The women's development program in Rajasthan : a case study in group formation for women's development

The author presents the Women's Development Program (WDP) - launched in six districts in Rajasthan, India in 1984, and now extending to nine - as a case study awareness-building and group formation among rural women. A departure from the traditional pattern of viewing women as objects of welfare, WDP has been a distinct success. Rural women have realized that their deprivation is not unchangeable, that alternatives exist, that they are competent enough to choose between alternatives, and that they are not alone. One important feature of the project document was that it was provisional and tentative, essentially a guide to structure and financial patterns. WDP's sole aim was to form groups that would consolidate themselves for their own development - these groups, once formed would initiate any action they needed and decided upon. The second element of the project document was the degree of freedom visualized for women's groups and nongovernmental organizations. WDP stressed the need to build awareness and confidence among women as essential to integrating them into the development process. What emerges from the WDP experience is the process it unleashed: the organization, interaction and participation of women.