Women, development and reality

— Dr Tapati Baruah Kashyap
Despite some ambitious policies and programmes it is, however, a matter of irony and concern that a large chunk of poor women of our State are still illiterate and are less concerned for their rights. They are more concerned about fulfilling their basic needs than their rights.

Women across the globe have been fighting for equal status for the past several decades. But despite this, inequality both between men and women as well as amongst women themselves prevails all over. According to the Census of 2001, women constitute 48 per cent of the total population of India. The Constitution of India on the other hand has recognised equality of women as a basic right. Despite that, however, women are definitely not enjoying an equal status with their male counterparts of the society.

According to a report of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India the empowerment status of women varies from State to State. The Government of lndia, however, has been pursuing a continuous effort to enhance the status of women in India. One of the six basic principles of governance laid down in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA Government is to empower women politically, educationally, economically and legally. That exactly was why the Department of Women and Child Development was upgraded to a Ministry under independent charge of the Minister of State for Women and Child Development from the year 2006. Subsequent to this, a large number of programmes for women have been carried out in different States of the country.

Looking back, we find that it was only from the Sixth Five-Year Plan onwards that women have come to receive a special importance and attention in various government programmes in our country. And in the 10th Plan, for the first time, monitorable targets were set for a few indicators of human development, which include reduction in gender gaps in literacy, wage rates and reduction in maternal mortality rate. The Ninth Plan document (1997-2002) had laid a major emphasis on the participation of people in the planning process and the promotion of self-help groups. The approach was to access women living in poverty and help them.

The Tenth Five-Year Plan on the other hand had called for a three-pronged strategy for bringing about an atmosphere aimed at achieving gender-equality goals. This strategy included social empowerment, economic empowerment, providing gender justice to create an ennobling environment of positive economic and social policies for women, and eliminating all forms of discrimination against them. During the 10th Plan, emphasis also continued on empowerment of women through self-help groups.

The Eleventh Five-Year Plan seeks to reduce disparities across regions and communities by ensuring access to gender equality. The approach paper to the Eleventh Plan specifically states that ‘gender equity requires adequate provisions to be made in policies and schemes across ministries and departments and it also talks about gender budgeting across the board. Considering all these goals, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has taken several initiatives during the past years for bringing about gender equality, empowerment and development of women.

Of these initiatives, Swayamsiddha is an integrated scheme for women’s empowerment through formation of women into self-help groups. The scheme was launched in February 2001. Another such programme is Support to Training and Employment Programme for women (STEP). This programme was launched in 1987, and seeks to provide updated skills and new knowledge to poor women in the traditional sectors such as agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, handloom, handicrafts, khadi and village industries, sericulture, social forestry and wasteland development for enhancing their productivity and income generation. During 2007-08 on the other hand 13 new projects were launched which are under various stages of implementation.

Swadhar on the other hand is a unique programme for women in difficult circumstances. Launched during 2001-02, Swadhar intends to benefit women in difficult circumstances with targets like providing primary need of shelter, food, clothing and care to marginalised women and girls who are without any social and economic support and to provide them emotional support and counselling. Under this programme, the Social Welfare and Women and Child Welfare departments of the States and various voluntary organisations are in charge of those women. This programme also makes effort to rehabilitate them socially and economically through education, awareness, and skill upgradation and personality development, while Helpline and other facilities are also extended to such women in distress.

Moreover, the Government adopted the National policy for the Empowerment of Women in 2001. The main objective of this policy is to bring about overall advancement, development and empowerment of women and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on the other hand was constituted in 1992 as an apex-level statutory body under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. The main task of the commission is to study and monitor all matters relating to the Constitutional and legal safeguards provided for women. The National Commission for Women has been asked to take action to amend the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 and to make this act more effective. On the other hand, the National Commission for Women has recommended amendments to the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and to make it more effective.

India signed the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1993. The Convention urges the state parties to undertake appropriate legislative and other measures to eliminate discrimination against women and for guaranteeing them human rights on the basis of equality with men.

Another significant aspect of women empowerment is the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, a conference that had adopted a Declaration and Platform for Action. India adopted both without any reservations and identified 12 critical areas of concern which include Poverty, Education and Training, Health, Violence against Women, Women in Armed conflict, Economy, Power and Decision-Making, Institutional Mechanism for Advancement of Women, Media, Environment, Human rights of women and girl child.

Despite some ambitious policies and programmes it is, however, a matter of irony and concern that a large chunk of poor women of our State are still illiterate and are less concerned for their rights. They are more concerned about fulfilling their basic needs than their rights. Moreover they are not aware enough to stand up and fight for their needs through rights. It appears that there are some serious lacunae, which have stood as hurdles in the way of these policies and programmes actually touching the grassroots level of our society. It is evidently clear that lives of a large number of women living below the poverty line continue to remain unchanged in spite of these ambitious women-friendly programmes and policies. It is, however, also a fact that more and more women across the country are beginning to grab the opportunity to form self-help groups in order to become economically independent. source: assam tribune editorial 13.09.08