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Income-Generating Activities and Multidimensional Empowerment of Rural Women in Watrap Block, Tamil Nadu

, , , , ,
V Pavithra — Master’s Scholar
Sonam Agarwal — Assistant Professor
Seema Naberia — Assistant Professor
Chandrika Sharma — Lab Technician
Sanjana Shrivastava — Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Prashish Singh — Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Published 28 Sep 2026 Vol. 62 No. 4 (2026), pp. 226-231 ● Open access
❝ How to cite 🔗 https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2026.62433
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Abstract

The study was conducted during 2026 in three villages of Watrap block, Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu, to assess multidimensional empowerment among rural women participating in income-generating activities and examine its socioeconomic associations. A descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional design with retrospective pre-post assessment was adopted. Approximately 5% of eligible women were sampled from village-specific lists, yielding 130 respondents from Ammapatti, Kunnur and Vadukapatti; the unequal allocation reflected differences in village sampling-frame sizes. Empowerment was measured using a 30-item, five-dimensional schedule covering psychological, decision-making, social, economic and political domains, adapted with minor modifications from an existing empowerment scale and administered through a pre-tested interview schedule. Retrospectively reported overall empowerment increased by 16.47 percentage points after participation. Psychological empowerment recorded the largest gain (20.46), followed by social (18.08), economic (15.29), decision-making (15.00) and political empowerment (13.54). The largest indicator-level gains were observed in human-rights awareness (30.77), technology-adoption decisions (26.92) and access to modern technology (25.39). Education (r=0.479) and landholding (r=0.532) were positively associated with overall empowerment (p<0.01). Given the retrospective design, absence of a comparison group and restricted study area, findings represent perceived changes and associations rather than causal effects. 

 

KeywordsGender equityLivelihood diversificationMarket participationRural entrepreneurshipSelf-help institutions

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