WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1.................................................................................................................................................. 6
1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2................................................................................................................................................ 11
2. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 12
2.1 OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................ 12
2.2 SCOPE .................................................................................................................................... 13
2.2.1 WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND SECURITY IN INDIA .......................................................................... 13
Womens Rights: ................................................................................................................................. 13
Womens Security: .............................................................................................................................. 14
Trafficking of Women and Girls: ......................................................................................................... 16
2.2.2 WOMEN'S ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA .................................................................. 16
Womens Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights:................................................................................ 18
2.2.3 WOMEN IN POLITICS IN INDIA .............................................................................................. 18
Historical Context:............................................................................................................................... 18
Reservation at the Panchayat Level: ................................................................................................... 19
Caste and Class Politics: ...................................................................................................................... 19
33% Reservation for Women: ............................................................................................................. 20
2.3 METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................... 21
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT THROUGH SELF HELP GROUPS IN ANDHRA PRADESH ............................ 21
KEY OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................................... 25
Child Marriage, Trafficking of Women and Children: ......................................................................... 25
Child Labor: ......................................................................................................................................... 25
Exploitative Social Practices: ............................................................................................................... 25
Gender Violence:................................................................................................................................. 26
Food Security: ..................................................................................................................................... 26
Health Insurance for the Poor: ........................................................................................................... 26
Disabled Persons: ................................................................................................................................ 26
Land Access for Tribals and the Poor: ................................................................................................. 26

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Improved Farming Practices: .............................................................................................................. 26

Economic Empowerment: ................................................................................................................... 27
Political Empowerment:...................................................................................................................... 27
2.1.4 NEED OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT ..................................................................................... 27
Chapter 3................................................................................................................................................ 28
3. ORGANIZATION PROFILE ........................................................................................................... 29
DISTRICT RURAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY(DRDA) .......................................................................... 29
3.1 OBJECTIVE: .................................................................................................................................... 29
3.2 PURPOSE: ...................................................................................................................................... 29
3.3 MISSION/VISION STATEMENT OF DRDA ............................................................................. 30
3.4 BRIEF HISTORY OF DRDA ............................................................................................................... 31
3.5 DUTIES OF DRDA : ...................................................................................................................... 31
3.6 MAIN ACTIVITIES / FUNCTIONS OF DRDA ............................................................................ 33
3.7 LIST OF SERVICES BEING PROVIDED BY DRDA. .................................................................... 34
Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) .................................................................. 35
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) ....................................................................... 35
Housing Schemes :- ............................................................................................................................. 35
Total Sanitation Campaign Programme (TSCP) ................................................................................... 36
Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha) - MPLAD (LS/RS
............................................................................................................................................................ 36
Integrated Rural Energy Programme (IREP) ............................................................................ 36
ORGANIZATIONAL DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................... 37
The staff positions of the DRDA at district level ................................................................................. 37
CHAPTER 4................................................................................................................................................ 39
4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ..................................................................................... 40
4.1 Gender Differences in Education ............................................................................................. 41
4.2 Gender Differentials in Adult Literacy ...................................................................................... 43
4.3 Employment ........................................................................................................................... 44
Womens and Mens Employment Status........................................................................................... 44
4.4 Married women and decision making ...................................................................................... 46

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4.5 Spousal violence ..................................................................................................................... 48

4.6 Gender, Womens Empowerment, And Selected Health, Nutrition, And Demographic Outcomes
.................................................................................................................................................... 50
4.7 DRDA(stats) ............................................................................................................................ 51
Schemes implementing ................................................................................................................ 51
4.8 Self Help Groups ..................................................................................................................... 53
SHG-BANK LINKAGES (UNDER NABARD REFINANCES SCHEME) ......................................................... 53
4.9 Swayamsidha Scheme ............................................................................................................. 54
4.10 Measures for Womens Empowerment ................................................................................. 58
The Constitution of India - Provisions Relating to Women ................................................................ 58
Advancement of Women through Five Year Plans ............................................................................. 58
CHAPTER 5................................................................................................................................................ 60
5. FINDINGS AND SUGESSIONS ..................................................................................................... 61
5.1 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA MILESTONES & CHALLENGES ........................................... 61
5.1.1 GDI: Inter State Comparison ...................................................................................................... 64
5.1.2 Beijing conference 1995 indicators of women empowerment, qualitative & quantitative
Qualitative:.......................................................................................................................................... 64
5.1.3 Education: .................................................................................................................................. 66
5.1.4 Health: ........................................................................................................................................ 67
5.1.5 Political Participation: ................................................................................................................ 68
5.1.6 Decision-Making: ....................................................................................................................... 72
5.1.7 Self Help Groups: ....................................................................................................................... 73
5.1.8 Violence: .................................................................................................................................... 74
5.1.9 Women and Work: ..................................................................................................................... 75
5.1.10 Women and Reforms: .............................................................................................................. 75
5.1.11 Ownership of Land: .................................................................................................................. 76
5.1.12 State Initiatives: ....................................................................................................................... 77
5.1.13 National Institute of Public Finance & Policy Gender Analysis of the Budget ........................ 78
5.2 International Policies and Indias Constitutional Provisions, Policies and Programmes for Women
.................................................................................................................................................... 79
5.2.1 UN Human Rights Instruments .................................................................................................. 79

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5.2.2 Commitments at UN Conferences ............................................................................................. 80

5.2.3 Constitution of India Guarantees ............................................................................................... 80
5.3 SCHEMES FOR ASSISTANCE ..................................................................................................... 82
5.3.1 Ministry of Women and Child Development............................................................................. 82
5.3.2 Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB ......................................................................................... 83
Other Schemes ................................................................................................................................... 83
5.3.3 Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education.................................... 83
5.3.4 Ministry of Rural Development ................................................................................................. 84
5.3.5 Ministry of Urban Development................................................................................................ 85
5.3.6 Ministry of Textiles..................................................................................................................... 85
5.3.7 Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation .................................................................. 85
5.3.8 Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment ........................................................................... 85
5.3.9 Ministry of Tribal Affairs ............................................................................................................ 86
5.3.10 Ministry of Science and Technology ........................................................................................ 86
5.3.11 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ................................................................................... 87
5.3.12 Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation ................................................................................. 87
5.3.13 Ministry of Labour & Employment .......................................................................................... 87
5.3.14 Ministry of Minority Affairs ..................................................................................................... 88
5.3.15 Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Department of Food and Public
Distribution ......................................................................................................................................... 88
5.3.16 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ................................................................. 89
5.3.17 Ministry of Law and Justice ..................................................................................................... 89
5.3.18 Policy Documents .................................................................................................................... 89
5.3.19 International Documents......................................................................................................... 90
5.4 The Objectives of the National Policy for Empowerment of Women include ............................ 90
5.5 Critical Areas of Concern......................................................................................................... 91
A. Women and Poverty....................................................................................................................... 91
B. Education and Training of Women ................................................................................................. 91
C. Women and Health......................................................................................................................... 92
D. Violence against Women................................................................................................................ 92
E. Women and Armed Conflict ........................................................................................................... 92

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F. Women and Economy .................................................................................................................... 92

G. Women in Power and Decision-making ......................................................................................... 93
H. Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women ......................................................... 93
I. Human Rights of Women ............................................................................................................ 93
J. Women and the Media ................................................................................................................. 93
K. Women and the Environment ........................................................................................................ 93
L. Womens Empowerment................................................................................................................. 94
5.6 Programmes for Women ........................................................................................................ 94
5.6.1 Working Womens Hostels ......................................................................................................... 95
5.6.2 Legislative Reforms .................................................................................................................... 95
5.6.3 Status of Major International Human Rights Instruments ......................................................... 95
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 96
Bibliography................................................................................................................................. 97

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1- Organizational Description(The staff positions of the DRDA at District level)..37

Table 2- Field office(One for cluster of 5-7 Mandals).38

Table 3- Women and Men Employment status 45

Table 4- Self help groups52

Table 5- SHG-Bank linkages(under NABARD refinances scheme)52

Table 6- Swayamsidha Scheme all over India..53

Table 7- Some indicators depicting the progress in the situation of Indian women...55

Table 8- perspectives on Advancement of Women through Five Year Plans....58

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1- Trends in the sex ratio(females per 1,000 males) age 0-6 years, india.40

Chart 2- Percentage of boys and girls attending school in the 2005-06 year..42

Chart 3- Percentage literate among women and men age 15-49 by age..43

Chart 4- percentage of married women and men age 15-49 employed for cash....47

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

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1.1 INTRODUCTION

Womens empowerment in India is heavily dependent on many different variables that include
geographical location (urban/rural), educational status, social status (caste and class), and age.
Policies on womens empowerment exist at the national, state, and local (Panchayat) levels in many
sectors, including health, education, economic opportunities, gender-based violence, and political
participation. However, there are significant gaps between policy advancements and actual practice
at the community level.

One key factor for the gap in implementation of laws and policies to address discrimination,
economic disadvantages, and violence against women at the community level is the largely
patriarchal structure that governs the community and households in much of India. As such, women
and girls have restricted mobility, access to education, access to health facilities, and lower decision-
making power, and experience higher rates of violence. Political participation is also hindered at the
Panchayat (local governing bodies) level and at the state and national levels, despite existing
reservations for women.

The impact of the patriarchal structure can be seen in rural and urban India, although womens
empowerment in rural India is much less visible than in urban areas. This is of particular concern,
since much of India is rural despite the high rate of urbanization and expansion of cities. Rural
women, as opposed to women in urban settings, face inequality at much higher rates, and in all
spheres of life. Urban women and, in particular, urban educated women enjoy relatively higher
access to economic opportunities, health and education, and experience less domestic violence.
Women (both urban and rural) who have some level of education have higher decision-making
power in the household and the community. Furthermore, the level of womens education also has a
direct implication on maternal mortality rates, and nutrition and health indicators among children.

