It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved -Swami Vivekananda.
From long back in
our country it was believed that the different properties, duties and status
accorded to men and women in a society are fixed by sex, that they are
natural and therefore not changeable. Gender is a matter which is seen closely
related to the roles and behaviour assigned to women and men based on
their sexual differences. In our society boys are always encouraged to be
strong, tough and outgoing; but girls are considered just as opposite and
encouraged to be home-bound and shy.
Gender inequality
is also a form of inequality which is prevailing in our country and is distinct
from other types of all social and economic inequalities. Gender equality is
not only prevailing in the house but outside also. It stems not only from
pre-existing differences in economic endowments between women and men but also
from pre-existing gendered social norms and social perceptions. Gender
inequality has adverse impact on development goals as reduces economic growth.
It hampers the overall well being because blocking women from participation in
social, political and economic activities can adversely affect the whole society.
As truly said,
India may be an emerging economic powerhouse, but as far as the state of women
is concerned, India needs a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the
world.
In a latest setback
United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report 2013 reports a
very bad picture on this front. According to this report India stood at
132nd position out of 187 countries on the gender inequality index – performing
worse than even Pakistan (123). The condition is such that India is far behind
than all nations in South Asia. Except Afghanistan, all performed better than
India, with Sri Lanka (75) topping them all. Nepal is at rank 102nd and
Bangladesh stood at 111th rank. Gender inequality Index is a very good way of
showing a counties real picture in terms of gender biasing. Gender Inequality
Index measures the loss in a country’s progress and human development because
of gender inequality in three sectors:
- Reproductive health
- Women empowerment
- Labor market participation.
As clear review of
the report will show the key factors which put India on such a low position.
These key points
are
Skewed sex ratio,
with only 914 females every 1000 males due to female feticide,
Only 29% of Indian
women above the age of 15 in 2011 were a part of the country’s labor force,
compared to 80.7% men.
In Parliament, only
10.9% of lawmakers are women, while in Pakistan 21.1% are women.
According to report
education and health status of women in India:
Only 26.6% women
above 25 years received a secondary education in 2010, compared to 50.4% of
men.
Maternal Mortality
Ratio: In India, 200 women died every 100,000 childbirths.
In a good front
overall, India has made significant economic progress, but as a fact
improvements are slow on the human development front. On the human development
index, India ranks 136th out of 187 countries mentioned in the study. In India
huge income disparities, gender inequality and the caste divide remain major
issues.
The Constitution of
India ensures gender equality in its preamble as a fundamental right. By ways
of a number of legislation and policies government adopted many measures of
positive discrimination in favour of women. India has also ratified various
international conventions and human rights forums to secure equal rights of
women, such as ratification of Convention on elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women in 1993. Women have been finding place in local
governance structures, overcoming gender biases. Over one million women have
been elected to local panchayats as a result of 1993 amendment to the Indian
Constitution requiring that 1/3 rd of the elected seats to the local governing
bodies be reserved for women. The passing of Pre-natal Diagnostic Tech Act in
1994 also is a step in removing gender discrimination. This Act seeks to end
sex-determination tests and female foeticide and prohibits doctors from
conducting such procedures for the specific purpose of determining the sex of
the fetus. The Government also announced the National policy for empowerment of
women in 2001 to bring out advancement, development and empowerment of women.
The Government has also drawn up a draft National policy for the empowerment of
women which is a policy statement outlining the state’s response to problems of
gender discrimination. As persistent gender inequalities continue we need to
rethink concepts and strategies for promoting women’s dignity and rights.
But these are not
providing fruits as expected. I think more than the policies, we need active
participation by people. Social awakening is very important for solving this
serious problem. We hope these type of reports will act as eye opener for the
government and society to act together against this social disease.
References:
UNDP: 2013 Human Development
Report; accessed on 21st March,2013
Wall Street Journal: India
Ranks Lower Than Pakistan on Gender Equality; accessed on 21st March,2013
Buiseness Line: India way
behind neighbours in gender equality: Human Development Report; accessed on
21st March,2013
