Empowerment Of Women Through Participation

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Email:[email protected]

Sunny Wadhwaniya2

Email:[email protected]

Center for studies in Social Management

Central University of Gujarat

Gandhinagar

ABSTRACT:

The discriminated and exploited of women is seen all over the world. The empowerment is an aid to help women to achieve equality with men or, at least, to reduce gender gap considerably. Women play a very strategic role in the development of society in particular and development of economy in general.Since empowerment is considered a multidimensionalconcept, it is determined by many socio-economic factors and cultural norms. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the possible determinants of women empowerment using the data from the secondary sources.Empowering women is the only solution for all questions. Her potential hidden power is to be utilized for which, her status in the society must be improved and economically she should be strengthenedThe true empowerment of the women is only when all this three factorsi.esocial , economic and political are simultaneously address and made compatible with each other therefore for holistic development of women to happen the impact of all this three factors should be cover effectively. Thus, the paper sheds lights on role of key indicators in the empowerment of women by participating socially, economically and politically , it also argues for programme that enhance autonomy of women.

Key words: empowerment, holistic development, compatible, potential presence

1. Introduction:

What is Empowerment?

The term ‘women empowerment’ has become popular in the development field since 1980s. It is vividly recognized that women empowerment is essential for sustainable economic growth andReduction in poverty in developing countries.(Chaudhary, 2009).‘Empowering’ women has become a frequently cited goal of development interventions. However, while there is now a significant body of literature discussing how women’s empowerment has been or might be evaluated, there are still major difficulties in so doing. (Mosedale, 2005).Women empowerment is central to human development. Human development as a process of enlarging people’s choices of half of the humanity is restricted. Targeted actions aimed at empowering the women and righting the gender inequalities in the social and economic share, as well as in terms of social and political rights, must be taken alongside effort to en-gender the development process. The extent of women empowerment in the country is largely determined by three factors economic, social and political identity.(A.Sangamithra, 2008).

Women in India are divided in caste , class, rural , urban , educational , occupational, and linguistic groups ; but marginalization is the common thread of uniformity among them and it begins with the non-recognition of women’s work (kumar, 2005).One has to recognize the fact that women works at two level , at the private one and the public level. She forms network with the family of her birth and the one she is married into. Women also had a focal importance in contributing the livelihood of the family. Proverbially as the weaker sex, women in reality has proved to be the weaker sex women In reality have proved to be tougher biologically and not inferior psychologically and culturally. Without the work done by the women everyday life could not be managed.(Chakrapani, 2005).

Empowering women is the only solution for all questions. Her potential hidden power is to be utilized for which, her status in the society must be improved and economically she should be strengthened. The poverty is the main cause for her low bargaining power hence poverty should be removed. Empowering women and removal of poverty go hand in hand. Woman if is educated and empowered, her potential power can be utilized for the economic development. Mahatma Gandhi says, "You educate a man, you educate an individual. You educate a woman, you educate an entire family".(Kadam, 2012)

Gender subordination is a strategy of a tradition-bound society , fact remains that majority of the women even today live in a mirage brainwashed by the custodians of the traditions , customs and patriarchs, sacrificing their owner , dignity and pride and even their identity with no reference in the human history whatsoever. Consequently women’s multi-faced personality are little or seldom known, they still continue to live as an extensions of their male counterparts(Arunachalam, 2005)

2. Need and Importance of the Study:

Women play an important role in all the fields of development. Socially economically if she is strengthened then she will create wonders. Women contribute directly and indirectly for the economic development. Over the years women has been treated as the soul property of husband, father, brother not given any choice or freedom of her own. The present scenario were women are been subjected to violence, and it includes even the increasing number of rape cases in the country were the recent example is the Delhi gang rap case of 2012, this current situation raises the questions not only on the empowerment but also on the security of women , it seems that the dignity of women which was there in the ancient Indian society is lost in the fog of wild human urges , and our ultra-modern Indian society. Empowering women is the only solution for all questions. Hence it is essential to study the past and present position of women and suggest measures for their upliftment

3. Objective of the study:

To study the current status of women empowerment and transformation -socially, politically and economically.

To study the reasons for the increase insecurity of women in India.

To study the necessity of empowerment of women.

To access the basic problem for women empowerment.

