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According to the Western empiricists, an awareness or familiarity gained by experience is knowledge (Hume: Noonan 1999). Knowledge is the sum total of information conserved by civilizations and education is enriched by knowledge. Education is one of the paramount ways for the achievement of women empowerment. Women empowerment is one of the most challenging steps in surmounting the hindrance in a woman's life that will finally enhance her qualities to contour her life and society. Women empowerment is integral to the achievement of all millennium development goals. Undoubtedly, the role of education in women empowerment is predominant and it has to be spread among women. So, we need to understand the importance of women's education. In order to encourage education for women the Government of West Bengal has introduced Kanyashree Prakalpa (K.P) Public Service Scheme in 2013 to provide financial assistance of Rs. 25,000 to the girl children for improving their studies. The main aim of this scheme is to reduce dropout from schools and prevent child marriage all over the state. With the help of this assistance the girl children of West Bengal made themselves empowered in different sectors such as Self Employed Tailoring, Assistant Beauty Therapist, General Duty Assistant, and Domestic Data Entry Operator and in various other sectors. The Public Libraries have a great role in achieving women empowerment by disseminating information of education, skill development training, jobs, agricultural and business related news etc towards girl children. The purpose of this study is to reconnoitre the possibilities of women empowerment through the public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public Libraries located in West Bengal are important institutions and tools of the society. Disseminating knowledge of the society is a great challenge for the Public Library and its duty is not limited to just issuing and reissuing books. The Government of West Bengal has appointed 184 retired Librarians considering their importance and efficiency of their work4. The present study conducted in South 24 Parganas District of West Bengal among 20 Librarians, 40 School teachers and 40 Gram Panchayat members has assimilated their opinion about women empowerment through public services scheme, Kanyashree Prakalpa (K.P). The main aim of the study is to evaluate the role of Public Libraries, School teachers and Gram Panchayats in women's empowerment through K.P. As a result, this Kanyashree project creates a great opportunity for the socio- economic empowerment of girls. The study also found that the role of Public Library is undoubtedly much deeper in empowering women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Western empiricists, an awareness or familiarity gained by experience is knowledge (Hume: Noonan 1999). Knowledge is the sum total of information conserved by civilizations and education is enriched by knowledge. Education is one of the paramount ways for the achievement of women empowerment. Women empowerment is one of the most challenging steps in surmounting the hindrance in a woman's life that will finally enhance her qualities to contour her life and society. Women empowerment is integral to the achievement of all millennium development goals. Undoubtedly, the role of education in women empowerment is predominant and it has to be spread among women. So, we need to understand the importance of women's education. In order to encourage education for women the Government of West Bengal has introduced Kanyashree Prakalpa (K.P) Public Service Scheme in 2013 to provide financial assistance of Rs. 25,000 to the girl children for improving their studies. The main aim of this scheme is to reduce dropout from schools and prevent child marriage all over the state. With the help of this assistance the girl children of West Bengal made themselves empowered in different sectors such as Self Employed Tailoring, Assistant Beauty Therapist, General Duty Assistant, and Domestic Data Entry Operator and in various other sectors. The Public Libraries have a great role in achieving women empowerment by disseminating information of education, skill development training, jobs, agricultural and business related news etc towards girl children. The purpose of this study is to reconnoitre the possibilities of women empowerment through the public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As per Michelle Obama, "No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens". It is quite lucid that empowerment of women means making women economically and socially independent, self-reliant, confident and positive in attitude. Kanyashree Prakalpa is considered as one of the most significant tools in this regard with a participatory approach for the empowerment of women. This helps the women to develop themselves individually and to participate in the developmental activities of the family and society. The main objective of the conduct of the study is to find out the level of socio-economic empowerment of women through Kanyashree Prakalpa. The result of the study clearly shows that Kanyashree Prakalpa creates a great opportunity for women for their socio-economic empowerment. The study further revealed that the role of public libraries in empowering women is undoubtedly profound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]