Among rural women, there are further divisions that hinder womens empowerment. The most
notable ones are education levels and caste and class divisions. Women from lower castes (the
scheduled castes, other backward castes, and tribal communities) are particularly vulnerable to
CHAPTER 1

maternal mortality and infant mortality. They are often unable to access health and educational
services, lack decision-making power, and face higher levels of violence. Among women of lower

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caste and class, some level of education has shown to have a positive impact on womens
empowerment indicators.

Social divisions among urban women also have a similar impact on empowerment
indicators. Upper class and educated women have better access to health, education, and economic
opportunities, whereas lower class, less educated women in urban settings enjoy these rights
significantly less. Due to rapid urbanization and lack of economic opportunities in other parts of the
country, cities also house sprawling slum areas. Slums are informal sprawls, and most times lack
basic services such as clean water, sanitation, and health facilities. Additionally, slum dwellers
mostly work in unorganized and informal sectors, making them vulnerable to raids by the state, abuse
by employers, and other forms of insecurity. Women and children in slums are among the most
vulnerable to violence and abuse, and are deprived of their basic human rights.

As a result of a vibrant womens movement in the last 50 years, policies to advance human
rights for women in India are substantial and forward-thinking, such as the Domestic Violence Act
(2005), and the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution that provide reservations for women to
enter politics at the Panchayat level. There are multiple national and state level governmental and
non-governmental mechanisms such as the Womens Commission to advance these policies, and the
implementation of these policies is decentralized to state and district-level authorities and
organizations that include local non-governmental organizations.

The policy/practice gap in India cuts across all sectors and initiatives as a result of rampant
corruption and lack of good governance practices. State-level governments claim a lack of resources,
and the resources they do receive are highly susceptible to corruption. Financial corruption hinders
the governments ability to invest in social capital, including initiatives to advance womens
empowerment. Since the 1990s India has put in place processes and legislative acts such as the
Right to Information Act (2005) for information disclosure to increase transparency and hold
government officials accountable. Mistrust of political institutions and leaders remains high in the
society with corruption and graft allegations often covering media headlines.
CHAPTER 1

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In addition to corruption and inadequate resources for implementation of initiatives at the

community level, womens empowerment in India is negatively impacted by the pervasive
discrimination of women in the family and the community. Discrimination against women in most
parts of India (particularly the north) emerges from the social and religious construct of womens role
and their status. As such, in many parts of India, women are considered to be less than men,
occupying a lower status in the family and community, which consequentially restricts equal
opportunity in women and girls access to education, economic possibilities, and mobility.

Discrimination also limits womens choices and freedom. These choices are further
dependent on structural factors like caste and class.

Empowerment for women in India requires a crosscutting approach and one which addresses
the diversity of social structures that govern womens lives. Identity politics in India is a very critical
political instrument, which is both used and abused throughout political and social institutions. There
are numerous social movements fighting for the rights of the marginalized, such as the Dalit rights
movement, the tribal rights movement, etc. These movements have achieved many gains in assuring
representation of the traditionally marginalized communities into mainstream society. Womens
rights within these movements are largely unarticulated and thus reinforce inequalities within the
very structures from which they are demanding inclusion. Empowerment approaches for women
therefore is not only about providing services, but also about recognizing their lived realities of
multiple layers of discrimination that hinder their access to services.

Similarly, access to education for girls in some of the northern states like Uttar Pradesh and
Punjab does not only rely on proximity of schools. Access to education is part of a larger structural
concern, including the practice of son preference, which creates inherent discriminatory practices.
Education initiatives therefore cannot rely solely on building educational infrastructure, but also need
to address some of the root causes of discrimination against women and girls which affect the
decisions made by parents.

Womens security, decision-making power, and mobility are three indicators for womens
CHAPTER 1

empowerment. In India, and more so for rural and less educated women, these three indicators are
significantly low. Data from the NFHS-3 survey on womens decision-making power shows that

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only about one third of the women interviewed took decisions on their own regarding household
issues and their health. Decision-making power among employed urban women was higher than
among rural and less educated women. The survey also found that older married women had more
decision-making power than the younger married women. Younger women and girls experience an
additional layer of discrimination as a result of their age.

Data on womens mobility in India indicates the lack of choices women have, and that urban
and educated women have more mobility choices than rural women. The data shows that about half
the women interviewed had the freedom to go to the market or a health facility alone. Seventy-nine
percent of urban women from the highest education brackets and only about 40 percent of rural
women without education were allowed to go to the market alone.

Mobility restrictions for women are dependent upon how the family and community view
womens rights. They also, however, are intrinsically dependent on the prevailing levels of violence
against women in the household and the community. Abuse and violence towards women is
predominantly perpetrated within the household, and marital violence is among the most accepted by
both men and women. Wife beating, slapping, rape, dowry related deaths, feudal violence towards
tribal and lower caste women, trafficking, sexual abuse, and street violence permeate the Indian
social fabric, and create one of the most serious obstacles in achieving womens empowerment.

The gap in policy and practice in womens empowerment is most visible when it comes to
the level and kinds of violence women face in India. Despite the policies, laws 6, and initiatives by
civil society institutions, violence against women in India is widespread and the consequences for
perpetrators rarely match the crime. Enforcement of laws and sentencing of perpetrators are long and
arduous processes, and the gaps in these processes are further widened by corruption.

Another gap in implementing laws and policies on violence against women is the
inaccessibility of information on victims' rights among rural and less educated women. Additionally,
social stigma and the fear of abandonment by the family play a big role in women and girls ability or
inability to access laws and policies to address sexual and physical violence.
CHAPTER 1

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CHAPTER 2

OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

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2. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

2.1 OBJECTIVES

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
favour of women.

The goal is to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women. Specifically,
the objectives include..

Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for full development
of women to enable them to realize their full potential.
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
Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic
life of the nation
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.
Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against
women
Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and involvement
of both men and women.
Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.
Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child; and
Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly womens
organizations.
CHAPTER 2

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2.2 SCOPE

Mainstreaming the gender perspective is essential to achieve parity between men and
women where mainstreaming is a process of assessing the implications for women and men in
respect of any planned action in all areas and at all levels.

2.2.1 WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND SECURITY IN INDIA

Womens Rights:

Policies relating to women's rights have had a positive trajectory in the past few decades
with the central government articulating many progressive measures to advance gender equality in
social, economic, and political arenas. The Government of India (GoI) has two main bodies to
advance gender equality: the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National
Commission for Women, which is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Women and
Child Development.7 Both bodies work on national- and state-level legal and social policies to
advance gender equality. The Ministry has widely implemented local-level micro-finance schemes to
advance economic opportunities for rural women. The National Commission for Women has been
instrumental in creating legislative changes, and has set up Complaint and Investigate Cells at the
state level. The Grievance Cells receive complaints of gender-based violence and are mandated to
investigate, provide referrals and counseling, and ultimately report on such cases.

With a vibrant womens rights movement in India, there are continuous demands for better
laws, provisions, and accountability for implementation. Most recent examples include the change in
Indias rape laws, where in 2006 marital rape was recognized. Currently, womens rights activists are
demanding better provisions in Sections 375 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code. Since then, there
have been multiple challenges by the womens movement leading to small but significant
amendments. The 2005 Domestic Violence Act provides protection from violence in the household
from not only male perpetrators, but also female perpetrators like mothers-in-law and other female
members in extended families.
CHAPTER 2

There also have been gains in women's inheritance rights, yet challenges remain in
implementation. Social biases and lack of enforcement continue to hinder the full realization of

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Indian inheritance laws. Inheritance laws and property distribution fall under the Hindu and Muslim
personal laws, both of which exempt agricultural land. For a country with a predominantly agro-
based economy, womens inability to inherit agricultural land exacerbates feminization of poverty
and neglects womens welfare.

Like all other spheres of social change in India, there is an undeniable gap between policy and
practice. More notably, the deeply entrenched social hierarchies based on class, caste, ethnic, and
communal divisions leave many communities on the margins with little knowledge of their rights and
even less protection from local, state, and national governmental policies.
Inequality between men and women runs across the board, including in education, economic
opportunities, representation in governance, and other state and private institutions. Additionally,
women in India face high rates of violence. Some recent statistics on women include:

1. India ranks 18th among the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with 540 deaths for
every 100,000 births
2. Only 48% of adult Indian women are literate
3. Among rural women, 36.1% have experienced physical violence in their adult lives
4. 66% of women who have experienced physical violence in their lifetimes are divorced,
widowed, or deserted
5. Lower caste and tribal women are among those who experience the highest levels of physical
violence
6. 85.3% of women reporting violence claimed that their current husbands were the perpetrators
7. According to the most recent Demographic and Health Survey analysis, only 43% of
currently married women (between ages 15-49) are employed as compared to 99% of men.

Womens Security:

The multiple forms of violence experienced in the household, at the community level, and in
some instances by the state, threaten womens security in India. In many parts of North India son
preference is a widely practiced phenomenon. Son preference has direct linkages to sex-selective
CHAPTER 2

abortion (illegal across India; however, enforcement by both police and some doctors is still lacking),
and discrimination of girl children in access to health, nutrition, and education. Research conducted

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by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) found that, although not universal,
particularly in households where there is more than one daughter there are significant differences in
nutrition and health levels between male and female children.

Additionally, at the household level, incest, rape and domestic violence continue to hinder
womens development across India. Forty percent of all sexual abuse cases in India are incest, and
94% of the incest cases had a known member of the household as the perpetrator.

Dowry related deaths, domestic violence, gang rape of lower caste women by upper caste
men, and physical violence by the police towards tribal women all contribute to womens insecurity
in India. The class and caste structure inadvertently put poor women from lower class and tribal
communities at the most risk of violence. Class and caste divisions also create grave challenges to
poor, lower caste, and tribal women in accessing justice and retribution as victims and survivors of
violence.
Women and girls in urban India are also at high risk of gender-based violence. In Delhi, the
countrys capital, a scan of daily newspapers reveals shocking numbers of cases of violence against
women. The National Crime Bureau claims that a woman is raped every 29 minutes in Delhi. Street
violence in urban centers is a growing concern for young women and girls, who are increasingly
moving away from rural areas for economic opportunities and higher education. Particularly women
and girls from the northeast region of India living in urban centers such as Delhi have reported
experiencing social discrimination and marginalization, and many times physical violence. In 2005,
according to the North East Support Centre, among the 100,000 people from the northeast living in
Delhi 86% had reported racial discrimination and 41% of cases were sexual abuse cases.

