Action Research & Training for Local Self Government Institutions in implementation of Women Component Plan through Gender Budgeting

Kerala, one of the most progressive states in India, is marked by its high Human Development Index. But the achievement of women does not go hand in hand with these accomplishments and the atrocities against women are increasing at an alarming rate. In order to address these issues, the Government of India introduced Women Component Plan (WCP), as a part of Gender Budgeting, in its 9^th plan, wherein a fixed percentage of the total grant-in-aid is kept aside for projects directly benefiting women. The project AR-WCP, aims at assessing the performance of WCP through a situation analysis and through proper Training Need Assessment (TNA) in Manickal, Alappad, Eraviperoor and Sholayur Grama Panchayat and providing handholding support in formulation and management of WCP projects at Manickal Panchayat, which is the Action Research Panchayat.