Mira Savara is a research consultant working on various issues affecting women. After her schooling in Cathedral, Bombay, she did her B.A. at Reed College, USA. Her Ph.D., on which this study is based, was done at Bombay University. She has worked in rural and urban development groups, and been an active member of the women’s movement. She is currently working on a study of women and the food Processing Industry and a study on “Women and the Urban Informal Sector”.