of an alien government. Have they conceded to their wives, their own sisters, their daughters, 'flesh to their flesh, blood' of their blood, social equality and economic justice'.

(iii) The sentiment echoed in this question is that political freedom does not necessarily bring women freedom from oppression. Though the pre-independence women's movement could not organize the masses, it had definitely set the stage for a strong women's movement to emerge in India after the country gained independence.