Status of Women in India

She was regarded as a decree of Millions of Rupees on the parents. Further as a wife she always had to obey her husband, "They were not allowed to reason something wrong, but only to serve and die" was the motto for them within four walls, the noble professions of the outside world were considered to be of no concern for them. Whether their husbands were good and bad, they were always forced to consider him as their lord and god. In the past, women were treated as they were slaves. In the past, it was believed that as they belong to the weaker sex ( a very false belief) they should always follow men's orders and should always remain under the thumbs of men. They were denied from freedom.Women's condition was really not good. In those times, no one felt happy in the home at the birth of a female child. And the things were that much worse that an only girl child in a family was supposed to be a curse for the family. The current picture is entirely different when we look on the urban areas of India, but in majority of rural areas, the status of women is still same as mentioned above. The changes which took place in the urban areas are very good and beneficial which came gradually. India is changing politically, economically and socially, at a swift speed. The condition and status of women in India is slowly changing and rising. They have begun to take due place in free India. Men and Women are just like the two wheels of a chariot. They are equal in importance and they should work together in life. The one is not superior or inferior to other. Unlike ancient times, though currently in majority of rural areas of India women are treated well, but with the orthodoxy they are cut off from the main stream of social life. The rural society did not respect them and give them the due position. They have to suffer and work inside the houses. Thus they are completely depended on men. In the present world, time has changed. This change in time and the process of upgradation of status of women in India started from the time of freedom movements in India. Women effectively and actively took part in the freedom movement of the country along with men. They fought hand in hand with men for India's independence. Female leaders like Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba Gandhi, Lakshmi Bai and plenty of others raised their voices. Women of all sections and societies revoluted against the purdah system. They did not like to live within. They did not like to live within the walls of their houses. As time went on, the status of women in India kept on evolving. They came out and showed to the worlds that women in India could do as much as men, and even better. Soon after independence, Indian women got back their honour and dignity. The Indian constitution also grants full equality to women. They started taking part in the system and

political setup of the country as a full time job. A large number of India women are social workers. Many of them are working as doctors, scientists, engineers, police officers and magistrates. A huge number of women are in teaching profession today. More and more women are getting jobs in MNC's and offices today and nowadays they are even outperforming men. Now women compete with men in All India Services. They capture most of the merit in univeristy and other exams and have proven that if they are provided with sufficient opportunities and resources then they can show some serious talents. Even our Prime Minister was a women and she had been in office for a long time. Our current president is also a women Mrs 'Pratibha Patil'. One of the most famous female names of India i.e. 'Sonia Gandhi' has proved her talent and power at the global level and she is one of the members of the list of 'Most Powerful women of the World'. But women have still to face several problems in our society. The dowry system makes a woman's life miserable. Though this kind of practice is diminished to a great extent but still some work is required on this prospect. The problem of child marriage is now almost solved. Divorce is now made easy, so that a women should not suffer at the hands of devilish men. Marriages of widows are now more popular and more acceptable in our society than ever before today. Women are given respect in society, they get facilities for education and jobs. It is for the first time in the history of our country that women have been given equal voting rights with men. It clearly means that women will now take active part in external and outside affairs also. Their voice will now be as forceful and important as that of men. No politician or leader can now afford or neglect or oppose their rights. They are becoming equal parteners in the making, or the dismissing of a government. Our constitution has given equal rights to women. No distinction has been made on the basis of religion, caste or sex. Plans have already been framed for the reservation of seats for women in State Assemblies, Parliament and the Upper House. Plenty of government as well as private NGO's are working for the upliftment and development of the status of women in rural areas of India too. These organizations works actively for women and they look after the issues like employment, education, rights, and maintaining honor and dignity of women. Apart from this, India girls have bagged plenty of beauty crowns at international level. Models and actresses like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta etc. Have won many beauty titles at international and national level. These titles includes the name of prestigious 'Miss Universe' and 'Miss World' titles. We celebrated 1975 as the International Women's Year. Women's Day is also celebrated with full joy and respect towards the dignity and honor of the status of women in India. But women should not misuse this freedom and position. They must know their rights and duties. They must also not forget their duties and responsibilities towards their family, society and nation. If this is

done successfully along with the exponentially rising women development, then surely our society can be happy and prosperous and the nation and the world happier.

