NGO Activism and Women’s Empowerment in India

The context of analysing the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in development in general and for women's empowerment in particular became critical in India amid the retreat of the state and domination of market forces since the advent of economic liberalisation in the early 1990s. This chapter argues that the task to empower women though NGOisation has serious limitations. NGOs are certainly not the panacea for all ills. This is despite the fact that many of our NGOs have contributed significantly for promoting gender justice and gender equality.