The northeast states of India are a volatile region, with a number of active insurgencies. The
GoI has continuously deployed state troops to fight the insurgents, who predominantly follow the
Maoist ideology. This region, because of its physical and cultural proximity to Myanmar, China, and
Bhutan, has for the most part been ignored by the central government, thereby fuelling the insurgents'
demand for development and autonomy. In the northeast (as in most conflict-ridden regions) women
bear the brunt of war from both sides. There have been numerous instances of violence perpetrated
CHAPTER 2

by state security forces against local and tribal women.

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Trafficking of Women and Girls:

India is both a source and destination for trafficked women and girls into prostitution and
bonded labour. While exact numbers of trafficked women and girls are difficult to ascertain, there
have been figures projected by various national and international NGOs. Anti -trafficking measures
in India have increased with Indias commitment to international human rights protocols, and
through strict legal provisions at the national level. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956 (ITPA)
is the widely used law to prosecute traffickers, but also is invoked to target prostitution.

Sex work is a debated subject in the womens movement in India. The anti-prostitution law is
seen by many to criminalize and further marginalize women who are in the sex trade. Womens
rights organizations, activists, and organizations such as the Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee (a
nationwide sex workers collective) have long supported legalization of the sex trade in India. The
debate over legalization of sex work continues today and sex-work supporters are lobbying to change
the ITPA for better rehabilitation measures for those who have been rescued during brothel and street
raids. The ITPA also does not give adequate measures for those who are trafficked for purposes other
than sex work, and disproportionately targets women, making them further vulnerable to poverty and
exploitation.

2.2.2 WOMEN'S ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA

India is one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with women mainly from the middle class
increasingly entering the workforce. Urban centres like Delhi and Bangalore have seen an influx of young
women from semi- urban and rural parts of the country, living alone and redefining themselves.25 However, the
story of economic empowerment for women is not a singular narrative; rather it is located in a complex set of
caste, class, religious, and ethnic identities.

The Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum in 2009 ranked India 114th out of
134 countries for inequality between men and women in the economy, politics, health, and education.26 On
equal economic opportunities and womens participation in the labour force, India ranked 127th and 122nd
respectively.27 The number of women in the workforce varies greatly from state to state: 21% in Delhi; 23% in
Punjab; 65% in Manipur; 71% Chhattisgarh; 76% in Arunachal Pradesh. 28
The diversity of womens
CHAPTER 2

economic opportunities between states is due to the cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity of each state.

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Northern states like Delhi and Punjab lag far behind on gender equality measures, including the alarming sex
ratio between men and women (due to son preference and sex-selective abortion), low female literacy levels,
and high rates of gender-based violence.

In rural India, womens economic opportunities remain restricted by social, cultural, and religious
barriers. Most notably inheritance laws embedded in Hindu and Shariat civil codes continue to marginalize
women in the household and the larger community. Rural women, particularly of lower caste and class, have
the lowest literacy rates, and therefore do not have the capacity to negotiate pay or contracts and most often
engage in the unorganized sector, self-employment, or in small scale industry. Self-help groups (SHGs) are a
widely practiced model for social and economic mobility by NGOs and the government. SHGs provide women
with the opportunity to manage loans and savings that can be used by members for varying needs. SHGs also
are used to promote social change among the members and the community at large. Members of SHGs have
used their experiences as leverage to enter other local institutions such as the Panchayat Khap.
Rural, low caste, and tribal women also make up 70% of domestic workers in India, a sector which is
largely unregulated and unorganized. Indias growing economy has allowed for many upper and middle-class
women to enter the workforce, and while poor rural women have little access to education and training, there is
a high demand for domestic workers in urban hubs.
Domestic workers are mostly illiterate, with little or no negotiating power for wage equity, and are highly
vulnerable to exploitation and sexual and physical abuse.
There is a movement at the policy level to organize domestic workers and to create laws to regulate
minimum wage, working hours, and other measures such as life and health insurance. Currently a national-
level Taskforce on Domestic Workers has been formed that will present recommendations to the central
government on better enforcement of rights for the many undocumented domestic workers in India.
Women are also very visible in the construction sector in India, and like domestic workers are largely
unorganized and rely on daily wagers. Women construction workers are mostly poor and illiterate and have
little negotiating power. This sector is also unregulated and highly vulnerable to exploitation. Women workers
also earn significantly less than men, although women are the ones who do most of the backbreaking work like
carrying bricks and other heavy materials on site.

On the other end of the spectrum, while India has one of the highest percentages of professional women
in the world, those who occupy managerial positions are under 3%. Most women work in low administrative
positions, and many of the young women migrating to urban centres mostly work in service and retail
CHAPTER 2

industries, although more and more women are entering the IT and other technical sectors.

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Womens Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights:

The movement to assure womens economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) as basic human rights is
just emerging in India. The movement aims to locate womens rights within the larger human rights
framework, and by doing so moves away from looking at womens issues only within the framework of
violence against women and reproductive rights. ESCR attempts to look at the broader issues facing women,
namely poverty, housing, unemployment, education, water, food security, trade, etc.

While the human rights movement on ESCR is largely contained at the international policy level,
there are emerging social movements around the world. In the Indian context, projects like the Programme on
Womens Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (PWESCR), for example, is creating linkages between the
international human rights movement and the local articulation of womens rights. PWESCR aims to build a
womens rights movement in India that creates equality in all spheres of womens lives. By empowering
women economically and socially, ESCR provides for a broader discourse on rights that moves womens
rights from a victim-centered approach to one that cuts across other fundamental human rights issues.

Womens economic opportunity in India is a rapidly changing landscape. Women are increasingly
entering the workforceparticularly women professionalsand are creating change, but there remains a large
number of invisible women workers in unorganized and volatile sectors. However, organizing at the local
level, albeit small, is widespread. Implementation of national and state level policies lags behind in ensuring
that women workers have equal pay and are free from exploitation.

2.2.3 WOMEN IN POLITICS IN INDIA

Historical Context:
During the independence movement, women were visible and active as nationalists, and as symbols of
Mother India. Gandhi, in particular, was instrumental in creating space for women through his non-violence
(and some would argue feminized) mode of protest. Gandhis legendary salt march initially excluded women,
but due to demands from women nationalists he later realized the power of women organizers at the local
level. His inclusion of women, however, was not located within a gender equality framework, but was a means
to achieving a stronger and unified Indian state. The inclusion of women in the nationalist movement was also
to debunk the British colonial assertion of needing to save the poor, vulnerable women of pre-independence
India.
As in many nationalist movements, women in India took part in the struggle, in turn propelling a
CHAPTER 2

womens rights movement. And, as seen historically in many post-colonial countries, the nationalist womens
movement in India was confronted by the rebuilding of a patriarchal nationalist state. Women revolutionaries

18
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

gave way to their male counterparts who (as a result of Partition politics) created a strong, male, and Hindu
"New India".
The first post- independence Lok Sabha (the Peoples Council or the Parliament) had 4.4% women. The
period between the early 1940s and late 1970s saw an emergence of the Indian womens movement, but it
was not until the 1980s that the womens movement gained real momentum.

Reservation at the Panchayat Level:

In 1976 the Committee on the Status of Women in India was established and published a report
recommending an increase in elected women at the grassroots level, which led to the introduction of the 33.3%
reservation at the Panchayat level in 1988. It was only in 1993 that an amendment in the constitution made the
proposed reservation at the Panchayat (village level governing councils) a reality.
In the last two decades since the reservation for women in elected Panchayats was passed, many studies have
been conducted to look at the impact of this policy. A survey conducted in 2008 yielded that women made up
close to 50% of all the village councils across the India. The number of women representatives has certainly
increased at the grassroots level; however, questions still remain regarding their decision-making power within
the councils. A study in West Bengal and Rajasthan by the Institute of Management Studies (Calcutta) and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that where women Panchayat members were active, there
were more robust programs on water, irrigation, and infrastructure. The study conclusively states that in
Panchayats where women were present policies were more beneficial to the community than in Panchayats
where women were absent. A study by The Accountability Initiative also states that in Panchayats with female
presidents, the participation of women in the larger council rose close to 3% in one year.40 The reason for the
increase in womens participation is correlated to two possible factors: first, women representatives
exemplified new possibilities for change; and second, women leaders took up issues that would have a positive
impact on the community as a whole.

Caste and Class Politics:

The complexities of politics in India are embedded in class, caste, and religious identities. An analysis
by International Idea of women in the Indian Parliament between 1991 and1996 found that among the small
number of women Parliamentarians, a disproportionate number represented the Brahmin caste (the higher caste
in the Hindu caste system). Most local governments remain largely patriarchal and caste- based institutions,
hindering inclusive governance. Furthermore, social mobility remains a privilege of members of higher classes
and caste, although this is dramatically changing as a result of reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC) and
CHAPTER 2

Scheduled Tribes (ST) in politics and education.

19
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

For women politicians, class, age, and caste all have significant impact in their political lives. India is
one of the few countries in the world that has elected a woman leader. Indira Gandhi was among the very few
women leaders in the world during her time in office. However, her role as the Prime Minister was not seen as
a win for the womens movement in India. She was the granddaughter of Jawaharlal Nehru and represented the
political dynasty of her family. Additionally, her controversial political moves during the declared period of
Emergency (1975-1977) suppressed dissent, forcing many of the radical womens rights movements to go
underground. In 2007 India elected its first female President, Ms. Pratibha Patil. While the President holds a
mostly ceremonial role in Indian politics, Ms. Patils election was deemed a symbolic move towards a more
equitable representation of women at the highest levels of government.

