me n before

4. Soc ial Ref orm Mo vem ent s for the up lift me nt of wo

ind epe nde nce per iod :

1. Ab olit ion of Sat i Pra ctic e:

Under sati
(i) The ter m Sat i lite rall y me ans a pur e or a vir tuo us wo ma n.
the funeral
sys tem wife bur ns/ sac rifi ces her sel f by thr ow ing her sel f on
pyr e of her hus ban d
(ii} An Ind ian Soc ial Mo vem ent aga ins t the pra ctic e of
sat i wa s started by
Ra mm oha n Roy wit h the hel p of Bri tish Go ver nm ent
(iii) The pra ctic e of sat i wa s dec lare d ille gal by Lor d Be
nti nck by passing the
by criminal
Reg ula tion of 182 9. Sat i wa s dec lare d as crim e pun ish abl e
cou rt as cul pab le hom icid e.

2. Inf atic ide :

ght ers at/
(i) An oth er hor ribl e and cru el rite wa s the kill ing of inf ant dau
economic
on bir th. Du rin g this per iod fem ale chi ld wa s con sid ere d as
liab ility .
if✓, . Society in India 143
.· sorne socially backward bib
(11) d~ught~rs at their birth by e_s !ollowed the practice of killing their infant

cornrrutt1ng a murder.
d:~:
·•i rhis evil practice was sto giving them poison.
(iii and II_I ?f lB04 Which by_ Bengal Regulation Act XXI of 1795
ed Infanticide illegal and equivalent to
fhe Govt. of India also
1jv)
1
• . fi . Passed an A . ry
prov1s1ons or registration of b' ct m 1870 which made compu1so
1
rth of all children.
prohibition of Child Marrt
3. M . age:
ii child amage system Was
( reformative step in this rega ;ery popular during this period. The
.
first ~6/<
}-{is bill on prohibition of chi;d was ~ade by Rai Saheb Harbil as Sharada ~J~.b
(ii) Act of 1930 set the mama eabmarnage was passed in 1930. The_S~arda ~ ,._
f 18 years and 14 year g le ~ge for boys and girls to be a mm1mum
~ade liable for penal ac~:~~pectively · Any violation in this regard W8:S
... The provisions of this Act fu .
(1111 • t (Arn d were rther improved by the child marriage
restram en ment) Act 1978 Th· ·
, r 'rls from 15 to 18 ' · is Act increased the age of mamage
io gt years and for boys from 18 to 21 years.

4, Widow Remarriage:
(i) Widow remarriage during this period was considered as sin.
(ii) The widow remarriage movement was started in the middle of the 18th
century with the unsuccessful attempt of Rajballah of Dacca.
(iii) Pandit lshwarchandra Vidyasagar and D.K. Karve devoted themselves
for the work of widow remarriage. Pandit Ishwarchandra proved that
vedic texts approved of widow remarriage. On the another hand Karve
devoted his life to the upliftment of Hindu Widows and became the
secretary of the Widow Remarriage Association.
(iv) . Due to efforts of Ishwar Chandra, the Hindu widow Remarriage Act,
1856 was passed.
(v) The Brahmo Samaj also made successful efforts for the spread of widow
remarriage
(vi) For the upliftment of widow women following played an important role:
(a) Pandita Ramabai's Sarda Sadan at Bombay
(b) The Maharani's Schools at mysore
(c) The Arya Samaj
(d) The Hindu Widow Reform League, of Lucknow

5, Women Education:
(i) Pandit Inshwar Chandra Vidyasagar promoted education for girls
by establishing 55 girls schools in Bengal.
 145
~ - - - - - - - - - - _ Society in India

1/ St, Legislation Object of legisla tion

f{O
~ Commission of Sati The object of this Act 1s . b li h sati system
to _a O s hi h may
Prevention Act from Indian society by punish ment w c d
extend upto death sentenc e. Offie nces un er
this Act are
(i) Attemp t to commit sati
(ii) Abetme nt of sati
(iii) Glorification of sati
~

2. Prohibition of Child The object of this Act is to curb the menace of

Marriage Act, 2006 child marriag e and empow er women t~ have
mainten ance from husban d who marnes a

- 3. The Factori es Act,

1948
girl below the age of 18 years
Women are allowed to work in any factory
or mine between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Suitabl e
room for the childre n under age group of 6
years. Sufficient provisions for latrine, urinal
accomm odation s etc.
4. The Immora l Traffic Selling and buying of person for immor al
(Prevention) Act, 1956 purpose is punisha ble. It provide s for
establis hment of separat e court for offence s
under this Act.
5. The Probati on of Under this act women are entitled to be
Offenders Act, 1958 release d on probati on of good conduc t in any
case (*Not for offence punisha ble with death
sentenc e or life impriso nment)
6. The Dowry Prohibi tion Aim is to prohibi t the giving or taking of dowry
Act, 1961 and makes arrange ment for giving or taking
dowry to be void.
7. The Matern ity Benefit Aim is to give paid matern ity leave at the time
Act, 1961 of each delivery. This benefit is also at the time
of adoptio n
8, The Medical The object of this Act is to provide for the
Termin ation of termina tion of certain pregnan cies
Pregnan cy Act, 1971 (dange r
to health of woman) by register ed Medica l
~
Practitioner.
9. Equal Remun eration It impose s duty on the employ ers not to pay
Act, 1976 less paymen t to the women worker s than men
......__
(Equal pay for equal work)
10. The Protection of Aim is to save women from the evil of domestic
Women from Domestic violence in general and in particular provide
Violence Act, 2005 protection to the wife and female live-in
partner.
11. Pre-Natal Diagnostic Declares determinatio n of sex-selection before
Techniques Act, 1994 or after conception as punishable
12. Certain Provisions of (i) Pregnant woman cannot be executed with
Criminal Procedure death sentence
Code, 1973 (ii) Arrest should be made by a woman
constable
(iii) No arrest after sunset and before sunrise.
13. The Muslim Woman This Act is result of leading case of Shah bano
(Protection of Rights Begum. This Act aims to protect each right of
on Divorce) Act, 1986 Muslim woman.
 8• protection to wome d
1 n un er Panchayati Raj Institution:
Art 243 (D)( 3 ): not less than 1/3 of the total numbers of seat reserved u nder
clause ( 1 ) shall be reserved for women belonging to SC's and ST's of total number
of seats to be filled by direct election in .
*Not less th an 1 / 3 (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging to the SC's and the ST's of the total number of seats to be filled by
direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for women and such seats
may be allotted by to different constituencies in a Panchayat
Art. 2 4 3 D(4): * The offices of the chairperson in the Panchayat at the village
or any other level shall be reserved for the scheduled casts and scheduled tribes
and women in such manner as the legislate of state may by law, provide.
Art. 243T(3): Not less than 1/3 (including the number of seats reserved
for women belonging to the scheduled Castes and the ST's the total number of
seats to ·be filled by direct election in every municipality shall be reserved for
women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in
a Municipality
243T(4): The officers of chairperson in the Municipalities shall be reserved
for the Scheduled casts, the ST and Women in such manner as the Legislature
of a state may by provide.

9. National Commission for women:

To ameliorate the general social condition of women in the country, parliament
has enacted the National Commission for women Act 1990, To Establish the
National Commission for women
Under section 10(1) Commission discharges the following functions.
(a) Investigating and examine all matter relating to safeguard provided fo1
women under the constitution and other laws