Women and Development

ABSTRACT

Indian women, and rural women in particular, play many social and economic roles inside as
well as outside the home, but their contribution does not receive due recognition. Since ancient
times, women have been considered the weaker sex and expected to depend on others. However,
with changing times people started realizing the importance of participation of women for
overall development of society. Many Government schemes were implemented to ensure that
women were given thee required training and education so that they can contribute to the
development of the nation as well as improve their own living conditions. This study deals with
analyzing the role of women in rural development, the various government schemes aimed at
improving their condition and then analyzing how effectively they are being implemented
through a survey in nearby villages.
 Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................................3
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................6
Chapter 2: Meaning and need for women empowerment............................................................7
2.1 Empowerment..................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.1 Women Empowerment.................................................................................................7
2.2 Benefits of women empowerment......................................................................................7
2.2.1 Improves self knowledge and helps self define............................................................7
2.2.2 Economic Independence...............................................................................................7
2.2.3 Freedom from oppression............................................................................................ 7
2.2.4 Improved health conditions..........................................................................................8
2.2.5 Political Power.............................................................................................................. 8
2.2.6 Increased literacy rate.................................................................................................. 8
CHAPTER 3 : Schemes by Government..........................................................................................9
3.1 NATIONAL POLICY FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN, 2001.......................................9
3.2 Schemes in Rural India.......................................................................................................10
3.2.1 Economic Empowerment............................................................................................10
3.2.2 Political Empowerment..........................................................................................11
3.2.3 Educational Empowerment.........................................................................................11
3.2.4 Health Empowerment.................................................................................................12
Chapter 4 : Case Studies............................................................................................................. 13
4.1 The case of Uparapally.......................................................................................................13
4.2 Case of Andhra Pradesh.....................................................................................................14
4.3 Non- government initiatives.............................................................................................. 15
Chapter 5 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................15
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

A woman is the nucleus of the family, particularly, in rural India. She not only collects water,
fuel wood, fodder and food but also plays a significant role in preserving the culture, grooming
the children and shaping their destiny. Unfortunately, in spite of their laudable and vulnerable
roles, which cannot be substituted by machine or men, women have been neglected since
generations. There is no recognition for their hard work, just because her work is not evaluated
in terms of money. As a result, women are the worst sufferers in the society due to drudgery, ill
health, illiteracy, deprivation and humiliation. Backwardness of women is a sign of poverty and
no wonder, India hosts over one-third of the poor in the world, as lack of empowerment of
women is a significant cause of poverty.

Rural women are key agents for achieving the transformational economic, environmental and
social changes required for sustainable development. But limited access to credit, health care
and education are among the many challenges they face, which are further aggravated by the
global food and economic crises and climate change. Empowering them is key not only to the
well-being of individuals, families and rural communities, but also to overall economic
productivity, given women’s large presence in the agricultural workforce worldwide.

The very issue of women empowerment arises because of the stark reality that women are still
marginalized and sidelined from the mainstream as a use-and-throw commodity. The
patriarchal canopy had always denied women the warm rays of autonomy and freedom.
Empowerment of women involves many things, economic opportunity, property rights, political
representation, social equality, personal rights

The Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India is the nodal agency looking after the social and economic
empowerment of women to ensure gender equality, equity and also responsible for the welfare
and development of children. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been
recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women. Women are engaged in a
wide variety of occupations especially in the unorganized sector. In rural unorganized sector,
women care for cattle, sowing, transplanting, harvesting, weaving, working in the hand-looms
and producing handicrafts mostly as low paid earners or unpaid family workers. They are also
engaged in producing and selling a variety of goods such as vegetables, fruits, flowers etc.
Government has been implementing various programmes which support women to take up
new ventures and start self employment.
Chapter 2: Meaning and need for women empowerment

2.1 Empowerment

Empowerment refers to increasing the economic, political, social, educational, gender, or

spiritual strength of individuals and communities. In conclusion, we see empowerment as a
multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives. It is a
process that fosters power in people for use in their own lives, their communities, and in their
society by acting on issues that they define as important.

2.1.1 Women Empowerment

It is the process, and the outcome of the process, by which women challenge gender based
discrimination against women/men in all the institutions and structures of society.

