 From being treated as mere commodities, treated as possessions fit only to bear children for the menfolk, economic independence has been among the core initiatives taken to give Indian women a life of dignity. Gandhi said, as long as the women of India do not take part in public life, there can be no salvation for the country. I would have no use for that kind of swaraj to which women have not made their full contribution. The economic empowerment of women is that they should be the earners, but she is still also the wife, the mother, the cleaner, the cook, the bedmaid, the unpaid labour in the fields whenever that need is there. So in a way, she has an additional burden. So you may have empowered her economically, but you haven't actually empowered her socially or intellectually. During the past 50 years, statistics have been proof of the chasm that still needs to be covered to give all Indian women a life of self-respect. Proof that an uphill battle still needs to be fought for women to get their rightful place in Indian society. We have some of the finest legislation in the world. What we need to do is to really concentrate on organizing women and attacking the implementation machineries. In 1991, it was found that over 60% of the female population in the country, over 7 years old, was illiterate. The gender bias makes the plight of the girl child in Indian society a painful reality. Despite government initiatives, the social barriers erected by an obscurantist mindset ensures that the girl child remains one of India's most neglected segment. Women comprise the largest section of the country's population living in absolute poverty. They represent the poorest of the poor. Lack of education aggravates their deprivation. Empowerment has often been described as the catalyst that can hasten the process of development. An empowerment of the Indian woman is seen as a cure for many of the problems confronting the country's female gender. The argument being, if women are given opportunity for decision-making, they would be in control of their own destiny. Empowerment of anybody, I would imagine, would be giving them or letting them realize their own potential as people. Empowerment means being able to make choices, being able to make decisions and not necessarily having this bestowed on you by someone else, but being able to flower to that potential yourself. Over the years, although the battle for equality has been fought by the menfolk, at times dramatic social changes have come from women themselves. While the rural hinterland and even the urban slums swell with graphic examples of dispossessed and marginalized women, the last 50 years abounds with inspirational success stories as well. Stories of women who have surmounted discrimination to succeed in areas traditionally dominated by men. It is the success stories of the countless million anonymous women who work in the towns and the cities, who run non-governmental organizations, many of whom supplement family incomes with their efforts, which encapsulates the saga of the making of this nation.