Nancy Mengi
While we are busy celebrating the Chandrayan-3 soft landing on the surface of moon, making India the first country to land on south pole region, it equally draws attention to the Women led Development- which is also the vision of G-20 summit whose presidency is held by India at present. The team of scientists who created history; also comprised of 20-30 percent women scientists, clearly signalling that women are also rolling over the development process in the country. Vanitha Muthayya is the project director and Ritu Karidhal is the mission director of Chandrayan-3. The notable examples of women leading development process in corporates, defence and most recently space science, clearly indicates the shift from women empowerment to women led development. India’s presidency in G 20 compels us to see how women are figuring in the developmental initiatives. It has been well encapsulated in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark at the G20 Summit in Bali that “global development is not possible without women’s participation. When women prosper, the world prospers. Their economic empowerment fuels growth, their access to education drives global progress, their leadership fosters inclusivity, and their voices inspire positive change.”
Evidently, women in India are progressing as their counterparts of developed nations of the world. Concurrently, the argument that success stories of a few women cannot be generalised, leading to the possibility of being the catalytic effect of factors such as education, urbane context, class and caste. Is India marking the beginning of an era where women empowerment is owned by all women? Three things are considered crucial for women empowerment- freedom, protection and economic independence. Freedom for others may mean independence but for a woman, freedom resonates with the ability to overcome challenges posed by social construction of gendered roles, traditional norms and burden of care. Recent years have witnessed measures reckoned by government in ensuring this freedom to women, including women who represent uneducated (or less educated) section, rural context, poor socio-economic strata, etc. One such scheme is Swachch Bharat Mission which has given freedom to women from the embarrassment of defecating in open, battling with their bodily needs owing to their specific needs during pregnancy and menstruation. It has been well recorded that over 10.9 crores toilets were built in India in past 10 years. All villages have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) in 2019. A total of 99.6% of the households who had access to toilets, had availability of water. Another challenge which women in rural/ hilly areas and slums encounter, is of non-availability of water; compelling them to walk miles or wait in long queues and carry the water to their homes to be used in kitchen and washroom and also end up spending money on water. In the related context, Jal Jeevan mission launched in 2019, is facilitating water connection in the rural households and around 13 crore households (67%) have been given tap water connection. Since household responsibilities are delegated to mainly women, it urges the mention of another women empowerment scheme – Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), under which subsidy for gas connection, interest free loan for gas stove and refilling is granted. 8 crore women have been benefitted under the scheme as yet. Use of firewood not just causes respiratory health hazards to women but also costs them time, labour and money. This scheme has reduced the mundane struggle of women. Apparently the beneficiaries have largely been women belonging to rural households and marginalised strata of society.
Another impediment to women empowerment is their protection which looms large both within and outside homes. The presence of legislation alone has not been very effective. In light of this challenge, Mission Shakti scheme serves as an integrated programme for protection and development of women. The two components of the scheme are Sambal and Samarthya. Mechanisms have been built in to end violence, ensure gender equality and take affirmative action for women. Women Helpline (WHL) number 181 has been linked with One Stop Centres for providing emergency help and support services to women such as short stay, legal advice and legal aid. Women panchayat, known as Nari Adalat, are also being established at the panchayat level which aim at resolving crimes of petty nature (harassment, subversion, curtailment of rights or entitlements) against women. They ensure delivery of speedy justice to women.
The process of women empowerment cannot be fully admitted until their economic independence is realised. Hub for empowerment of women (HEW) is set up at district level for guiding, linking and hand- holding of women in various institutional and developmental initiatives including equal access to healthcare, quality education, career and vocational counselling/ training, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, health and safety, social security and digital literacy. Sakhi Niwas- Working Women Hostel facilitate working women with residential facilities including food, medical assistance, and safety. Palna is a facility for day care for Children of working women so that the care burden of women is reduced and they are able to focus on decent work and taking up gainful employment. National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is another flagship programme which empowers women with financial assistance and technical support in livelihood generation. Women grouped in Self Help Groups, make small savings and are granted interest free loans. The Pradhan Mantri Matra Vandan Yojna also deserves mention which provides for financial support for pregnant and lactating mothers to improve the health and nutrition for mother and child as well as compensation for wage loss, if any, due to child birth.
The Women in Engineering, Science and Technology (WEST) programme is also set up to encourage women pursuing education in STEM subjects and ensure that women are able to lead the development process as scientists, educators and entrepreneurs. One-third of the seats are reserved for women in gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, zilla parishads, municipalities and municipal corporations for fuelling their political empowerment.
It needs to be realised that inclusivity of women will considerably accelerate the development of the country if concerted efforts of Nari Shakti (women power) are aggregated with mainstream development process. Empowering women is not just a choice, but a necessity. It is the need of the hour to accept that women are active propellers of development and their concomitant new role is the byproduct of the initiatives of dedicated programmes and schemes for women empowerment.
(The author is Head, Department of Social Work at Central University of Jammu)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
