WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN RURAL TELANGANA: AN EMPIRICAL CASE STUDY OF SELECTED MANDALS OF NALGONDA DISTRICT, INDIA
Abstract
Women's empowerment is both a constitutive end of development and an instrument for achieving it, yet its realisation remains uneven across rural India. This study examines the levels, dimensions and determinants of women's empowerment in Nalgonda district of Telangana State, India, using a multistage stratified random sample of 400 women members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) drawn from four mandals—Nakrekal, Miryalaguda, Devarakonda and Munugode—selected one each from the district's four revenue divisions (Nalgonda, Miryalaguda, Devarakonda and Chandur). A structured, pre-tested interview schedule captured economic, social, political and psychological dimensions of empowerment, which were aggregated into a composite Women Empowerment Index (WEI). The pooled WEI was 0.53, with significant inter-mandal variation (F = 48.79; p < 0.001): Miryalaguda (0.63) ranked highest and drought-prone, tribal-concentrated Devarakonda (0.41) lowest. The association between mandal and empowerment level was significant (χ² = 24.10; df = 6; p < 0.001), and the political dimension (pooled index 0.37) lagged all others. Membership duration in SHGs, education and independent income emerged as key correlates, and marked improvements were self-reported after SHG membership in savings, credit access, mobility and civic participation. The paper argues for division-sensitive targeting—prioritising credit-plus, literacy and leadership interventions in the Devarakonda division—alongside convergence of SHG federations with panchayat institutions to convert economic gains into political voice. The design, instrument and index are replicable for district-level empowerment audits elsewhere in India.
Keywords: Women empowerment; Self-Help Groups; Women Empowerment Index; Nalgonda district; Telangana; rural development; microfinance
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