The last four decades of Indian history is marked with rapid economic growth along with a rise in population with increasing rates of urba

The state of West Bengal has a population of 9.03 crores of which 19.98 percent live below the poverty line.

Education is a fundamental requirement for enhancing overall quality of individual and societal life.

The paper examines women’s economic empowerment in Asia, with a particular focus on South Asia.

India has the distinction of being the first country in the developing world to initiate a family planning programme-it later came to be called the Family Welfare Programme (FWP)-with a view to bring down the country's fertility level and contain population growth.

The recent decline in fertility in Bangladesh froin a total fertility rate of 6.3 children per women in 1975 to 3.5 in 1995 (MHPC, 1978:73; BBS, 1996) has created interest among researchers, policy makers and academicians.