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he status of women in India can only be improved through a joint program between the media and the community in providing Indian women with the power of literacy. Women in India are divided into unequal halves. Of 368 million women in India, 278 reside in rural areas, and most are illiterate. The majority of illiterate women number 75%, 25% are semi-literate, and only 5% may be considered educated. In an effort to integrate women into the mainstream of Indian social life, a campaign of providing literacy to all women has been undertaken. The welfare state of India has taken up the responsibility of providing education, and maternity and child welfare to these women. It has gone further in incorporating the media in educating people regarding these various programs. This approach will help integrate women more fully into the economic, political, and social mainstream of independent India.

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Mother tells her son, Show me your friends, I'll tell you what you are. A similar statement but altogether in a different context referring to status of women was made by our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahal Lal Nehru, i.e. You can tell the state of a nation by looking at the condition of the women there. The irony is that today, everybody talks about women empowerment but the naked truth is that nobody is willing to take initiative. In spite of outstanding examples of inidual achievements, and a definite improvement in their general condition over the years, it remains true that Indian women still constitute a large body of under-privileged citizens. Even the Global picture about the status of women seems no different from that of India. Addressing the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2009, former President Bill Clinton very rightly remarked that Women perform 66% of the world's work, and produce 50% of the food, yet earn only 10% of the income and own 1% of the property. Whether the issue is improving education in developing world, or fighting global climate, or addressing nearly any other challenge we face, empowering women is a critical part of the equation. So for all the bluster about women empowerment, the women's empowerment movement is still taking baby steps as far as reality is concerned. Undoubtedly, we require serious, positive, down to earth policy on empowerment of women. Somewhat paradoxically, women of late have made their presence felt, with a difference, in a predominantly male dominated society in all the spheres of work, appearing as winning competitors in decision making areas of Governance as well. In spite of such vast areas where women have proved their excellence, it is still considered as complementary to men's efforts. They are still a suffering lot. Male population are hell bent upon to perpetuate preVedic image of our women, and keep them out of limelight forever. To be 'pro-woman', you don't have to be 'anti-man'. What really matters is the change of mindset. Considering the role played by women that of a mother, a wife and a daughter, they deserve to be treated as partners and not viewed as competitors. The Constitution of India, under Article 14, 15,

and 16, might have guaranteed women equality before law, protection and opportunity to work without discrimination on the grounds of religion, caste, creed, and sex. This cannot happen if both men and women are reluctant to change their attitudes. Women have proved, time and again, that they are in no way inferior to men in all walks of life. The male dominated society is not yet ready to accept it. Women just need the necessary support and encouragement of the family and the society. Historically, women have been playing a paramount role in the socio-economic development of any country across the World. The high status that women enjoyed during the Vedic period gradually started deteriorating in the late Vedic period. The daughter was not greeted as was the son. The birth of a girl child, even today, is considered as an ill omen and the news papers are promptly reporting the killing of female infants. Even though women did challenge the world view of their periods, their immense contributions have not been recognised. Reform Movement Reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries led by great social and enlightened reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Govind Ranade, etc., provided boost to women's legal status in India. But it was limited to the filial sphere, and not in the society at large. Gandhi recognised their role and stretched to the public space. Nationalist Movement Mahatma Gandhi advocated for involvement of women in the country's freedom struggle not because they constituted about 50% of country's population but seeing their perseverance to reform their cruel husbands. The mass participation of women directly in the freedom struggle was the landmark in the history of socio-economic empowerment of women. They joined shoulders with their counterparts and shared the responsibility of liberation of their motherland. In 1931, the Congress Party passed a formal resolution committing itself to the political equality of Indian women much before their counterparts inEurope had even won the right to vote. The freedom of India thus became synonymous with the empowerment of women. Women's Movement Independence of India heralded the introduction of laws relating to women. The Constitution of India, which came into force on January 26, 1950, provided equality to men and women and also gave special protection to women to realise their interests effectively. Special laws were enacted to prevent indecent representation of women in the media and sexual harassment in work places. The law also gives women equal rights in the matter of adoption, maternity benefits, equal pay and working conditions, etc. Despite these and many other measures, the Report of the Committee on the Status of Women (submitted in 1974) pointed out that dynamics of social change and development had adversely affected women and they manifested all signs of a backward group, that is, declining sex-ratio, lower life-expectancy, higher infant and maternal mortality, declining work participation, increasing illiteracy, rising migration, etc. To read more please Subscribe to SME WORLD Magazine.

