A STUDY OF POLITICAL AWARENESS AMONG SCHEDULED CASTES' WOMEN IN LUCKNOW DISTRICT OF U.P

After independence, the political scene in our country has changes. The new political culture has brought lower sections into the domain of politics. The question which now arises is that of the extent of political awareness and political participation among scheduled castes, particularly the women among these castes. Regarding the extent of political participation among scheduled castes' women, 18.0 percent each exhibit high and medium levels, 56.0 percent show low level of political participation and remaining 8.0 percent don't participate at all. As compared to political awareness, participation seems to be less, but the fact remains that scheduled castes' women and the Indian women in general don't get much opportunity for political participation, except for voting on election day. Even the turn out during the elections in Uttar Pradesh is quite low as compared to many other states. Keeping in mind their traditional apolitical nature, it can safely be said that they have started participation in political affairs and this may increase with the increase in their level of education and mass media exposure. As regards the determinants of political participation among scheduled castes' women, age, family size and membership of political parties, are found as the significant determinants. Participation increases with the increase in the age. It also shows an increase with the increase in family size. Political participation is definitely more among those women who, are members of political parties. Contrary to political awareness, variables/attributes of marital status, education, parents' education and family income do not contribute much to political participation among the S.Cs. selected women. , we can conclude that scheduled castes' women have acquired significant extent of political awareness and have started participating in political activities, though their extent of political participation is still low. We can't say that scheduled castes' women still constitute an a political stratum and they do not seem to lag behind high castes' women. This is a healthy sign for our democracy.