Short Essay on Women’s Empowerment in India

November 1, 2016 November 1, 2016

The Barriers to women’s empowerment include the deep-rooted ideologies of gender bias and discrimination like the confinement of women to the private domestic realm, restrictions on their mobility, poor access to health services, nutrition, education and employment, and exclusion from the public and political sphere continue to daunt women across the country. The lower attainments of women in key human development indicators are indicative of the sharp disparities in opportunities available to women and men.

The Key Elements for Gender Equity and Women’s Empowerment

Key elements for Gender Equity and Women’s empowerment include the following:

Economic Empowerment
Social and Physical Infrastructure
Enabling Legislations
Women’s Participation in Governance
Inclusiveness of all categories of vulnerable women
Engendering National Policies/Programmes
Mainstreaming gender through Gender Budgeting

Economic Empowerment of Women

Review and strengthen the implementation of the Equal Remuneration Act and the Maternity Benefits Act.
To pass the legislation from the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Work Place Bill.
Providing a 33% reservation to women in the skill development programmes of National Skills Development Council.
Modify the insurance and retirement policies and make them suitable for women headed families and single women.

Empowerment of Women in Agriculture

Kisan Credit Cards should be issued to women farmers, with joint pattas as collateral.
Facilitate women’s access to credit
To ensure that SHGs are classified under priority sector and given loans at concessional rates.
Women must also be included in land and water management, pani panchayats, preservation of soil fertility and nutrition management, sustainable use of soil etc. etc.
To enhance women’s land access from all three sources (direct government transfers, purchase or lease from the market and inheritance) a range of initiatives are needed, including joint land titles in all government land transfers, credit support to poor women to purchase or lease land from the market, increase in legal awareness and legal support for women’s inheritance rights, supportive government schemes and recording of women’s inheritance shares etc.
In irrigation projects, any new land arrangements (that is compensatory land given to displaced persons) must be in the joint names of the man and the woman, or exclusively in the name of the woman where she is the main economic provider.

Empowerment of Women in Manufacturing

This includes the efforts on skill development of women belonging to marginalized sections. More focus should be on women in traditional industries like leather, handlooms, handicrafts and sericulture.

Empowerment of Women in Unorganized sector

Women in the unorganized sector require social security addressing issues of leave, wages, work conditions, pension, housing, childcare, health benefits, maternity benefits, safety and occupational health, and a complaints committee for sexual harassment. Labour protection to these sectors should be increased.

Changes needed in Social and Physical Infrastructure

This includes the better coverage and implementation of the programmes related to women’s health such as Janani Suraksha Yojana and IGMSY. The education sector needs better conditions to be created for women teachers under the programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
Lack of sanitation, especially toilets, in rural areas is a major weakness in our system and one that impacts most adversely on women. Apart from the effective Total Sanitation Campaign, there should be toilets with water in all schools and anganwadi centres and the active involvement of women in determining the location of sanitation facilities.
There are women-specific transport needs. Dedicated exclusive services such as ladies special buses and trains are also necessary in our social circumstances. Women’s needs require better route planning. The provision of special buses, increased services for women travelling during off-peak hours or services on less-travelled routes all need more attention.