Autonomy and Decision-Making Role of Tribal Women: A Case Study of Santoshpur Village in Sundergargh District of Odisha

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to assess the level of autonomy and decision making power of tribal women. Traditionally women have always been subjugated. True development of a nation is not possible if one half of the population is ignored or marginalized. Therefore the Constitution of India has many rights and acts in favor of them. The present study examines the decision making role of tribal women and to find out the impact of their socio-economic status on their decision making roles.
The study was based on primary data collected from three tribal hamlets of Santoshpur village.
The major findings state that the tribal women enjoy autonomy at their household level, especially in social aspects and enjoy equal rights along with their husbands in economic matters but their community participation is passive and autonomy level is very low. The major reason behind this is low literacy rate and unemployment.
The development of tribal community can not be accelerated without women participation. Therefore the government should focus on developing the literacy rate among the tribal women which would facilitate their economic upliftment. This would surely result in their qualitative participation and decision making among all aspects of their living.