Although representation of women and members of the lower castes in Indian politics is rapidly
changing, complexities of caste politics continue to govern representation. An interesting case study is that of
Mayawati, the Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh. Mayawati, a woman and a member of the Dalit caste, was the
youngest Chief Minister when first elected, and the only woman Dalit to be elected as a Chief Minister.
Although Mayawati represents transcendence of India's caste system, her political career is regrettably tainted
with corruption charges, extravagant spending, and little positive impact on the realities of caste and class
barriers for men and women in her State.

33% Reservation for Women:

The Womens Bill in April 2010, which gives 33.3% reservation for women in all levels of Indian
politics, took 14 years after its introduction to finally pass by the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of parliament).
It is yet to be passed by the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament). The reservation bill will ensure 181 out
of the 543 seats at the Parliament level, and 1,370 seats out of the 4,109 seats at the State Assembly level. This
is a historic move in the Indian political landscape, as currently women occupy less than 10% of seats in the
national Parliament.

The Womens Bill will also significantly change the demographics of class and caste among women
politicians in leadership positions in the Indian political structure. It will create a path for women from lower
classes and castes (who are currently confined to local-level governance) to enter state and national level
governments. In addition to the existing reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, one third of the
SC and ST candidates must be women. Other Backward Class (OBC) members are not included in the
reservation due to the wide disagreement about who constitutes OBC and a lack of existing data on the OBC
CHAPTER 2

population.

20
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

The two main arguments against the bill are that it will only benefit elite women (particularly in national
level politics) and that there should be reservations for Dalit, minorities (particularly Muslim women), and
OBCs. However, supporters of the bill do not agree with creating quotas within the existing 33% women quota
in parliament, as SC and ST quotas already exist.

The bill mandates that all political parties reserve one third of their electoral ticket for women, including
in the already mandated reservations for SC and STs. This will inadvertently create spaces for lower caste and
class women to enter state and national level politics. The passage and implementation of the Womens Bill,
and its impact on the existing gender, class, and caste barriers, is yet to be realized, but one thing is clear:
Indias politics is moving closer to equitable inclusion than ever before.

2.3 METHODOLOGY

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT THROUGH SELF HELP GROUPS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has taken up the theme of womens empowerment as
one of the strategies to tackle the socio economic poverty. Self Help movement through savings
has been taken up as a mass movement by women a path chosen by them to shape their destiny
for better. Development Agenda of the State in the last few years placing the people, especially
women in the fore -front has enabled formation of a large number of Self Help Groups (SHGs)
throughout the State and majority of women are saving one rupee a day. The State government is
consciously making an effort to assist SHGs by providing Revolving Fund / Matching grant under
various programmes.

SHGs - A MOVEMENT IN ANDHRA PRADESH:

There are about 4.65 lakhs women SHGs in Andhra Pradesh covering nearly 61.70 lakhs poor
women. Andhra Pradesh alone has about half of SHGs organized in the Country. The SHGs are
also popularly called DWCRA Groups, ant this name became popular after the DWCRA
programme (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) through which womens groups
were assisted initially. The SHGs are not only resorting to thrift but also are taking small loans out
CHAPTER 2

of the corpus available with the group. The group corpus consists of savings, government
assistance and also bank loan. Members use the loan out of group corpus for their personal needs

21
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

initially. However in the long run such loans are utilised for income generation activities. Since inception
an amount of Rs.1556.90 crores is mobilized as corpus by these groups.

MICRO CREDIT TO SHG:

Micro credit summit conducted in 1997 in Washington resolved to reach 100 million
poor women by 2005 all over the world. In Andhra Pradesh alone, 61.70 lakh women were
covered under micro credit with a saving of a rupee per day and the financial institutions
extending loans upto 4 times to the amount of group savings. From the year 1997 to January
2003, Banks extended a loan of Rs.1345 crores to SHG and the recovery of loans is more than
95%. Recently commercial banks have reduced interest rate on the loans extended to SHGs from
12% to 9%.

BUILDING INSTITUTIONS FOR SHGs:

Womens savings movement started in 1993 as an off shoot of total literacy campaigns
successfully conducted by the pro-active government initiatives in the southern part of Andhra
Pradesh, poor women agitated against sale of arrack, organized themselves into Thrift and Credit
groups with one rupee saving in a day had now turned into a mass movement in which 61.70
lakh members saved more than Rs.887.47 crores which is rotated internally and lent amongst the
members twice in a year as per the interest rates fixed by the groups. Such amounts are used for their
daily consumption needs and also for production of goods for sales to earn incomes.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF SHGS:

60% of the women take up economic activities related to agriculture and allied
activities. Land lease for growing agricultural crop is a common practice in the 9 Telangana
districts. Vegetable and Flower cultivation, food crops and pulses, oil seeds cultivation are
taken up on leased lands. Similarly rearing of calves, ram lamb, chicks, piggery and duckery, dairy,
value addition to milk and milk products are preferred by women agricultural labourers. Illiterate and
unskilled women engage in small business activities. Nearly 20% of the SHG members are
artisans and engaged in making handicrafts and handloom products.
CHAPTER 2

Public private partnership method is adopted in promoting economic opportunities to SHG

22
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

members by appointing them as dealers for the sale of products manufactured by companies like
Hindustan Levers Limited, TVS, TTK-Prestige, Colgate-Palmolive, Philips etc. Companies in
return train SHGs in finance management, enterprise development, packaging, branding and
pricing of products. This partnership is a win win model.

Andhra Pradesh is now engaged in intense pursuit of development prgrammes utilizing

information technology (IT) and to strategize as to how the benefits of IT could be taken to rural
areas.

SHGs are encouraged to get PCs and software for accessing information and
developing their business. Their products are photographed, scanned and displayed on websites.
These are put on the portals of e-commerce companies. Handicrafts, herbal medicines and
cosmetics, hand woven and embroidered curtains, toys, paintings etc., are thus finding national and
international markets. This would not have been possible, but for the internet. The members are
enabled to take a mobile telephone and use it not only for the sales but as a public telephone.

IMPACT OF SHG:

Various organisations evaluated SHGs. NGOs universities, National Bank for Agricultural
& Rural Development (NABARD) and ORG-Marg. Some of the salient features are.
98% of the members make savings regularly as the norms prescribed by the groups.
All the groups meet at least once in a month to discuss various social issues related to their
day to day life.
98% of eligible members adopt small family norms.
100% children of SHG members are able to access immunization services against the 6
diseases.
30% of the members have access to safe cooking fuels (LPG) under the Government
promoted scheme popularly known as DEEPAM.
80% of the total SHGs have accessed financial assistance from banks and repayment is
98%.
10,000 SHG members were elected to the local bodies (3 term Panchayat Raj Institutions) in
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1997 November elections.

23
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Members are engaged in 450 varieties of income generating activities.

Additional family incomes to member range from Rs.1000-3000 per annum depending on
the income generating activities.
Increase in self confidence and self esteem
Increase in awareness levels about the society and community. Voluntary participation
in community activities like laying roads, planting trees conserving environment, construction
of water harvesting structures, donations to the victims of natural calamities helping to
reduce crime against girls & women, campaign against eradication of social evils like
dowry, child marriages, untouchability, AIDS, rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned children,
counseling adolescent girls, support to widows and destitutes are a few to mention.
SHG members learning from the past experiences are walking through the present are marching
ahead for a bright future. Government of Andhra Pradesh has rightly realized that the
involvement of the rural poor women in development will speed up attainment of
Swarnandhrapradesh and realising the Vision indeed!

Social, Legal, Political and Economic Empowerment

The women Self Help Groups (SHGs) hold regular weekly meetings, save and repay
regularly, and use trained bookkeepers for proper bookkeeping. All SHG members abide by the
principles of saying no to child marriages, child labor, domestic violence and wasteful expenditures.

The weekly meetings provide a platform for sharing and discussing broad social, legal,
political and economic issues that affect their lives. Issues range from entitlements to land, access to
NREGA and PDS, whether teachers and health workers are actually doing the work allotted to them,
and women's own rights in the case of domestic violence.
The women discuss family planning, the number of children they should have, and the spacing
between births, indicating a significant change in their ability to exercise reproductive choice within
the household. They have also not hesitated to take up difficult issues like domestic violence, the
trafficking of women and children, and the jogini system of exploitation.
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24
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

KEY OUTCOMES

While this is a continuous and evolving process, these poor womens groups have made a
number of gains in a variety of spheres:

Child Marriage, Trafficking of Women and Children:

Womens groups have been able to prevent over 5000 child marriages. A study by the
Center for Economic and Social Studies in Hyderabad finds that the incidence of child marriage has
declined among project participants. Groups have also started campaigns against the trafficking of
women and girl children with the support of police, the revenue administration and NGOs.

Child Labor:

In a bid to reduce child labor, new residential schools have been set up in six districts to
provide quality education to girl child laborers. Over 40,000 girls are now enrolled in these schools.
According to an impact evaluation, these schools have outperformed other public schools in terms of
regular attendance, academic results and facilities provided to students, leading to a fall in the drop
out rate from 14.8% in 2001 to 4.3% in 2005-2006.

Exploitative Social Practices:

Groups have achieved considerable success in eradicating exploitative social practices such
as the jogini (temple concubine) system. Says a Community Activist, from Mahabubnagar District:
I was made a jogini when I was eleven years old by my parents. Joining the SHG gave me
confidence and, despite opposition, I got married to lead a normal life. There are still thousands of
joginis still operating in and around my community, whom we are trying to rehabilitate. As the
children of these jogini mothers are considered illegitimate by the village, we are going to conduct
DNA tests for four thousand of them to determine who their father is and ask them for support. We
want to ensure that these children are proud of their mothers and lead a normal life.
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25
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Gender Violence:
Womens groups discuss sensitive issues such as gender violence, and make
special efforts to identify victims and help them to start new livelihoods.

Food Security:

The project has helped to improve food security of the poor. Over half a million
households in six districts have benefited from access to food grains and other essential commodities
of good quality at relatively lower prices, provided on a credit basis. Destitute women, especially
elderly widows, are being helped by a special program through which community members
contribute a fistful of rice to a common pool which is then distributed among these women.

