Abstract

              A woman plays very significant role in the economic development of India. Women are participated in business activities at all stages, making important assistance to economic growth. Now-a-days, Indian women are more and more active in parts of the economy that were earlier considered male domain. Particularly in Rural areas women are constrained by the gender value, stereotypes and norms in the environment in which they work. Be their reproductive roles they tend to be accountable for business as well as for most of the unpaid work in the household (domestic responsibilities such as cooking the food, caring for children, cleaning and caring of other household members). Women’s have fever time to devote to their work and they are less movable. They also face cultural and social barriers, because the overall view of society is that a woman's main duty is to be a mother and good housewife. Women are also often perceived as passive, weak, and irrational.  Women entrepreneurship is considered as a key factor for Women Empowerment more than ever in Rural areas and hence promotion of Women entrepreneurs is paying attention highly by the Government. So there is a need of continuous attempt to  encourage, inspire, cooperate and motivate Women entrepreneurs. Indian Government is also conducting special EDPs for women to encourage them to join industry. Some institutional arrangements at the centre as well as at state level are made like State Financial Corporations, District Industry Centre, Nationalized banks and other voluntary agencies like FICCIs FLO,NAYE (National alliance of young entrepreneurs) to promote women entrepreneurship. The present paper provides a brief idea about the importance to women entrepreneurship and opportunities and challenges faced by the women entrepreneurs in rural India.

Key words: Entrepreneurs, EDP, Empowerment