Rural Women Entrepreneurs in India: Challenges and Opportunities

It is a general belief in many cultures that the role of women is to build and maintain the homely affairs like task of fetching water, cooking and rearing children. Since the turn of the century, the status of women in India has been changing due to growing industrialization, globalization, and social legislation. Last ten years of Indian economy make it evident that the structure of ownership in different sectors has changed. Many women entered the world of business, of trade commerce and they have become successful entrepreneurs in various business activities. This growth rate of women’s participation in economic activities is much lower than the expected rate. Because in India, there are still many social and cultural restrictions on women.Women entrepreneurship development is the instrument of women empowerment. It is very necessary to give keen attention over the empowerment of women in the rural areas. As in India there are around 7 lakh villages and more than of 70% population live in villages. In rural sector 56% male and 33% of the females are in labour force. About 66% of female population in the rural sector are Idle and unutilized. So rural women’s economic and social development is necessary for overall economic development of society and nation.The present paper addresses challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in rural areas and also explores the opportunities prevailing for rural women entrepreneurs.