Beyond Economic Empowerment: Examining the Political Social and Institutional Dimension of Women’s Empowerment in Odisha

Odisha is often depicted as a model of women’s empowerment, largely because of Mission Shakti, a self-help group (SHG) movement that employs over 70 million women, and the 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). This article raises the question of whether these achievements go beyond economic inclusion. Using Kabeer’s resources agency achievements model, it conducts an organised desk-based assessment of journal literature, an official evaluation, national survey data, legislative profiles, and court records across four dimensions: economic, political, social, and institutional. Numerical growth outpaces meaningful change, according to a recurrent pattern in the review. At least half of local government seats are held by women, but proxy practices (also referred to as ‘sarpanch-patism’) weaken their power; SHGs have better access to credit but have less of an impact on asset creation; the institutional architecture is disjointed and susceptible to political instrumentalization; survey data shows that early marriage and gender-based violence continue to occur; and women's representation in the State Assembly has decreased to seven percent. In addition to outlining a seven-point agenda that addresses political capacity-building, enforcement against proxy representation, SHG federations as civic forums, asset-oriented livelihoods, and gender-disaggregated monitoring, the essay makes the case for a change from delivery-cantered to agency-cantered policy.