To suggest the better policy for women empowerment

4. Date and Methodology:

An adequate and reliable source of literature is very important for the theoretical analysis. In this study secondary data is used for the preparation of the paper.

5. Women in Ancient India:

The status of women is changing from time to time. The history of women in India has been exciting. Over the past few millennia, the status of women in India has been subject to many changes. Women enjoyed equal status with men in all fields of life in ancient days of India. Works by ancient Indian grammarians such as Patanjali and Katyayana point out that, women were educated in the early Vedic period.

The Rigvedic verses tell that, the women married at a mature age and were free to select their life partner. Rig Veda and Upanishads, the holy books mention that, There were many women sages and seers, like Gari and Maitreyi. Stri. Dharma Paddhati, the text of Tryambakayajvan reflects the role of women and tells that, „women were enjoined to be of service to their husbands‟. In some kingdoms of ancient India, tradition like Nagar Vadhu i.e bride of the city was practiced. Amrapali was the famous Nagar Vadhu. Women were competing to win the popular title of the „Nagar Vadhu‟. (Kadam, 2012)

During the early Vedic Period women enjoyed equal position and rights. Later around 500 B.C the position of women started to decline with the Manusmiti and with the Mughal invasion of Babur and the Mughal empire and later Christianity cut the freedom and rights of women. Even though penitentiary movements like Jainism allowed women to be admitted to the religious order by and large, the women in India faced captivity and restrictions. Around sixth century, the practice of child marriages started. (Kadam, 2012)

5.1.Medieval Period

During the medieval period, the position of Indian woman in the society further deteriorated. Among some communities in India, practice of Sati, Child Marriages and a ban on remarriages of widows became part of social life. The Muslim conquest brought the purdah practice in the Indian society. The Jauhar was practiced among the Rajputs of Rajasthan. The practices of temple women (Devadasi) was in practice and were sexually exploited in some parts of India. Among Hindu Kshatriya rulers polygamy was widely practiced. Women were restricted to Zenana areas in many Muslim families. During and after British rule the condition of women is not very good. The women are not viewed with equal status. In India, woman herself doesn‟t feel equal and many times she ill-treats herself. (Kadam, 2012)

6. Women empowerment in India:

Women constitute about 46 percent of total population of the country, As per the 2011census; They suffer many disadvantages as compared to men in terms of literacy rates, labor participation rates and earnings. In order to address issues relating to social and economic advancement of women, the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development has been implementing various schemes. The national policy of employment of women was adopted in the country in 2001 with the ultimate objective of ensuring women of their rights. (Prof.M.D.Pujari, 2012)

Social empowerment of women is designed to create an enabling environment by adopting various affirmative policies and programs for development of women, besides providing them easy and equal access to all the basic minimum services to enable them to realize their full potential. Educations, being an important tool for social empowerment of women, specific schemes to provide incentive to promote education, especially amongst girl children and reduce the school dropout rates are being implemented. In addition, the Department Of Women and Child Development implements the schemes of „condensedcourses for educated and vocational training and Distance Education Programme for Women‟ supplementing the efforts of Department of Education (Prof.M.D.Pujari, 2012)

6.1Importance of empowerment:

While empowerment literally means ‘to invest with power', in the context of women's empowerment the term has come to denote women's increased control over their own lives, bodies, and environment. In discussions of women’s empowerment, emphasis is often placed on women's decision-making roles, their economic self-reliance, and their legal rights to equal treatment, inheritance and protection against all forms of discrimination. (Sunita kishor, 2004).Women‘s empowerment is a flow rather than a stock variable manifesting into various outcomes and well being is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the former, i.e. well-being going through various pathways like gaining resources, autonomy and agency. These pathways denote expansion in capabilities in a way which brings changes in the lives of individuals; people who are previously denied power are now being empowered. (Tripathi, 2005)C:\Users\hp\Desktop\Untitled.png

6.2 Constitutional provisions:

As per Census 2011, the population of India is 1210.19 million comprising586.47 million (48.5%) females and 623.72 million (51.5%) males.    Females have a share of 48.1% in the urban population and of 48.6% in the rural population. (S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012) .The importance of women as an important human resource was recognized by the Constitution of India which not only accorded equality to women but also empowered the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in their favor. (India, 2006)

The Constitution of India guarantees:

The right to equality (Article 14, 16)

To secure all citizens men and women equally the right to means of livelihood [Article 39(a)]

Right to life (Article 21)

Right to equality and equal protection before the law (Article 15)

Provides for discrimination in favor of women [Article 15 (3)]

To make provision for ensuring just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief

(Article 42)

To renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women [Article 51(A) (e)]. (developement, 2007)

Levels of women empowerment:

6.3.1. Social empowerment: There are different indicators of women empowerment like health,education, violence against women,Nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, housing, etc.