Health Insurance for the Poor:

Over 21,000 households have been covered with health insurance on a pilot basis. The
community managed risk fund aims to provide quick financial support to meet families health
expenditure, including during emergencies. 1.2 million women SHG members have purchased life
insurance cover.

Disabled Persons:

Over 160,000 disabled persons have been mobilized into some 17,500 SHGs and have
received support to start new livelihoods.

Land Access for Tribals and the Poor:

The project has facilitated the resolution of several land issues affecting the poor including
the restoration of illegally occupied land. Para legals have been trained, and efforts are on to establish
a land rights center for tribal areas in association with the Law College at Hyderabad, and organize
lok adalats (public courts).

Improved Farming Practices:

In a forward-looking move, womens groups have also developed a local movement against
CHAPTER 2

the indiscriminate use of pesticides, covering 186,000 acres by 2006-07. By replacing chemical and

26
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

other external inputs with local knowledge and natural methods of pest management, they are
reducing the cost of cultivation. Cost savings have ranged from about US$40 to US$120 per acre
leading to a 75% increase in the income of a farmer. This has also had positive effects on farmers
health status.

Economic Empowerment:

Social empowerment issues have become the basis for the subsequent economic
empowerment of women. The program enables womens organizations to develop the skills to
negotiate with market institutions and develop other financial services.

Political Empowerment:
Grassroots leaders developed through the program have contested local
government elections; 32000 candidates have filed their nominations for a variety of positions, and
9500 women from SHGs.

2.1.4 NEED OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Our constitution, in its Fundamental Rights, has provisions for equality, social justice and
protection of women. These goals are yet to be realized. Women continue to be
discriminated, exploited and exposed to inequalities at various levels.
By empowerment women would be able to develop self esteem and confidence, realize
their potential and enhance their collective bargaining power.
Women empowerment can be viewed as a contribution of several inter- related and
mutually reinforcing competent.
Awareness building about womens situations, discrimination, rights and opportunities will
act as a step towards gender equality.
Capacity building and skill development, especially the ability to plan, make decisions,
organize, manage and execute will enable to deal with people and institutions in the course of
business.
Participation and greater control and decision making power in the home, community
CHAPTER 2

and society will develop leadership qualities.

Action is needed at all levels to bring about greater quality between men and women.

27
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Chapter 3

ORGANIZATION PROFILE

28
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

3. ORGANIZATION PROFILE

DISTRICT RURAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY(DRDA)

DRDAs are established for effective implementation of anti-poverty programmes in rural areas
at the district level. It is an institution that acts as a delivery agency to support and facilitate the
development process. The role of the DRDA is to plan for effective implementation of anti-poverty
programmes; coordinating with other agencies like Governmental, non-Governmental, technical and
financial for successful programme implementation. They enable the poor rural community to
participate in the decision making process.

3.1 OBJECTIVE:

The Primary objective of the DRDA is to effectively manage the anti-

poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development and interact
effectively with other agencies/Line Departments.

3.2 PURPOSE:

To implement the Rural Development Programmes of the Ministry

of Rural Development in the U.T of Pondicherry through the
Block Development Offices strictly in accordance with the guidelines

To Plan for effective implementation of anti-poverty programmes

To execute the plans for the benefit of the target groups either
directly or through others in co-ordination with the existing agencies
engaged in this direction in the field whether
Private/Public/Cooperative/Corporation/Agency/ Banks (Co-
operative Banks, Commercial Banks) Department of the State and
Central Government etc.
Chapter 3

29
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

To liaison with other agencies-Governmental, Non-Governmental,

Technical and Financial for successful programme implementation
and to secure inter-sectoral and inter-departmental coordination and
cooperation for reducing poverty in the G u n t u r district of Andhra
Pradesh.

To enable the community and the rural poor to participate in

the decision making process,

To oversee the implementation of Rural Development Programmes

and to ensure that the benefits specifically earmarked for certain
target groups (SC/ST, women and disabled) reach them. DRDA will
also take necessary steps to achieve the prescribed norms.
To review the progress of the execution of these activities as well
as effectiveness of the benefits directed towards the target groups.

To ensure adherence to guidelines, quality, equity and

efficiency; reporting to the prescribed authorities on the
implementation; and promoting transparency in decision making and
implementation.

3.3 MISSION/VISION STATEMENT OF DRDA

To constantly strive to give the rural poor of the Guntur district,Andhra

pradesh, the information, Education, Financial and Physical means to better
their standard of living and quality of life. To foster the economic and social
development of the rural areas of the district and to strengthen infrastructure,
employment and entrepreneurial opportunities of the ordinary person in quick,
efficient, transparent, just and equitable and sustainable manner, always by
trying to understand their genuine needs.
Chapter 3

30
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

3.4 BRIEF HISTORY OF DRDA

This agency was created originally to implement the Integrated Rural Development
Programme(IRDP). Subsequently the DRDAs were entrusted with number of programmes of both
state and central governments.
Since its inception the District Rural Development Agency(DRDA) has been the
principal organ at the District level to oversee the implementation of different Central Government
anti-poverty programmes. It is also taking up State Government Programmes.
From 1st April,1999 a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme for strengthening the DRDAs has
been introduced. This scheme, which is funded on a 75:25 basis between Centre and States, aims at
strengthening and professionalizing the DRDAs for effective functioning of the organization.

3.5 DUTIES OF DRDA :

1. To oversee the implementation of the following Rural Development.

2. Monitor the performance of the Rural Development Programmes,

Area Development and Energy Programmes and take corrective action.

3. Collect the Action Plan proposals under all schemes from the
Block Development Offices and finalise the District Action Plan in
February of each year.

4. Conduct the Governing Body meeting once in six months to

approve the Action Plan, other proposals and for ratification of
works carried out in the previous year without approval, for policy
directions and for approval of audited and unaudited statement of
accounts of DRDA

5. Conduct meetings, Conferences and arrange for discussions for

creation of awareness among the public and sharing of experiences
Chapter 3

31
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

6. Submit 1st and 2nd installment proposals to GOI along with

Utilization Certificates for expenditure incurred for getting funds
under various Rural Development programmes.

7. Funds received under all schemes will be reallocated among the

Block Development Offices based on their needs and released within
15 days after receipt of funds from GOI.

8. Applications received under SGSY will be verified and eligible SHGs

will be released with Revolving Fund and subsidy

9. Regular training Programmes will be arranged for the Self Group

members in the activities chosen by them and through
reputed institutions and agencies/Govt. Departments.
10. Arrangements will be made for provision of marketing linkages
and infrastructure support to the SHGs.

11. Applications received from the Block Development Offices under IAY
will be scrutinized and sanction will be issued for issue of work
order by the Block Development Offices.

12. Estimates received under Civil works viz., in SGRY, TSC and MPLADs
work will be scrutinized and sanction will be issued.

13. Popularize the use of Energy Conserving Devices among the public.

14. Monthly Progress Reports are collected and compiled and a

consolidated Report under each scheme is sent to GOI. Quarterly
Reports and Annual Reports are also sent to GOI.
Chapter 3

15. Conduct of regular inspection at the Project Director level, Project

32
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Officer level and at the APO level to assess the progress under various
schemes.

16. Conduct of District Level SGSY Committee meeting, District

Committee on TSC meeting Vigilance and Monitoring Committee
meetings and District Advisory Committee meeting on IREP (once in
three months)

17. Conduct of BPL Survey at the beginning of every Five Year Plan as
per the guidelines of Ministry of Rural Development and prepare
the list of Below Poverty Line Population (BPL).

3.6 MAIN ACTIVITIES / FUNCTIONS OF DRDA

1. Effective implementation of the Rural Development Programmes (Viz.,

SGSY, SGRY, IAY, PMGY and TSC) through the Block
Development Offices in accordance with the guidelines.

2. Implementation of the MPLAD (LS/RS) scheme

3. To prepare and implement area based Integrated Rural Energy

Programme (IREP) through which the optimum mix of all types of Energy
sources is utilised for meeting Energy needs of Rural People for
subsistence and productive purpose.

4. To keep the Block level agencies informed of the basic

parameters, the requirements of the programmes and the tasks to
be performed under the Programmes.
Chapter 3

5. To co-ordinate and oversee the surveys , preparation of the perspective

33
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

plans and Action Plans of the blocks and finally prepare a District Plan.
6. To conduct the BPL Survey for identification of BPL population for
targeting under various rural development programmes.

7. To evaluate and monitor the programme to ensure its effectiveness.

8. To secure inter sectoral and interdepartmental co-ordination and co-

operation.

9. To give publicity to the achievements made under the programme and

disseminate knowledge and build up awareness about the programme.

10. To send periodical returns to the GOI & State Govt., in the prescribed
formats.

3.7 LIST OF SERVICES BEING PROVIDED BY DRDA.

DRDA is implementing various Rural Development Programmes in

Guntur, Andhra pradeshas per the guidelines of the Ministry of Rural
Development.Sustained efforts are being taken by the District Rural
Development Agency, Guntur to implement rural development schemes
successfully in the rural areas giving high priority to the disadvantaged sections
of the society.

The Centrally sponsored /Plan Schemes implemented by DRDA are as follows:-

1. Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

2. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)

Chapter 3

34
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

3. Housing Schemes :- a) Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)

b) Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)

4. Total Sanitation Campaign Programme (TSCP)

5. MPLAD (Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha) Scheme.

6. Integrated Rural Energy Programme (IREP)

Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

Poverty is an obstruction to a dignified life. Self Employment is a significant

step to have sustained incomes and remove the shackles of poverty.
DRDA provides self employment to rural poor by organizing them into
SHGs , motivating to savings habit providing skill upgradation training
and bring the assisted poor families (Swarozgaris) above the poverty line
by providing them subsidy and bank credit so as to enable them to
undertake economic activities and earn regular income.

Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)

Provides additional and supplementary wage employment to rural poor

especially to the agricultural labourers and thereby ensures food
security and improve nutritional levels. Creates durable Community,
Social and Economic assets and provides infrastructure in the rural
areas and thereby increases opportunities of employment through access
to the market oriented economy.
Chapter 3

Housing Schemes :- a) Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) &

b) Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)

35
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Housing is one of the basic requirements for human survival. For a normal
citizen, owning a house provides significant economic security and dignity in
society. DRDA implements two housing schemes viz., Indira Awaas
Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Gramodya Yojana and provides subsidy
for construction of houses to the rural poor.

Total Sanitation Campaign Programme (TSCP)

Individual Health and hygiene is largely dependent on adequate

availability of drinking water and proper sanitation. There is, therefore, a
direct relationship between water, sanitation and health. DRDA coverage in
rural areas and bring about an improvement in the general quality of life
in the rural areas. Encourages cost effective and appropriate technologies in
Sanitation by providing incentive subsidy for construction of individual
household toilets.

Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha) - MPLAD
(LS/RS)

Undertakes area development works as per the recommendations of the Honrable

Member of Parliament (LS/RS).

Integrated Rural Energy Programme (IREP)

Popularize the use of non-conventional energy sources like solar wind,

bio-energy and the devices such as Solar Water Heating system, Solar Cooker,
Solar Street Light and Biogas plant etc., in the U.T of Pondicherry by providing
subsidy as per the guidelines of Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources.
(MNES)
Chapter 3

36

ORGANIZATIONAL DESCRIPTION
The staff positions of the DRDA at district level
S.N
STAFF POSITION
o
1 Project Director
Two Subject Specialists (Could
be from
2 Agriculture,horticulture,animal,
husbandry,business,service
sector)
One district
3 coordinator(Institutional and
Capacity Building)
One District
4 Coordinator(Microfinance,Com
munity,Investment Fund)
5 Administrative Officer
6 Finance Manager
7 Monitoring and Learning officer
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
REMARKS
Each district has its own District Rural
Development Agency, headed by a project
director who is of the rank of an Additional
District Magistrate.
The Project Director is a senior scale officer of
All India Services or a senior officer of the State
Service, eligible for appointment to the All India
Services.
He/ She is overall in-charge of the activities of
the DRDA and responsible for interaction with
the District/State administration as well as with
Government of India.
The PD is exclusively for DRDA work.
Each district to identify the specialization required as per
the livelihood opportunities in the district. The subject
specialists to be taken from the pool of APOs and DPMs
depending on their expertise, or on contract or on
deputation from the Governments line department,
To be selected from the pool of APOs or DPMs
To be selected from the pool of APOs or DPMs
Chapter 3
37
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Field office (One for a cluster of 5-7 Mandals)

CAPABILITIES AND
S.No POSITIONS ROLES
EXPERIENCE
To work with the CBOs
Area Take decitions relating to
Ability to nurture the
coordinator(AC) (To the project implementation
HGs,VOs,MSs
1 be selected from as per AWFP in the 5-7
Ability to guide and
APOs(DRDA),DPM Mandals covered by the
mentor
S(SERP) office
CCs,MBKs,MTCs.etc
Support the AC on
Micro Finance(MF) all the MF related
Coordinator(To be Experience in Micro finance and activities
2
selected from Auditing Preparation of
APMs,EO(DWCRA) micro plan,SHG-
bank Linkages
To have expertise in
Livelihood implementing CIF Implement CIF component
Coordnator(To be component of the project Promote programmes
3
selected from Las or To have knowledge in related to the livelihood of
EO(DWCRA) promoting the livelihoods the poor
of the poor

Each DRDA has the following wings

Self-employment wing
Womens wing
Wage employment wing
Accounts wing
Chapter 3

Monitoring and Evaluation wing

38
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION

39
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

A fundamental indicator of gender inequality in India, and arguably, one of the most power-
ful, is a preference for sons so strong that it is manifested as limiting the birth and survival of
girls. The 2001 census data for India revealed a sharp decline in the sex ratio for the population
age 0-6, from 945 females in 1991 to 927 females per 1,000 males. The trend in the sex ratio of
the under-seven population based on National Family Health Survey data for the period
1992-93 to 2005-06 also provides evidence of continued decline and shows that in 2005-06 the
under-seven sex ratio had fallen further to 918 females per 1,000 males.

Trend data based on the three NFHS surveys provide strong evidence of declines in the sex
ratio (females per 1,000 males) of the population age 0-6 and in the sex ratio at birth for
births in the five years preceding each survey.
Females are under-represented among births and over-represented among births that die.
Sex ratios at birth decline with wealth, suggesting that sex selection of births is more
common among wealthier than poorer households.
Ultrasound tests are being widely used for sex selection, with sex selection being more
evident for the wealthiest women than for women in the other wealth quintiles.
Sex ratios of all last births and last births of sterilized women show clearly that couples
typically stop having children once they have the desired number of sons.
The child mortality rate, defined as the number of deaths to children age 1-4 years per 1,000
children reaching age 1 year, is 61% higher for girls than for boys.

Chart1-Trends in the sex ratio(females per 1,000

males) age 0-6 years, india
940
935
930 934
925 Trends in the sex ratio(females per
926 1,000 males) age 0-6 years, india
920
915 918
CHAPTER 4

910
NHFS-1(1992-93) NHFS-2(1998-99) NHFS-3(2005-06)

40
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.1 Gender Differences in Education

Eliminating gender differences in access to education and educational attainment are key elements on
the path to attaining gender equality and reducing the disempowerment of women. In recognition of
the pivotal role of education in development and of persistent gender inequalities in access to
education, the elimination of gender disparity in primary education is one of the Millennium
Development Goals.

The achievement of universal primary education has been a key goal of Indian planning since
Independence. However, increasing access to primary schooling still leaves the twin questions
of educational quality and school retention unanswered. Continued economic development
cannot be sustained with a population that has merely completed primary school; it needs a
dependable supply of highly educated and skilled human capital for which a high level of
educational attainment of both women and men is necessary. However, ensuring a continued
supply of skilled human capital to sustain economic growth is only one objective of reducing
gender inequalities in educational attainment: the other is that education, particularly higher
education of women, is a key enabler of demographic change, family welfare, and better
health and nutrition of women and their families. Higher education has the potential to
empower women with knowledge and ways of understanding and manipulating the world
around them. Education of women has been shown to be associated with lower fertility, infant
mortality, and better child health and nutrition.

Childrens school attendance

Only two-thirds of girls and three-fourths of boys age 6-17 years are attending school. The
sex ratio of children attending school is 889 girls per 1,000 boys.
There is gender equality in school attendance in urban areas; but, in rural areas, the female
disadvantage in education is marked and increases with age.
Age-appropriate school attendance is lower than any school attendance for both boys and
girls. However, boys and girls who are in school are about equally likely to be in an age-
inappropriate class.
CHAPTER 4

School dropout beyond primary school is a major problem for both girls and boys.

41
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Literacy and educational attainment among adults ..

The percentage of adults who are literate is much lower in rural than in urban areas;
nonetheless, even in urban areas one-fourth of women and more than one-tenth of men are
not literate. Gender disparity in literacy is much greater in rural than in urban areas and
declines sharply with household wealth.
Forty-one percent of women and 18% of men age 15-49 have never been to school.
Educational attainment remains very low: even among the 20-29 age group, only 27% of
women and 39% of men have 10 or more years of education.
The percentage of ever-married women with 10 or more years of education has risen very
slowly from 11% in NFHS-1 to 17% in NFHS-3.

Chart 2 showing percentage of boys and girls attending school in the

2005-06 year,NHFS-3,India
Boys Girls
85
81 80
75
70
66

49

34

6-17 years 6-10 years 11-14 years 15-17 years

CHAPTER 4

42
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.2 Gender Differentials in Adult Literacy

Literacy , i.e., the ability to read and write, is the foundation of education. NFHS-3 shows
that only 55% of women and 78% of men are literate in India. Literacy has, however, been
increasing over time for both women and men as measured by chances across age groups. In fact,
literacy among women is almost twice as high in the 15-19 age group than in the age-group 45-49
that is 30 years older. Nonetheless, even in the youngest age group, one in four women and one in ten
men are not literate.

Chart 3 showing percentage literate among women and men age 15-
49 by age, NFHS-3,india
Women Men

89
84
81
74 76
70 69 68
64
55
48
43
40 38

15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49

CHAPTER 4

43
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.3 Employment

In addition to education, employment can also be an important source of empowerment for

women. Employment, particularly for cash and in the formal sector, can empower women by
providing financial independence, alternative sources of social identity, and exposure to
power structures independent of kin networks (Dixon-Mueller, 1993). Nonetheless, early ages
at marriage and child bearing and limited access to education limit womens ability to
participate in the labour market, particularly in the formal sectors. By contrast, male gender
roles are compatible with employment and men are typically expected to be employed and be
breadwinners for their families. Not surprisingly, men dominate most formal labour markets.

This chapter describes womens and mens labour force participation in order to highlight
gender inequalities in access to employment and types of employment. NFHS-3 found that,
among all women age 15-49, 43% had been employed at any time in the past 12 months with
the majority of them being currently employed. By contrast, 87% of men in the same age group
have been employed in the past 12 months. In the rest of this chapter and report, men and
women referred to as employed are those who have been employed at any time in the past 12
months.

Womens and Mens Employment Status

Employment according to marital status Since women are much more likely to be
constrained by marriage and child bearing and rearing than men, Table provides information
on womens and mens employment within each marital category.

Among women, employment varies greatly by marital status. Women who are divorced,
separated, deserted, or widowed are much more likely to be employed than currently married
women; never married women are least likely to be employed. For men, employment varies
little between those who are currently married and those who were formerly married;
however, never married men are, as expected, less likely than ever-married men to be
employed. Nonetheless, the proportion of never married men who are employed is almost
CHAPTER 4

twice as high, at 66%, as the proportion of never married women who are employed, at 37%.

44
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Employment by residence Womens employment is likely to be affected by residence, since

agricultural work, which accounts for most employment in rural areas, is typically more
compatible with womens other responsibilities as well as with low levels of education and
skill development. In fact, NFHS-3 finds that women are about two-thirds more likely to be
employed in rural than in urban areas. Table shows that employment is higher in rural
than in urban areas in every marital category, although the differential by residence is greatest,
at 23 percentage points, among currently married and never married women. Among men, the
differential by residence in employment is negligible across marital categories, with the
highest variation, at only 4 percentage points, being among the never married.