2.2 Benefits of women empowerment

2.2.1 Improves self knowledge and helps self define

It will enable them to explore and trust their own thoughts, emotion, desires and experiences.
This will enable them to define goals for themselves and work towards achieving them.Also, it
will help create her own definition of herself rather than accept others’ definition of her.

2.2.2 Economic Independence

Women must learn to understand economics and how to make money. This will enable us to be
financially self sufficient and therefore economically independent of men.

2.2.3 Freedom from oppression

Being able to grow and achieve without restrictions in society. This includes freedom of
movement, freedom of choice, reduction in instances of domestic violence and freedom to
express one’s ideas and opinions without constraint.

2.2.4 Improved health conditions

One of the important dimensions of women empowerment is creating awareness among

women about various health and sanitation issues and also providing access to free basic
healthcare facilities. This would lead to a reduction in infant mortality rate, reduce number of
untimely deaths due to various chronic diseases.

2.2.5 Political Power

As their knowledge improves they begin to realize the importance of making them heard. This
would encourage them to involve in making decisions shaping society, to exercise their own
vote and to have the power to influence the decisions being made in society.

2.2.6 Increased literacy rate

As more and more women are made aware of the importance of education , they would be
motivated to send their children to school which would result in an increase in overall literacy
rate.

All these factors put together would lead to development of the nation as a whole.
CHAPTER 3 : Schemes by Government

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble,
Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles .The Constitution not only
grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive
discrimination in favor of women. Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws,
development policies, Plans and programmes have aimed at women's advancement in different
spheres. From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards has been a marked shift in the
approach to women's issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment
of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women. The
National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the
rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73 rd and 74 th Amendments (1993) to the
Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats
and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision
making at the local levels.

3.1 NATIONAL POLICY FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN, 2001

The goal of this Policy is to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of
women. The Policy will be widely disseminated so as to encourage active participation of all
stakeholders for achieving its goals. Specifically, the objectives of this Policy include :

1. Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for full
development of women to enable them to realize their full potential.
2. The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom by
women on equal basis with men in all spheres – political, economic, social, cultural and
civil .
3. Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and
economic life of the nation.
4. Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career and
vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety,
social security and public office etc.
5. Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against
women
6. Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and
involvement of both men and women.
7. Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.
8. Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and
the girl child; and
 9. Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society.

3.2 Schemes in Rural India

The various schemes implemented by the government of India can be categorized depending
on whether they aim at improving the economic, political, educational, health condition of rural
women.

3.2.1 Economic Empowerment

3.2.1.1 District Rural Development Agency

It covers aspects of Self Employment in rural areas such as organization of the poor into self
help groups, training, credit, technology, traditional industries, infrastructure and marketing.
It is specifically earmarked for upliftment of certain target groups (SC/ST, women and disabled).

3.2.1.2 Swayamsidha scheme; 2001

It is a Self Help Groups based programme with emphasis on convergence activities. Objective is
to ensure that Self Help Groups members avail the benefit of all schemes and services in an
integrated and holistic manner. It is involved in income generating activities i.e. Food
preservation, Vermi Compost, Embroidery, Beautician, Dari making, Gur patti making, Cutting &
Tailoring etc.

3.2.1.3 Support to Training & Employment Program for Women (STEP)

Central Sector Scheme which seeks to upgrade skill of poor and asset less women and provide
employment on sustainable basis by mobilizing them in viable cooperative groups,
strengthening marketing linkages, support services and access to credit.

3.2.1.4 Development of women and child rights act (DWCRA)

It is directed at improving the living conditions of women and, thereby, of children through the
provision of opportunities for self-employment and access to basic social services. The strategy
adopted is under this programme is to facilitate access for poor women to employment, skill up
gradation, training, credit and other support services so that the DWCRA women as a group can
take up income generating activities for supplementing their incomes. It encourages collective
action in the form of group activities that are known to work better and are more sustainable
than the individual effort. It encourages the habit of thrift and credit among poor rural women
to make them self-reliant.

3.2.2 Political Empowerment

Many factors hinder women’s political participation, such as political parties being slow to
respond to Women’s interest, under-investment in women’s campaigns, cultural barriers, and
their domestic and social responsibilities. The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2010 as
approved by Rajya Sabha, seeks to reserve one third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha,
the lower house of Parliament, and the state legislative assemblies including Delhi.

