By – Harchand Choudhary
“You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women.” -- Jawaharlal Nehru
The Gandhian era and the decades after independence have witnessed tremendous changes in the status of women in Indian society. The constitution has laid down as a fundamental right the equality of sexes. But the change from a position of utter degradation and subjugation of women in the nineteenth century to a position. In the middle of the twentieth century is not a simple case of progress of women in modern era. Before the independent the condition of women was so bad due to many social customs and superstation, lack of education, awareness, and they had to bear with those.
Sati system was one of the worst customs
is an old, in which the widow was immolated alive on her husband's funeral
pyre. Although the act was supposed to be voluntary on the widow's part.
Another one was Jauhar refers to the practice of
voluntary immolation by wives and daughters of defeated warriors, in order to
avoid capture and consequent molestation by the enemy. The practice was
followed by the wives of defeated Rajput rulers, who are
known to place a high premium on honour. Evidently such practice took place
during the Islamic invasions of India.
Purdah
is the practice among some communities requiring women to cover themselves so
as to conceal their skin and form from males. It imposes restrictions on the
mobility of women, curtails their right to interact freely, and is a symbol of
the subordination of women. It is noted that Indian women had to purdah in the
Islamic Kingdoms in Indian Subcontinent, as result of fear, that they would be
kidnapped by the Muslim invaders.
Devadasi
is often misunderstood as religious practice. It was practised in southern
India, in which women were "married" to a deity or temple. After the
foreign invasions of Indian subcontinent, this practice started to mark its
presence, as women were often raped or kidnapped by the foreign forces.
Due
to those practices the situation of women was quite miserable and painful and
at that time women literacy rate was so low, health condition, participation in
workplace was at the below the ebb.
Revolutionary changes have taken
place in the position of women in India after independence. The Constitution of
India provided for special steps to be taken by the government to improve the
condition of women by separate institutions.
A quick and effective change in the
status of women was contemplated through social legislations. The Constitution
of India guarantees certain fundamental rights and freedom such as protection
of life and personal liberty. Indian women are the beneficiaries of these
rights in the same manner as men some other provision like-Equality before law
for women (Article 14),The State not to discriminate against any citizen
on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or
any of them (Article 15 (i)) ,The
State to make any special provision in favour of women and children (Article
15 (3),Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to
employment or appointment to any office under the State (Article 16)1.
[1]The State to direct its policy towards securing for men and women
equally the right to an adequate means of livelihood (Article 39(a));
and equal pay for equal work for both men and women (Article 39(d)),To
promote justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and to provide free legal
aid by suitable legislation or scheme or in any other way to ensure that
opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of
economic or other disabilities (Article 39 A),The State to make
provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity
relief (Article 42)2.
The
State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of
the weaker sections of the people and to protect them from social injustice and
all forms of exploitation (Article 46), The State to raise the level of
nutrition and the standard of living of its people (Article 47), To
promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of
India and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article
51(A) (e)3.
Not
less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number
of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat to be
reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different
constituencies in a Panchayat (Article 243 D(3),Not less than one- third
of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each
level to be reserved for women (Article 243 D (4),Not less than
one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to
be filled by direct election in every Municipality to be reserved for women
and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality
(Article 243 T (3),Reservation of offices of Chairpersons in Municipalities
for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled
Tribes and women in such manner as the legislature of a State may by law
provide (Article 243 T (4)4.
In
the post-independent India we had series of laws passed for the upliftment of
women. These legislations have been brought in order to give equal rights and
privileges with men, to eliminate discriminations against women, remove
inequality between sexes, and remove external barriers coming in the way of
their self-realisation and development. The important Acts passed for the
upliftment of women are:
The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955: This Act provided equal rights to women to obtain divorce
and also maintenance in certain cases.
The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956: By virtue of this Act a woman can adopt a boy or a girl as
her son or daughter.
The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act of 1956: This Act provides that a woman is entitled to act as the
natural guardian of her minor children.
The Hindu Succession Act of 1956: As a result of this Act, woman has got equal rights in the
inheritance of family property. This Act is a landmark in the history of Hindu
law1.
The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act of 2005: this act brought the revolution in
the field of women’s property right. It provide equal right and equal share to
women in ancestral property in India2.
The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961: According to this Act, taking or demanding dowry is an
offence punishable by imprisonment and or fines.
The Equal Remuneration Act of 1976: This Act does not permit wage discrimination between male
and female workers.
Besides legislations, education was
also regarded as an important factor in raising the status of women in society.
Therefore, active steps were taken to promote women’s education. Immediately
after independence it was realized that unless half of our population are
exposed to educational process, modernization of our society would be a distant
dream. Various Committees and Commissions emphasized the need for equalization
of educational opportunities.1951 the women literacy ratio was 8.9 percent and
in 2011 this ratio increased to 65.5 percent3.
This
happened because of government efforts and people’s awareness. Indian
government enacted law like Right to Education2005, This led to opening of
different schools and colleges, especially for women.
The
Department of Women & Child Development in the Ministry of Human Resource
Development has prepared a “National Policy for the Empowerment of Women” in
the year 2001. The goal of this policy is to bring about the advancement,
development and empowerment of women.
However, the absence of any economic
compulsion was in fact one of the main reasons for the slow progress of women
education till seventies. There is a gradual change among the women that in
order to make a decent living and to assert their rights and privileges and to [2][3][4]become
economically independent, they must acquire proper skill through education.
Hence, there has been a constant rise of women ratio in the field of higher
education.
