The Utilisation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for Women Empowerment: A Study in North 24 Pargana District

Purpose: Women in developing countries face barriers in accessing ICT devices like mobile, computer and Internet. Being citizens of developing countries like India, women’s ICT access is affected by the socio-cultural aspects and specifically in particular to rural areas. The empowerment level and ICT access pattern are two factors affecting the gender inequality index of the country. The purpose of the study is to explore the access pattern, barriers of ICT usage among women and to analyse the use of ICT by the women for empowerment. Research Design/ Methodology: This study is based on field study and statistical analysis of collected data. The researcher has used a quantitative approach in this study. The researcher has collected data from surveys among rural and urban women to access their ICT access pattern and empowerment level. The researcher uses the interview schedule method to collect the data from the selected sample size. The quantitative approach is chosen here as the researcher analyses the relationship between the variables and quantification of the variables. Findings: The study reveals that empowerment level is different in rural and urban areas as the socio-economic situation is different in two places. Rural women don’t have much access to ICT tools like the Internet and smartphones, while urban women are developed in this arena. Rural women are economically active, but they mostly belong to lower-income strata. The cultural set up of rural women is also different. Their use of ICT in economic activity is lesser than urban women. Originality/ Value: India is such a country where women face lots of problem with gender discrimination in a patriarchal society. Gender inequality is more in India and in particular to West Bengal, which is the study area. ICT provides a vast platform and opportunity for women. Keeping this in mind the study explores the role of ICT in women empowerment. Paper Type: Empirical Research Papers www.gjeis.com • Present Volume & Issue (Cycle): Volume 12 | Issue 3 | Jul-Sep 2020 • International Standard Serial Number: Online ISSN: 0975-1432 | Print ISSN: 0975-153X • DOI (Crossref, USA) https://doi.org/10.18311/gjeis/2020 • Bibliographic database: OCLC Number (WorldCat): 988732114 • Impact Factor: 2.69 (GIF, Citescore, SIF), CiteFactor: 3.57 (2019-20) • Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Subodh Kesharwani • Frequency: Quarterly • Published Since: 2009 • Research database: EBSCO https://www.ebsco.com • Review Pedagogy: Single Blind Review/ Double Blind Review/ Triple Blind Review/ Open Review • Copyright: ©2020 GJEIS and it’s heirs • Publisher: Scholastic Seed Inc. and KARAM Society • Place: New Delhi, India. • Repository (figshare): 704442/13