3.2.3 Educational Empowerment

Poverty is one of the biggest barriers to education. Since, most of the people in villages are BPL
they do not tend to pay attention to education. Apart from this, inadequate school facilities,
shortage of female teachers, sexual harassment in school are the other factors that prevent
girls from completing their education.

Women with some formal education are more likely to delay marriage and child birth , ensure
that children are immunized, be better informed about their children. As a result, their children
have higher survival rates & tend to be healthier & better nourished.

3.2.3.1 SARVA SIKSHA ABHIYAAN (SSA - 2000)

It aims to bridge social, regional and gender gaps, with the active participation of the
community in the management of schools.
Goals of SSA:
 Open new schools in areas which do not have them and to expand existing school
infrastructures and maintenance.
 Address inadequate teacher numbers, and provide training a development for existing
teachers
 Provide quality elementary education including life skills with a special focus on the
education of girls and children with special needs as well as computer education

3.2.3.2 The Poorna Shakti Kendra (PSK)

The focus areas of mission include
 Access to health,
 Drinking water,
 Sanitation and hygiene facilities for women coverage of all girls especially those
belonging to vulnerable groups in schools from primary to class 12,
 Higher and Professional education for girls/women
 Skill development,
 Micro credit

3.2.4 Health Empowerment

Population stabilization cannot be achieved by mere physical provisioning of contraception mix

or emergency obstetric care. It is critical to involve people - and enable women in particular –
to have a say in decisions relating to reproduction and livelihood. This brings in the issues of
reproductive rights of women and of the larger conceptual issues of gender equality and of
empowerment of women within and outside the household.

3.2.4.1SABLA scheme (Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent girls –

RGSEAG)

The SABLA scheme aims at empowering Adolescent Girls of 11-18 years by improving their
nutritional and health status, up gradation of home skills, life skills and vocational skills. The
girls will be equipped with information on health and family welfare, hygiene and guidance on
existing public services. The scheme would be implemented using the platform of ICDS and
AWCs would be the focal point for the delivery of services. However, where infrastructure and
other facilities are inadequate in AWCs, then alternative arrangements will have to be made in
schools/ Panchayat Community buildings.

3.2.4.1JSSK

New schemes for well being of mother and new born care - Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram
(JSSK), launched on 1st June, 2011, entitles all pregnant women delivering in public health
institutions to absolutely free and no expense delivery including Caesarean section. The
initiative stipulates free drugs, diagnostics, blood and diet, besides free transport from home to
institution, between facilities in case of a referral and drop back home.
Chapter 4 : Case Studies

4.1 The case of Uparapally

Uparapally is a small village close to BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus. The case study was done on
50 households. The objective was to understand the implementation of government policies
and their effectiveness in improving the conditions of women in this village.

Around 95% of women in this village were illiterate. Approximately, 90% had never been to
school. However, they realized the importance of education and they were really motivated to
send their children to school. Almost, all the children attended school.

There are 20 SHG in this village with 10-15 members each. Since most of the women are
illiterate, each group has some plan to teach certain basic things to their members. For some
groups, the group leader had taken up this responsibility while others were taught by children.
However, these groups had not received any kind of support from the government. They were
not given any sort of training or financial aid. They mostly invested their money in their primary
activities like agriculture, cattle rearing etc. Due to which they got lower return on investment.
Also, most of the poor households were not generally interested in joining such groups mainly
because:
 Poor are not sure of their saving capabilties
 Initial mobilisers may exclude them mainly because they might consider poor to
be a burden
 Poor are indifferent
Also, there was a lack of transparency among the group members. Most of the group members
were not aware of the functioning of groups. The benefits were more concentrated to the
women who were at the top of the group and were literate.

Apart from lack of self-opportunities, women also did not receive any special health facilities
like those for pregnant ladies or adolescent girls.

So, overall it can be said that even though this village has not received any sort of special
benefits from government yet due to motivated villagers, it has come a long way. However, the
government should make greater efforts to implement its policies because we have the right
policies but implementation is very poor as is clear from the case study of Uparapally.
4.2 Case of Andhra Pradesh

The government of Andhra Pradesh has provided larger space for women self-help groups in its
strategy for poverty alleviation and women empowerment. The promotion of women groups
under development of women and children in rural areas (DWCRA) programme stands as a
testimony to this.

