
The development in economic and social front across the states in India has not been inclusive of all categories of population and that has been highlighted in several earlier studies. The experience of the newly formed state Jharkhand is not different where women is excluded from the access to those required for the human development as well as empowering them. The primary objective of this paper is thus to understand the level of Gender Deprivation in Jharkhand. For understanding it, various socio-economic variables such as health, education etc and the extent of poverty and inequality will be considered. This paper also tries to estimate the level of poverty and inequality in this area and its relationship with an index of non-income women empowerment that may be constructed on the basis of the primary data collected on the level of education, political and social participation and participation in various other socio-economic activities. The thrust would be to see whether the level of education or the incidence of poverty has any connection with the level of women empowerment in rural Jharkhand.