Empowering Women Through e-Governance in the Indian Province of Odisha: Capacity Building as an Enabling Measure

Abstract

We live in an era of great transition, a time when gender parity is understood as far more than a feminist slogan: it is considered to be a critical precondition for social justice as well as for fulfilling the goals of national development. Women are exposed to a completely new world of opportunities and challenges. This is due to the impact of globalization and the changing nature of the economy, which has imposed several socio-economic constraints on women. These constraints often translate into real-life hardships and even violence, due to women’s exposure to a new work environment in which they must constantly fight for their dignity and rights. Gender disparity in a deep-rooted patriarchal system manifests itself in various forms of structural inequality and a culture of violence, both of which are reflected in power relations and the distribution of economic resources in society. This perpetuates the existing gendered notions of public men and private women, which prevails in all spheres of life. This chapter contextualizes a trajectory of development in women’s empowerment within the broad framework of a traditional, patriarchal, and relatively backward socio-economic system. It does so by examining the experience of the Indian province of Odisha, in its attempts to mitigate the challenges of governance with information and communication technology tools (ICT) and e-governance applications. The gender discourse and the development narrative of an increasingly aspiring women’s community in the state reasserts women’s legitimate rights and reclaims a space for them in the public domain, one which was hitherto captured by their male counterparts. Under these circumstances, the focus on capacity building through the application of technology is considered one of the enabling mechanisms to accomplish the larger goals of women’s empowerment in the state. However, the journey toward women’s liberation and social emancipation has not been free from the challenges of social, economic, and political disempowerment.