FOR A country that registers two million cases of female infanticide and nearly 5000 dowry deaths ever year, the less spoken on the status of its women, the better. On the face of it, the current presidents 'greetings and felicitations (on the occasion of International Womens Day) to all Indian women for shaping the destiny of the country rings hollow. Looking back we find an ancient Bharat set up on the principles laid down by Manu who saw women as 'worthy of worship'. Even today most of the Hindu deities are female figures that are hailed as 'mata' or 'maa'. But that is about it. Steer away from the altars and come down to the concrete houses to find a very different reality.

The country can boast of a decade of reforms. But of what consequence? Most of these programmes remain limited to the urban population. The rural belts as well as the unskilled urban wage workers go unnoticed and unaffected. The government has proposed and launched a number of programmes for the empowerment of women, including the observance of the year 2001 as the year of womens empowerment. It was said,"Our vision in the new century is of a nation where women are equal partners with men." Many new projects were launched like Swa Shakti and Stree Shakti for women's empowerment; Swayamsidha to benefit 100,000 women through micro-credit programmes and Balika Samridhi Yojana for the girl child. However, apart from a lot of hoopla and the accompanying verbal diarrhoea, not much was registered. There are those who point to an unfounded development in the social position of women through the achievements of the likes of Indra Nooyi. However, one swallow alone doesnt make a summer. We cannot deny that there have been changes. These changes have been limited to the upper crust of the social order. What we need to realise is that any new programme has to overcome the centuries-old hold of subjugation and marginalisation of women. There has been an alarming rise in the atrocities committed against women. While the constitution guarantees equal opportunity, patriarchy asserts itself through legal loopholes to consolidate the age-old domination. India has a long history of activism for women's welfare and rights. A range of government programmes have been launched to increase economic opportunity for women, although there appear to be no existing programmes to address the cultural and traditional discrimination against women. Be it education, health care, nutrition, property rights, acknowledgment of labour or life security, women find themselves at the lower rungs of the ladder.
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Sad state of women in India Gender-based violence in the form of rape, domestic violence, honour killing and trafficking in exacts a heavy toll on the mental and physical health of affected women. Increasingly, gender-based violence is being recognised as a major public health concern and a serious violation of basic human rights. According to a UN report, on an average, one rape happens every hour in India. Delhi is the sexual-crime capital. The reason for such statistics, according to many is the inefficacy of Indias rape laws. Womens rights groups allege that the narrow and conservative outlook of Indian society is responsible for the lackadaisical attitude of authorities and the confidence of wrong

doers. Indian families are closed to the concept of sex as a topic of discussion and hence avoid highlighting it in any way and rendering steps towards justice ineffectual. Around 60 to 70 per cent of cases of rape go unreported. The reasons are well known. To get a conviction, the victim has to prove in front of an open court that she was sexually penetrated by the rapist. Add to this the social stigma of the whole incident. In many cases, such girls/women are even unable to get husbands. They are shunned and ostracised by the society and if already married, even deserted. Of the few reported cases, convictions are rare. A 2005 United Nations report said that around two-thirds of married women in India were victims of domestic violence and one incident of violence translates into women losing seven working days in the country. Discrimination against girl child is so strong in the Punjab State of India that girl child aged two to four die at twice the rate of boys, quotes a 2002 UNIFEM document. The problem is not only external but intrinsic too. The socio-psychological makeup of most rural and many urban women has been shaped and moulded by more than a century of patriarchal beliefs and a family system where the man (in form of father or husband) is the equivalent of God. The feeling of inferiority has been embedded in their psyche so much so that far from condemning acts of violence against them they are more likely to throttle the voices in favour of them. This is part of the clichd vicious circle of illiteracy and social backwardness that accounts for all the resultant backwardness of the gender. Unless social activism groups take these factors into consideration and delve deeper into the social realm of this problem, there is little that can be done. The government, police and the related authorities need to understand the poignancy of their role. Most of all, men and women need to be aware of the much hyped equality of sexes and need to respect the same. Since ours is not a gender-stratified society in the literal sense, both sexes need to learn how to live in co-operation and harmony. The patriarchal heads of society need to answer what the poet PB Shelley asked centuries ago - Can man be free if woman be a slave?