There has been a remarkable increase in the number of women getting out of
the four walls of the household and becoming workers in both cities and
villages, according to the 1991 census report. Job opportunities outside the
family, economic hardship and social situation have encouraged women to take up
employment outside the family. The attitudes of women’s relatives towards
women’s employment, women’s own preference for employment are now quite
different from earlier beliefs. People are now in favour of women employment. Contrary to common perception, a large percentage of women in India work. National data collection agencies accept that statistics seriously understate women's contribution as workers. However, there are far fewer women than men in the paid workforce. In urban India, women participate in the workforce in impressive numbers. For example, in the software industry 30% of the workforce is female. In the workplace women enjoy parity with their male counterparts in terms of wages and roles.
In
rural India in the agriculture and allied industrial sectors, females account
for as much as 89.5% of the labour force. In overall farm production, women's
average contribution is estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour.
According to a 1991 World Bank report, women accounted for 94% of total
employment in dairy production in India.1
Women constitute 51% of the total employed in forest-based small-scale
enterprises
Today, the centre of production is
located outside the family, economic conditions demand participation of women
with men in the production process. This has enhanced the status of women in
the family as well as the society.
Through
the Panchayat Raj institutions, over a million women have
actively entered political life in India. As per the 73rd and 74th
Constitutional Amendment Acts, all local elected bodies reserve one-third of
their seats for women. Although the percentages of women in various levels of
political activity has risen considerably.
In the political field, women now
enjoy equal rights with men. The two important rights in the political field
sanctioned to women by Indian Constitution are: female enfranchisement and
eligibility for the legislature. Prior to independence, when the elections were
held in 1946 for constitutional assembly, many prominent women of Indian like
Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Meheta, Renuka Rai and others were elected. In the first
general election held in 1952, several women contested for the Lok Sabha.
After independence more women have
joined different political parties. Some of them have captured seats of power
as Chief Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Ministers of
States.
Now all the political parties have a woman’s cell or wing and some women
leaders are in the position of president or secretary of party. Women of
different parties are actively participating in campaigning and organizing
meetings at the time of elections. The families are always helping women to
have a smooth entry in politics. Now politics is not the exclusive domain of
men.In the health condition women drastic change have been brought by Indian government comparatively the situation of pre independent, the average female life expectancy today in India is low compared to many countries, but it has shown gradual improvement over the years. The maternal mortality in India is the 56th highest in the world. 42% of births in the country are supervised in Medical Institution. The life expectancy of Indian women has increased. In 1941 it was 31.4 years and it increased to 64.2 years in 2006 more than double1.
Many changes have taken place with
respect to social life of Indian women. The ‘new life’ in city has altered the
family relations. Social life of women has been altered because the husband and
wife have begun to share a common social life which was not found in
traditional family.
Attitude towards -segregation of
sexes has also been changing. Coeducation has created an opportunity for
intermixing of boys and girls. During leisure the women visit their friends’
house. Boys take girls out to entertain them by taking to movies, restaurants
and picnic.
Industrialization has not only
affected the joint family system, but also the relationship between the husband
and the wife. The position of a woman as consultant is found in most families
where she shares the responsibility of making the major family decisions with
her husband or father. Now authority vests not only on eldest male but also on
females.
It is well known that the freedom
movement in India generated great awareness among women about their social
right and their social responsibilities in the larger soc.al order one result
of this was the manifestation of a new creative urge among women in
post-independent India.
The status of women and their social
relationship as necessitated by the new social, political and economic organization
in society has come out through the routine factors of social change.
Undoubtedly in the period before
1947 there was a considerable change in thinking, outlook and value of Indian
women. Subsequently Indian women have gradually moved towards self-reliance and
independence. The status of Indian women through the ages has been changing and
the status, which was lost during the middle ages and earlier parts of 19th
century, has been regained somewhat. It appears that the status of women has
gone high in India.
However the real position is that a
large majority of women in the villages or women of low caste still suffers
from injustice and inequalities.
If we look at them, we will notice
that no social change of much importance has been brought about among them Most
of the women in villages are still illiterate and superstitious and do not
participate in the political, social and economic life of the nation. Rural
women have remained backward due to tradition, illiteracy, ignorance,
superstition, social evils and many other factors. Hence, emancipation of women
in rural India is an essential prerequisite for social progress of the nation.[5]
Status of women then and now, one has to
look at two sides of the coin; one side which is promising, and one side which
is bleak. The crimes against women like rape, domestic violence, sexual
harassment are increasing continuously in spite of many acts and regulation
like-The Sexual Harassment of Women Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013 came into force on Dec 2013, to prevent Harassment of
women at workplace .Even in national capital in Delhi the cases related to rape
and molestation were registered 24060 in 2011 and the double of registered case
did not register. The sex ratio of women contiously decreased from 972 in 1901
to 940 in 2011 on per thousand males1.
In
Indian government enacted so many laws and regulation and it have improved the
condition of women in India, but compare to other developed countries, it is
not sufficient. So only laws can not improve the condition of women, it must be
backed up by some strong machinery. And most important thing is that we have to
change our attitude toward the women.
(author is the student of BA LLB
Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University New law College Pune)
2. Constitution of India, J.N. Panday, 51st
ed. Page-440
3. Constitution of India, J.N. Panday, 51st
ed. Page-441
4. Constitution of India, J.N. Panday, 51st
ed. Page-656
2. The Hindu Succession Act,1956,S.K. Kader,
2004,page-163
3. Indian Economy, Datt & Sundhram,69th
edition , page-56
Bibliography
(a)
Books
1.
Indian
Constitution, J.N.Panday
2.
Indian
Economy, Datt & Sundram
3.
The
Hindu Succession Act,1956, S.A. Kader
Webliography
(b)
Internet
links
1.
www.Wikipedia.com
2.
www.Westlaw.edu
3.
www.National
Sample Survey.India.Gov
No comments:
Post a Comment