Though the principle of gender equality is firmly established in the Indian Constitution, translating de jure gender equality and the promise of social, economic and political justice, into de facto reality has been one of India’s major challenges over the years, given a long background of an Asiatic society chained by patriarchal domination. There is still unfortunately a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution, legislation and policies and the current status of Indian women. Though for the first time, a separate section on `Gender Equity’ was included in the Draft Approach Paper to the 11th Five Year Plan, the Paper has not given enough focus on women’s empowerment issues in the country. The present paper critically examines the Indian experience over time of women in development.