Women from all caste groups are covered under the programme. However, the composition of
coverage is varying across the districts. This may be due to variations in the caste composition
of poor across the districts. However, backward castes, scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes
put together constitute significant proportion of the beneficiaries covered. Further the
participation of widows, who constitute the poorest of the poor, is 9 per cent. The composition
of the members according to pre-DWCRA income status of their house- holds reveals that the
coverage of the poorest of the poor is low on the one hand and on the other the coverage of
non-poor is considerable. The reasons for this include: the poor are not sure of their savings
capability and hence do not join the groups; many a time the initial mobilisers may exclude the
poorest due to their bias and under- estimation of the capacities of the poor to save, avail loans
and repay them; and sometimes, the poor are indifferent to such programmes and thus never
join the groups. The mean age of members in DWCRA groups is 35 years . The groups are
formed on the basis of the income, caste and neighborhood. Hence these groups are more
homogeneous. About 39 per cent of groups do not hold meetings and 23 per cent of the groups
are not practising bookkeeping. There are mainly two reasons for this: gross illiteracy of
members; and equal distribution of external grants and funds where groups do not see the
need for book maintenance. Few groups lack the motivation to save due to the absence of
external linkages, in spite of functioning for a period of two years or more. Leadership rotation
was absent in 94 percent of the SHGs. Thus development of leadership among other members
is lacking.

The women members of SHGs seem to have embarked on the non-traditional tasks like
marketing and non-traditional enterprises. The women have improved control over their labour
to this extent. Women's access to and control over their savings, credit and income have
improved. Women have improved freedom to move and interact with the officials and other
women after joining the SHGs of DWCRA. The DWCRA groups themselves have expanded
avenues for women to assume leader- ship position. The adoption of family planning and
contraceptive methods by the women members of SHGs indicate the improvement of the
control of women over their reproductive choice. On the whole, it is clear that women are able
to improve control over their labour, resources (saving, credit and income), freedom to move
and interact, leadership, and reproductive choices, to some extent.
So, the government in Andhra Pradesh has taken some initiatives for women empowerment.
However, there are still many villages in remote areas that are yet to receive government
support.

4.3 Non- government initiatives

Apart from the continuous efforts of central as well as state government to improve the
conditions of women there are also many other non-government initiatives also by various
organizations like United Nations, NGOs, and also
Chapter 5 CONCLUSION

Around 70% of Indians live in villages and among which around 30% are Below Poverty Line. So,
it is imperative to develop the rural areas for the development of the country on the whole.
This goal cannot be achieved without the participation of women. The government of India has
made considerable efforts to empower women and encourage them to become self dependent
through various schemes. Participation in SHGs has improved the access of women to credit.
This has helped women in reducing their dependence on moneylenders. The interest rates in
informal credit sector have declined. This has to be confirmed with further evidence as the
interest rates are generally declining over time due to the penetration of formal banking system
in the village economies. The access to credit has helped women to meet their consumption as
well as production needs. The women have invested the credit obtained from SHGs in new
economic activities and/or strengthening the old activities. They have contributed to the
occupational diversification at the house- hold level. The non-agricultural activities undertaken
by the women helped the households to obtain income from low risk activities. Thus, the
quality of income of the households has gone up. The quality of employment, indicated by shift
from wage to self-employment, of women as well as their families has gone up. The women
acquired some non-land assets; health, nutrition and education status of children has
improved. This indicates that the intergenerational transmission of poverty has reduced. The
women have met their basic needs to some extent. The reduction of gender inequalities is also
recorded to some extent. Also, their quality of health has increased.

However,the benefits of the programmes might not be able to percolate to bottom levels
because of the lack of awareness among people, traditional way of thinking, poor infrastructure
facilities, leadership in the hands of inactive people, lack of motivation and various other
reasons. Also, they have not been implemented in many of the remote areas. However, these
schemes have benefitted many women across the country by providing them financial support,
organizing them into self help groups, training them to take up various professional activities.
REFERENCES

 http://planningcommission.nic.in/
 Wikipedia
 Women empowerment Approach Paper
 http://wcd.nic.in/
 http://www.karmayog.org/ruraldevelopment/ruraldevelopment_7047.htm
 http://rural.nic.in/sites/programmes-schemes.asp