The project is the Bank's first freestanding women's development project in India. Women are a vital part of the Indian economy, constituting one-third of the national labor force and a major contributor to the survival of the familythe poorer the family, the greater its dependence on women's income. Despite progress in several key indicators, a gender analysis of most social and economic data demonstrates that women in India continue to be relatively disadvantaged in matters of survival, health, nutrition, literacy, and productivity. More than 90 percent of rural women in India are unskilled, restricting them to low-paid occupations.
Women form the backbone of agriculture, comprising the majority of agricultural laborers in India.
Gender divisions in agriculture are stark, with all activities involving manual labor assigned to women, while all operations involving machinery and drought animals are generally performed by men. Female agricultural laborers are among the poorest sections of Indian society. Agricultural wages for women are on average 30-50 percent less than those for men. The project's objective is to empower the poorest rural women through self help groups aimed at increasing control over resources, developing income generating schemes, improving management and technical skills, and gaining access to credit and social services. The target group for the project is women from rural households below the poverty line.