Premium - Gist of Kurukshetra Magazine: November 2013

• GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES TO EMPOWERMENT WOMEN-AREAS OF CONCERN (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)

• EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN A STEP TOWARDS INCLUSIVE GROWTH (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)

• WHERE DO WOMEN STAND IN RURAL INDIA? (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES TO EMPOWERMENT WOMEN-AREAS OF CONCERN

The Asian and Pacific· Centre for Women and Development [APCWD] defines “Empowerment as a process that aims at creating the conditions for the self-determination of a particular people at creating the conditions for the selfdetermination of a particular people or group”.

“Empowerment with women” is the central issue that has been pervading the development debate after the 81s. Improving their status and empowering them would go a long way in accomplishing egalitarian gender relations in society. Women who are hitherto constrained by their social structure for their self-expression constitute the target of most of the development programmes, which aim at bringing them into the mainstream of the development.

The Constitution of India guarantees to all women equality [Article 14]; no discrimination by the State [Article 15 (l)]: equality of opportunity [Article 16]; equal pay for equal work [Article 39(dl]; renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women [Article 51 (a) (c)] The Constitution also allows the State to make special provision in favor of women and children [Article 15(3)]; and securing just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief [Article 42]. Acknowledging the world-wide significance of women empowerment the Government of India declared 2001 as the “Year of Women’s Empowerment” and the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women came into force from 2001. Draft Country Paper of India for the 4th World Conference on women held in Beijing in 1995 proposed certain qualitative and quantitative indicators for evaluating women’s empowerment. The qualitative aspects included self-esteem and self-confidence, articulation, leisure time, workloads, roles and responsibilities, domestic violence, women economic contribution .and ‘decision’ making Quantitative .aspects included. demographic trends, number of women in participation, access and control over resources, physical health status, literacy levels and political participation at the local level.

Government Programmes for Women Empowerment. The Government of India has been implementing- various programmes through its different departments to bring about women’s development and their empowerment. For lack of an overarching policy that would have provided a common understanding and a unified vision, each department has defined and operationalized ‘empowerment through its own prism and from its own perspective and understanding.

In the case of some departments, the stated goal is not to bring about women’s empowerment, but the emphasis is on bringing about their overall efficiency and economic development. For example [i] Social Welfare Board aims at bringing about women’s development and empowerment through partnerships with NGOs [ii] Department of Rural Development focuses, on economic selfreliance as an indicator of women’s development
[iii] Agriculture Department endeavors to make women better agricultural workers by increasing their understanding about the use of technology in agriculture [iv] Horticulture Department aims at providing training to women for vegetable and fruit production, preservation and link them to the market so that they can become economically self-reliant [v] Dairy Department, in the name of Women’s Dairy, has started a new scheme whereby women are given training in animal care, a traditional occupation followed by them and are encouraged to set up their own dairy and thereby become economically self-reliant [vi] Social Welfare Department offers various scholarships and pension schemes and thereby provides economic support to certain vulnerable groups to bring about their upliftment [vii] Education Department, in order to bring about gender equality, has initiated special programs for girls whereby they can be mainstreamed with the existing programs [viii] Adult Education program of the Education Department considers women’s literacy as the first step towards their empowerment and is pursuing the Continuing Education program through the self-help groups (SHGs) in order to bring about their economic self-reliance [ix] The Department of Women’s Empowerment and Child Development is running various schemes and programs for the empowerment of Women by setting up self-help groups (SHGs) with the help of NGOs.

Welfare Schemes for Women and Girls Most of the schemes currently implemented by the Department of Women’s Empowerment and Child Development and those by the State Social Welfare Board and Department of Health fall in following category: Department of Women Empowerment and Child Development implements programs viz.

The integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program: This is a flagship program of the department. While providing ‘Anganwadi’(creche) services and health and nutritional supplements to infants, ICDS also provides pre and post-natal care for pregnant and lactating mothers. The anganwadi workers have to dispense iron tablets and iodine-fortified salt to pregnant and lactating mothers. The pregnant and lactating mothers also have to receive dry rations from the anganwadi workers.

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