Education:We need to accept the fact that gender inequality and discrimination has been the norm of the society and in this regard it touches all aspects of the life of women. Education and training for women is one of the major goals of social empowerment of women which need to be universally made applicable to all parts of the world.(kali, 2005). As per Census 2011, 74.0% of the population is literate comprising 65.5% females and 82.1% males.

The incremental increase over Census 2001 of 11.8% for females is higher than 6.8% for males. The main reasons of females never attending school are ‘expensive cost of education’, ‘not interested in studies’, ‘education is not considered necessary’ and ‘required for household work’.(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012)The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for females at the primary level stood at115.39 compared with 115.55 for males in 2009‐10 indicating parity in GER. At the middle classes level, the GER for females was 78.30 while that for males was 84.53.The Drop‐out Rates were observed to be 27.25 and 30.25 for females and males respectively in the classes I‐V in 2009‐10. These were 44.39 and 40.59 in classes I‐VIII and 51.97 and 53.38 in classes I‐X for females and males respectively.(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012).

Indian women are as capable as any women in any part of the world, but unlike women in any western countries Indian women are denied equal opportunities for working with men, in many spheres of life. Constitutionally Indian women have been granted equal rights with men but practically speaking they are kept much behind men in various activities of life. Co-education should be permitted but for the secondary education many separate schools should be opened as many parents does not like their girl child to be in co-education, so women should be trained in many professional courses because India requires a large number of professional teachers for working at secondary level(Sharma, 2004)

Health: Women and girls in India face a crisis of growing, yet un- addressed, healthneeds. From the moment of conception to the end of life, the challenges to the female sexare enormous, especially poor women who have limited access to health care. Despite the alarming health crisis of women and girls, the national policy focus prioritizes family planning and reproductive health without addressing underlying issues such as women’s low participation in decision-making, which adversely affects her health status. Another important point to note is that the leading killer of women in India is tuberculosis. Yet due to the focus on maternal and reproductive health this fact is not little known nor are there any gender specific policies or programs in place with regard to this disease.(India, 2006).The female Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) was 49 compared with the male IMR of 46 and the overall IMR of 47 in 2010. Among the major States, the highest overall IMR of 62 was observed in Madhya Pradesh and the lowest of 13 in Kerala in 2010(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012)

Ill treatment: In India violence against women is common evil.Not just in remote parts but in cities also women bear the brunt. They are subjected to physical and mental violence. They are the one who work most but are not given their due. The woman is not safe anywhere neither at home nor at workplace.(Prof.M.D.Pujari, 2012). It seems to be simply up to the men to perpetrate violence and for women to safeguard themselves as best as they can. These crimes against women are part of a wider change where reactionary forces are becoming dominant.(Krishnan, 2012).Cruelty by husband and relatives continues to occupy the highest share (43.4%) among the crimes committed against women in 2011 followed by molestation (18.8%).15.6% cases are that of kidnapping and abduction, 10.6% of rape, 3.8% of dowry deaths and 3.7% of sexual harassment(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012).In 2011, of the total Juvenile Delinquency, 5.8% were girls. Also, the rate of incidence of the crime per lakh population was 2.1. India ranks 134 in 2011 among 187 countries in terms of the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) and Gender Inequality Index (GII).(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012)

6.3.2. Economic empowerment:

Women’s economic empowerment is a prerequisite for sustainable development and pro-poor growth. Achieving women’s economic empowerment requires sound public policies, a holistic approach and long-term commitment and gender-specific perspectives must be integrated at the design stage of policy and programming. Women must have more equitable access to assets and services; infrastructure programmes should be designed to benefit the poor, both men and women, and employment opportunities must be improved while increasing recognition of women’s vast unpaid work.(Gendernet, 2012).

