♤ ACCESS TO RESOURCES

Access to resources is important for economic freedom of women as freedom of movement is linked with their economic independence and also infuses with power and expands agency. The National Family Health Survey-3 has identified five important variables namely: knowledge of loan programme, get loan, having bank account, higher educational attainment and working outside as a measure of economic independence.

NFHS-3 has also captured “exposure to media” through four variables namely: reading newspaper every day, listening radio every day, watching TV every day and knowing about modern contraceptives, as the measurement indicators of women’s empowerment. The media is important source of information and exposure to new ways of thinking and doing things. Besides, radio listening, TV watching and reading newspapers or magazines

are important leisure activities and represent an important indication of women’s empowerment and have the potential for enabling environment by facilitating greater control over their own time use.The survey showed that women’s access to resources is dismally poor in our country.It is quite disappointing to note that the women who have a bank saving account was found very low at 15.07% and in spite of knowing about loan programmes, they have failed to secure a loan. 36.4% of the women had the freedom to work in outside. These variables are closely associated with level of education and the higher education, a potent source of empowerment was found at only 7.3% for women.

It is also evident that women have least exposure to mass media and almost all women know (98%) about modern contraceptives. The percentage of women who read newspapers and listen to raid every day was estimated at 12.5% and 17.1% only. However, about the modern contraceptives had a great bearing on the estimation of index for access to resources at 0.7259