Empowering Women
March 8, 2001: International Women's Day
Source: Press Information Bureau

Women’s rights are human rights and should be treated as such. To quote President K. R. Narayanan from a speech he made at the Convention on Liberal Values in New Delhi on January 6, 1996 ".... It would be seen that in the evolution of human civilization, economic, cultural, social, civil and political aspects have come together to produce what are now called human rights. At the heart of the human rights lie rights and values associated with the individual human being, which in modern parlance or rather western parlance, are called liberal values, but which are inherent in every civilization of the world". Recently, the war crimes tribunal at the Hague, Netherlands in a landmark judgment in a case involving three former Bosnian Serb commanders declared rape to be a crime against humanity.

The fact that women’s rights need to be safeguarded in every country of the world cannot be overemphasized. In a historic decision, the Rajasthan government is changing the service rules to punish employees who are found guilty of torturing their wives. As reported in a national daily, the punishment could involve sacking and action would correspond the crime, with punishments including suspension and stoppage of increments.

It is the duty of the State to remove inequities in the personal laws of various religions. Recently it has been made compulsory to include the mother’s name along with that of the father in various forms required to be filled for an Indian child while seeking admission in a school and otherwise. A small step forward in terms of marriage was taken when the Hindu Marriage Act was enacted in 1955. The term Hindu in this case includes Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and their denominations. Several laws have been enacted including the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 and the current Special Marriage Act ,1954 which governs civil marriages. In this Act, for a boy and girl to get married they must have completed 21 and 18 years of age respectively. Bigamy is prohibited in this Act and each party is expected to give consent to the marriage. For a civil marriage, three witnesses are necessary. Progressive laws such as these protect the woman. Under the Islamic law, marriage is considered a contract and a nikah is performed with several dos and don’ts. The Parsis are governed by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936. Christians are governed by the Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and the marriage usually takes place in a church.

The report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) released by the Government recently mentions the steps taken by it to contain the negative impact of restructuring of the economy that India has embarked upon. "The new economic policies consist of macro-economic stabilization processes aimed at restoring greater fiscal discipline and efficiency, deregulation and de-licensing policies aimed at propelling industrial growth ... these adjustment processes also hold out considerable challenges for the country, particularly for vulnerable groups, such as poor women, whose interests the market seldom reflects..." It enumerates the steps that have been taken to protect women. The Government of India made special efforts to increase its support for social sectors and started a number of schemes aimed at the poor, particularly poor women and women in the informal sector. These include the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh and the Mahila Samakhya programs.

The Integrated Child Development Program (ICDS) run by the Government is the largest in the world. Government figures show that ICDS has brought down infant mortality rate (IMR) from 55.1 in 1970 to 28.2 in 1992 and for female babies from 131 in 1978 to 80 in 1992. Life expectancy of women has risen sharply according to the report and stands at 58.1 years, which is higher than that for men at 57.7 years. Statistically speaking, at the beginning of the century, women were not expected to survive beyond 23.96 years. They have, however, still to catch up on the literacy front which now stands at 39.29 per cent for women as opposed to 64 per cent for men.

Keeping in line with the government’s policy on equal opportunity, there are 65 women in senior positions in the Indian Foreign Service around the world. For the first time after Independence the highest post in the Foreign Service, is to be occupied by a female foreign secretary, Chokila Iyer. It is commendable that despite various hurdles and mindsets, the Government has managed to ensure equal career opportunities for women.

The National Literacy Mission through the Total Literacy Campaigns (TLCs) has played a key role in raising awareness on issues of gender equity as have the Women’s Development Program, "Mahila Samakhya" and several other programs. The National Perspective Plan for Women (1988-2000) was drawn up in 1988 as an important strategy to change social attitudes.

The government has taken a number of steps and enacted a number of legislations to protect and safeguard women and ensure that their rights are not abused. One such measure is the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961. Before the enactment of this law, the grant of maternity leave and cash benefits were included in the Factories Act, 1948, Mines Act 1952 and Bidi and Cigar Workers’ (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 amongst others. Under the Central Service (Leave) Rules 1972, "female Government employees are at present entitled to maternity leave for a period of 135 days from the date of commencement. During such period, the employee is paid leave salary equal to the pay drawn immediately before proceeding on leave". The Government has, therefore, tried to protect women wherever possible. Laws unless enforced, however, tend to be ignored and abused.

The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts of 1993 mark historic events in the advancement of Indian women as they ensure one-third of total seats for women in all elected offices of local bodies, in rural areas and urban areas. In the rural areas, above one million women are going to emerge as leaders/decision makers at the grassroots level and enter public life through the existing 0.25 million bodies. Of these, about 75,000 will be the chairpersons of local institutions at the village, block and district levels, as per the Act. India still has some way to go as mentioned by President K. R. Narayanan in his Republic Day speech this year. He said women had made an impact on democracy (Indian) at the grassroots and remarked, "It is only logical to carry forward this process of empowerment of women to state legislatures and Parliament". Women’s empowerment in politics might well be a decisive factor that will purify and save the democratic politics of India from the deterioration of standards and values it is experiencing today." That is the message that should be remembered while celebrating the International Women’s day in the year of Women’s Empowerment