Women Men
Divorced/ Divorced/
Never Never
Married Seperated/ Widowed Total Married Seperated/ Widowed Total
married married
Deserted Deserted
Residence
Urban 27.1 66.4 63.4 29 29.3 98.8 94.8 97.7 63.9 84
Rural 49.8 71.5 70.9 42.1 49.4 98.8 94.2 98.5 68.1 88.7
Age
15-19 31.4 60.4 56.8 34 33.4 87.6 100 0 49.3 50.4
20-29 37 64.4 68.6 42.2 38.5 98.5 98.8 100 82 90.3
30-39 48.8 76 75.8 58.7 50.6 99.3 93.8 98.7 95.6 99
40-49 47.7 70 64 58.3 49.7 98.8 91.2 97.7 85.3 98.5
Education in years of study
None 55.4 77.5 75.2 58.6 57 99.2 94.2 98.7 95.5 98.6
0-4
45.7 68.6 71.5 55.7 48.8 99.2 88.2 97.5 92.6 97.6
years
5-9
30.9 61.9 51.8 37.3 33.6 99 96.6 97.4 70.4 87.2
years

10-11
21.5 44.1 47.1 22.3 22.3 99.1 99.8 100 50.2 74.7
years
CHAPTER 4

12+
29.8 60.4 67.8 31.3 31 97.5 92.8 100 56.3 79.7
years

45
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Wealth quintile
82.
Lowest 61.5 83.8 58.4 62.4 99.1 89.1 99.9 78.3 93.8
3
76.
Second 53.8 70.7 50.6 54.4 98.9 93.9 96.5 74.5 91.2
2
69.
Middle 47 71.8 42.2 47.3 98.8 96.6 98.3 70.4 88.5
8
60.
Fourth 32.7 60.9 30.8 33.5 98.8 96.7 97.3 67.1 85.9
9
44.
Highest 21.5 52.1 22.4 22.5 98.6 99.5 99.4 53.2 78.8
1
68.
Total 42.8 69.7 36.8 42.8 98.8 94.4 98.3 66.3 87
6

4.4 Married women and decision making

Empowerment literally means to invest with power. However, in the context of womens

empowerment the term has come to denote womens increased control over their own lives,

bodies, and environments. Further, the concept of empowerment encompasses a growing

intrinsic capabilitygreater self-confidence and an inner transformation of ones

consciousness that enables one to overcome external barriers (Sen and Batliwala, 2000).
Greater control and increased capabilities to overcome barriers all translate into increased
agency or the ability to make and implement choices. An important indicator of agency is
decision making power.

In this chapter, indicators of married womens participation in various types of decisions typically

made in households are examined. Decisions asked about are decisions about the use of womens

own earnings and husbands earnings, decisions regarding small and large purchases, and other types

of personal or household decisions.

CHAPTER 4

46
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Among those who have earnings, more women (1 in 5) than men (1 in 18) do not have a
major say in how their own earnings are used and fewer women (about 7 in 10) than men
(about 9 in 10 men) have a major say in how their spouses earnings are used.
Womens control over own earnings increases with education and wealth, but mens control
remains consistently high in all educational and wealth categories. Participation in
decisions about the use of spouses earnings increases with education and wealth for women;
for men, by contrast, it does not vary by education and declines with wealth.
About one in five currently married women who earn, earn at least as much as their
husbands.
Women who earn about the same as their husbands are more likely to have a major say in the
use of their husbands earnings than both women who earn less than their husbands and who
earn more than their husbands.

Less than two in three currently married women participate, alone or jointly, in decisions about their
own health care, large household purchases, purchases for daily need, and visits to her family and
relatives. The regression analysis shows:

The number of decisions women make alone varies nonlinearly with education and
does not vary with wealth;
The number of decisions women make jointly varies positively with education and
nonlinearly with wealth; and
For women, having earnings that they control is associated with greater participation in
decisions; however, having earnings without a major say in their use is negatively associated
with the number of decisions made jointly and, unexpectedly, positively associated with the
number of decisions made mainly alone. CHAPTER 4

47
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Chart 4-percentage of currently married (2005-06)women and men

age 15-49 employed for cash by whether they have the main say in
the use of their earnings,NFHS-3,India
Women Men
94
81
66
57

24 28

Alone Jointly Alone or Jointly

4.5 Spousal violence

About two in five currently married women age 15-49 have experienced spousal violence in
their current marriage, and among women who have ever experienced such violence, more
than two in three have experienced violence in the past year.
Slapping is the most common form of spousal physical violence.
Recent experience of spousal violence varies little by marital duration, but, as expected, ever
experience of spousal violence increases with marital duration.
Women who report both physical and sexual violence are more likely to have injuries and are
subject to more severe forms of physical violence than women who have experienced
physical but no sexual violence.
Women who make household decisions jointly with their husbands, including decisions about
the use of their own earnings, are less likely to experience spousal violence than women who
do not have a major say in these decisions or who make the decisions mainly alone.
Although women who agree that wife beating is justified have a higher prevalence of
violence, one out of three women who do not agree that wife beating is justified have also
experienced violence.
CHAPTER 4

48
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Higher education and wealth consistently lower womens risk of spousal violence; and
husbands consumption of alcohol and having a mother who was beaten by her spouse
significantly increase the risk.
The prevalence of violence is higher for women whose mothers experienced spousal
violence than for women who have husbands whose mothers experienced spousal violence.
Prevalence of spousal violence is higher for women who are employed than women who are
not; however, controlling for wealth and education, employment for cash is related positively
only to emotional violence; it is unrelated to physical violence and is associated with lower
odds of sexual violence (OR=0.85).

CHAPTER 4

49
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.6 Gender, Womens Empowerment, And Selected Health, Nutrition, And

Demographic Outcomes
Child vaccination and nutritional status

Girls are less likely to be fully immunized than boys and this differential is evident even when
mothers education and household wealth are controlled for. Childrens likelihood of being
fully immunized increases with mothers education; but girls benefit more than boys from
having a mother who is highly educated.
Having mothers who mainly alone decide the use of their husbands earnings increases a girls
but not a boys likelihood of being fully immunized.
Two out of five children age 0-35 months are underweight, with boys and girls about equally
likely to be underweight.
A higher proportion of children are underweight if their mother
o is employed than if she is not; however, this association is explained away by poverty which
affects both underweight and womens employment.
o has experienced spousal violence than if she has not. Controlling for wealth, this association is
explained away for girls, but remains significant for boys.

Adult nutritional status

More than one in three women and men age 15-49 are too thin. Among couples, wives are
more likely than husbands to be too thin.
Controlling for wealth and education, employment, not having a main say in decisions about
large household purchases, and experiencing spousal physical or sexual violence are all
negatively associated with womens nutritional status. However, women who have the main say
alone on the use of their earnings are less likely to be too thin than other employed women.
Modern contraceptive use among currently married women
Controlling for number of children ever born and other relevant factors, the likelihood of
women using a modern contraceptive method is
higher for women who are employed, particularly for cash, and for women who make decisions
mainly alone about large household purchases; and
CHAPTER 4

lower for women who experience both spousal physical and sexual violence.

50
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.7 DRDA(stats)

To overcome the issues and empower women DRDA came into existence and implementing so
many programs. The District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) help the Rural Development
Department in implementation, monitoring and evaluation of various Rural Development
Programmes at district level. These DRDAs are registered societies under the Registration of
Societies Act.

Some of the services are..

Eradicating poverty in rural areas.

Empower grass root level peoples organizations

Mobilize self-help groups of poor women

Co-ordinating voluntary efforts in poverty eradication

Ameliorate deterioration of natural resources and enable common property resource

management by stakeholders.

Developing skills in rural communities to handle self-employment programmes and micro-

enterprises.

Enabling technology to be accessible to rural areas

Narrowing down gap between urban-rural Sectors and achieve a urban-rural continue

Schemes implementing

The D.R.D.A. is playing crucial role to bring the various Government Sponsoring Schemes to the
door step of the poor people residing at villages. Following are the variousCentral
Government schemes monitoring by DRDA
CHAPTER 4

51
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

S.G.S.Y
S.G.S.Y Special projects
National Old Age Pension Scheme
National Family Benefit Scheme
Krishi Shramik Samajik Suraksha Youjana

The Government of India introduced a Life Insurance Coverage cum Social Security
Scheme for Poor Agriculture Labourers as Pilot Project in 50 District in the Country and 3 District in
the State from November, 2002. The West Godavari District is one of the Pilot Project District for
implementing the KSSSY Scheme.

The following State Government schemes are also implementing the District.

