Abstract:
In India, women constitute 48 per cent of the total population. They constitute 84 per cent of the rural unemployed sector and 77 per cent of the total unemployed sector. Women in India are characterized by low levels of education, income, employment and entrepreneurship. In the total women population of India, about 28 per cent are working women and the percentage of self-employed women constitutes 57 per cent of
the total self-employed people. (Balu, 2008). Participation of women in income generating activities is also necessary due to the economic pressure the families are facing to improve the quality of life. Entrepreneurship may be regarded as a powerful tool for economic development of a predominantly agricultural country like India (Jaswal, 2006). With regard to social and cultural difficulties, even qualified women do not enter into employment due to changing business environment. The emergence of women entrepreneurs would promote growth in industrial development, bring out socio-economic reforms, ensure better family living conditions and ultimately increase the status of women in the society (Chudhari, 2005).