The workforce participation rate of females in rural sector was 26.1 in 2009‐10 (NSS 64th Round) while that for males was 54.7. In Urban sector, it was 13.8 for females and 54.3 for males. Among the States/UTs, workforce participation rate of females in the rural sector was the highest in Himachal Pradesh at 46.8% and in the urban sector it was the highest in Mizoram at 28.8%(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012)The unemployment rate for women of all ages was 2.4 compared with 2.0 formen in the rural areas in 2009‐10. It was 7.0 for women and 3.1 for men in urbanareas during the same period. Among the States/UTs, the highest unemploymentrate for women in rural sector was observed in Chandigarh (51.1%) and in the urbansector in Dadra and Nagar Haveli(60.0%) in 2009‐10.

In the rural sector, 55.7% females were self‐employed, 4.4% females had regular wage/salaried employment and 39.9% females were casual labours compared with 53.5%, 8.5% and 38.0% males in the same categories respectively.(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012)In 2011‐12, the share of women swarojgaris in the total swarojgaris assistedunder the Swarnjayanti Gram SwarojgaarYojna (SGSY) stood at 69.4%.(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012)

6.3.3. Political empowerment:

Much of the country’s governance has been left to the hands of electedrepresentatives and the official machinery. Notable Constitutional, legislativeand policy reforms within the last decade, including the 73rd.and 74thamendments and the continued administrative decentralization through programs like NRHM, havedemonstrated the Government of India’s commitment to increasing the politicalparticipation of marginalized groups, especially poor women.(India, 2006).In 2012, women occupied only 8 out of 74 Ministerial positions in the Central Council of Ministers. There were 2 women judges out of 26 judges in the Supreme Court and there were only 54 women judges out of 634 judges in different High Courts.(S. Jeyalakshmi, 2012)

Position of women in Loksabha

Year

Total seats

Seats held by women

% of female members in total

1991

544

39

7.17

1996

543

39

7.18

1999

543

49

9.02

2004

544

45

9

2007

544

47

8.63

2009

545

49

8.99

2011

544

60

11.02

Source: Loksabha secretariat

Position of women in Rajyasabha

Year

Total seats

Seats held by women

% of female members in total

1991

245

38

15.51

1996

233

19

8.52

1999

245

19

7.75

2004

250

28

11.2

2007

250

25

10

2009

234

21

8.97

2011

241

26

10.78

Source: Rajyasabha secretariat

Position of Women in National Council of Ministers

Year

Total number of ministers

Number of women ministers

% of female minister in total

2002

73

8

10.95

1996

68

7

10.29

1999

87

6

6.89

2004

78

7

8.87

2007

76

8

10.52

Source: Parliamentof India.

7. Conclusion:

Women empowerment is one of the momentous issues of contemporary development policies in developing countries. A woman is different by nature yet this difference does not mean inferiority. The empowerment of women has become one of the most important concerned in the 21st century not only at the national level but also at an international level. Society must take initiative to create climate in which there is no gender discrimination and women have full opportunities of self-decision making and participating in social, political and economic life of the country with the sense of equality.

The status of women in India is not even in all the times. In ancient period they enjoyed equal status with men, in the medieval period, the position of Indian women deteriorated. During British rule and after independence many efforts are being made for improving the status of women in India. The government of India, by passing timely and essential Acts and implementing rules and regulations trying to empower and strengthen the women.As society maintains double standards in the case of education, marriage, spousal relationships, domestic violence, laws of patriarchal society, property laws, dowry system, sexual harassment as well as discriminatory social stigma and because of this double standards of the society only there is less recognition and respect for women’s work.

Education can play a vital role in bringing about the desirable behavioral changes among the women and make them well equipped In terms of knowledge, competence and capacity to deal with different socio-economic problems. The popular UNESCO slogan should be considered as an ideal for not only empowerment but also development of women:

"Educate a man and you educate an individual; educate a

Woman and you educate a family."

At the end, it is concluded that women empowerment which is declared as Millennium Development Goal by UNDP, could be achieved only when all concerned bodies will work in cooperation and understanding the factors analyzed in this paper.Empowering Women is an important end in itself not only as human right issue but also as having the potential to enhance

Human wellbeing.