State Matching Grant

Deepam
Gruhamitra
Self Employment Generation
Additional Old Age Pensions
Weavers Old Age Pensions

Further the Government of Andhra Pradesh has merged the Youth Welfare and CMEY and
directed the C.E.O., SETWEL to work under the control of P.D., D.R.D.A. The Government of
Andhra Pradesh emphasizing the Convergency of Self Employment Schemes and established
Employment Generation Mission under the Chairmenship of Honble Chief Minister at State Level,
The District Collector at District Level the Collected designated as Chairman for Employment
Generation Committee and P.D., D.R.D.A. as Special Officer, Employment Generation for
monitoring and implementing the various Self Employment Schemes in the District
CHAPTER 4

52
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.8 Self Help Groups

District Total No.of Members 2,90,380

No.of Groups Amount(Rs.in lakhs)

(A).Thrift 22025 5680.06
(B).R.F/M.G 12288 1699.26
(C).SHG-Bank Loans 15950 3803.23
(D).IRDP/SGSY 703 640.46
(E).R.F/M.G matching loan 2613 391.95
CORPUS(A+B+C+D) 12214.96

SHG-BANK LINKAGES (UNDER NABARD REFINANCES SCHEME)

TOTAL AVERAGE PER

S.NO YEAR NO.OF.GROUPS AMOUNT(IN GROUP(RS IN
LAKHS) LAKHS)
1 1999-2000 930 130.20 0.15
2 2000-2001 2240 529.60 0.23
3 2001-2002 7714 1773.08 0.22
4 2002-2003 5066 1370.35 0.27
5 TOTAL 15950 3803.23 0.24
% GROUPS
6 COVERED SO 72%
FAR
CHAPTER 4

53
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.9 Swayamsidha Scheme

Swayamsidha is an integrated scheme for empowerment of women through formation of self
help groups (SHGs). The scheme was launched in February 2001 and aimed for holistic
empowerment of women through sustained mobilization and convergence of all the on-going
sectoral programmes by improving access of women to micro credit, economic resources, bank
linkages, etc. The scheme culminated in March 2008. Against a target of 65,000 SHGs, 69,803
SHGs were formed and 1 million women covered under the scheme. The number of SHGs formed
under Swayamsidha is given in Table.
Funds Release
S. No. India/State/UT during 2007- No. of No. of Blocks No. of SHGs
08 (Rs. in Districts Covered Formed
Lakhs)
India 2287.3 335 650 69803
1. Andhra Pradesh 0 23 38 3874
2. Arunachal Pradesh 9.35 6 6 600
3. Assam* 110.12 20 24 2400
4. Bihar 492.45 19 63 6340
5. Chhattisgarh 57.63 16 17 1620
6. Delhi* 0 3 4 276
7. Goa
8. Gujarat 69.96 20 27 2772
9. Haryana 24.35 6 13 1300
10. Himachal Pradesh 44.25 7 8 969
11. Jammu & Kashmir 36.85 13 13 1300
12. Jharkhand 127.47 11 24 2427
13. Karnataka 0 12 20 2992
14. Kerala 4.76 7 18 2246
15. Madhya Pradesh 115.4 13 36 3667
16. Maharashtra 36.04 20 36 3922
17. Manipur 32.73 3 3 300
18. Meghalaya 0 5 5 534
19. Mizoram 11.31 3 3 300
CHAPTER 4

20. Nagaland 0 5 6 600

54
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

S. No. India/State/UT Funds Release No. of No. of Blocks No. of SHGs

21. Orissa 105.93
during 2007-08 9
Districts 36
Covered 3600
Formed
22. Punjab 99.96
(as on 31.1.08) 8 15 2059
23. Rajasthan (Rs. 18.23
in Lakhs) 26 30 3000
24. Sikkim 22.6 4 5 576
25. Tamil Nadu* 65.76 5 44 5452
26. Tripura 19.75 3 3 327
27. Uttar Pradesh 539.33 54 94 9268
28. Uttarakhand 33.73 5 11 1100
29. West Bengal 0 4 39 5184
Union Territories
30. Andaman & Nicobar 2.97 3 3 225
31. Chandigarh
Islands - - - -
32. Dadra & Nagar Haveli - - - -
33. Daman & Diu - - - -
34. Lakshadweep* 0 1 3 273
35. Puducherry* 0 1 3 300
Other Expenses 206.37 - - -

The implementers of the scheme i.e. 6 Programme Officers and 13 CDPOs i.e. Project
Implementing Authorities (PIAs) of Swayamsidha Distt. have been trained in Legal Literacy and
Micro Enterpreneur Development through the NGOs and on Self Help Groups concepts and Income
Generation Activities. One exposure visit was also conducted for the implementers at National
Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad during July, 2005. During the 6 years of implementation
of the project period the members of all the SHGs have been imparted training such as Self Defence
Training, Confidence Building Training, Legal Literacy Training, Accounts Keeping Training and
Gender Sensitization Training by the NGOs.
CHAPTER 4

55
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Some indicators depicting the progress in the situation of Indian women are given in
Table
Development Indicators Women Men Total Women Men Total
* Demography
- Population 264.1 284.0 548.1 495.7 531.2 1027.1
(in million in 1971 & 2001)
- Decennial Growth (1971 & 2001) 24.9 24.4 24.6 21.7 20.9 21.34

* Vital Statistics
- Sex Ratio (1971 & 2001) 930 - - 933 - -
- Expectation of Life at Birth 50.2 50.5 50.9 66.91 63.87 -
(1971 & 2001-06)
- Mean Age at Marriage (1971 & 1991) 17.2 22.4 - 19.3 23.9 -
* Health and Family Welfare
- Birth Rate (1971 & 2008) - - 36.9 - - 22.8
- Death Rate (1970 & 2008) 15.6 15.8 15.7 6.8 8.0 7.4
- Infant Mortality Rate (1978 & 2008) 131 123 127 55 52 53
Per 1000 live births
- Child Death Rate (2007) (0-4 years) - - - 16.9 15.2 16.0
(2007) (5-14 years) - - - 1.2 1.1 1.2
- Maternal Mortality Rate (1980 & 2006) 468 - - 254 - -
* Literacy and Education
- Literacy Rates (1971 & 2001) 7.9 24.9 16.7 54.28 75.96 65.38
- Gross Enrolment Ratio
(1990-91 & 2006-07) (%)
Classes I-V 85.5 113.9 100.1 107.8 114.4 111.2
Classes VI-VIII 47.8 76.6 62.1 69.5 77.4 73.6
- Drop-out Rate
(1990-91 & 2006-07) (%)
Classes I-V 46 40.1 42.6 26.6 24.4 25.4
CHAPTER 4

Classes I-VIII - - - 45.3 46.6 46.0

56
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Development Indicators Women Men Total Wo Men Total

* Demography men

- Population 264.1 284.0 548.1 495. 531.2 1027

-(inDecennial
million inGrowth
1971 &(1971
2001)& 2001) 24.9 24.4 24.6 721.7 20.9 .1
21.3
* Vital Statistics 4

- Sex Ratio (1971 & 2001) 930 - - 933 - -

- Expectation of Life at Birth 50.2 50.5 50.9 66.9 63.87 -
-(1971
Mean&Age at Marriage (1971 & 1991) 17.2
2001-06) 22.4 - 119.3 23.9 -
* Health and Family Welfare
- Birth Rate (1971 & 2008) - - 36.9 - - 22.8
- Death Rate (1970 & 2008) 15.6 15.8 15.7 6.8 8.0 7.4
- Infant Mortality Rate (1978 & 2008) 131 123 127 55 52 53
-PerChild
1000 Death
live births
Rate (2007) (0-4 years) - - - 16.9 15.2 16.0
(2007) (5-14 years)
- Maternal Mortality Rate (1980 & 468
- -- -- 254
1.2 -1.1 -1.2
2006)
* Literacy and Education
- Literacy Rates (1971 & 2001) 7.9 24.9 16.7 54.2 75.96 65.3
- Gross Enrolment Ratio 8 8

Classes
(1990-91I-V
& 2006-07) (%) 85.5 113.9 100.1 107. 114.4 111.
Classes VI-VIII 47.8 76.6 62.1 8
69.5 77.4 2
73.6
- Drop-out Rate
Classes
(1990-91I-V
& 2006-07) (%) 46 40.1 42.6 26.6 24.4 25.4
Classes I-VIII - - - 45.3 46.6 46.0
CHAPTER 4

57
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.10 Measures for Womens Empowerment

India attained freedom from British rule on 15th August 1947. India was declared a

sovereign Democratic Republic on 26th January 1950. On that date the Constitution of India
came into force.

All citizens of India are guaranteed social, economic and political justice, equality of status
and opportunities before law by the Constitution. Fundamental freedom of expression, belief, faith,
worship, vocation, association and action are guaranteed by the Indian Constitution to all
citizens- subject to law and public morality.

The Constitution of India - Provisions Relating to Women

The Constitution of India not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to
adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women for removing the cumulative
socio-economic, educational and political disadvantages faced by them.

Advancement of Women through Five Year Plans

There has been a progressive increase in the plan outlays over the last six decades of
planned development to meet the needs of women and children. The outlay of Rs. 4 crores in
the First Plan (1951-56) has increased to Rs. 7,810.42 crores in the Ninth Five Year Plan, and Rs.
13,780 crores in the Tenth Five Year Plan. There has been a shift from welfare oriented approach in
the First Five Year Plan to development and empowerment of women in the consecutive Five
Year Plans.
CHAPTER 4

58
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Perspectives on Advancement of Women through Five Year Plans

First Five Year Plan It was mainly welfare oriented as far as womens issues were concerned. The
(1951-56) Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) undertook a number of welfare measures
through the voluntary sector. The programmes for women were implemented
through the National Extension Service Programmes through Community
Second Five Year Development
Efforts wereBlocks.
geared to organise Mahila Mandals (womens groups) at
Plan(1956-61) grass-roots levels to ensure better implementation of welfare schemes.
Third, Fourth, Fifth and They accorded high priority to womens education. Measures to improve
other Interim Plans maternal and child health services, and supplementary feeding for children,
(1961-74) nursing and expectant mothers were also introduced.
Sixth Five Year Plan This is regarded as a landmark in womens development. The Plan adopted a
(1980-85) multidisciplinary approach with a three-pronged thrust on health, education and
Seventh Five Year employment
Developmentofprogrammes
women. for women were continued, with the objective of
Plan(1985-90) raising their economic and social status and bring them into the mainstream of
national development. A very significant step therein was to identify and

Eighth Five Year promote beneficiary-oriented

It attempted to ensure that theprogrammes which extended
benefits of development fromdirect benefits
different to
sectors
Plan(1992-97) women.
did not bypass women. Special programmes were
implemented to complement the general development programmes.
The flow of benefits to women in the three core sectors of education, health
and employment were monitored vigilantly. Women were enabled to function as
equal partners and participants in the developmental process with reservation in
Ninth Five Year the membership
The Ninth Five Year
of local
Planbodies.
envisaged
This
: approach of the Eighth Plan marks a
Plan(1997-2002) definite
a) shift from development
Empowerment of women and to empowerment of women.groups such as
socially disadvantaged
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and Minorities as
agents of socio-economic change and development.
b) Promoting and developing peoples participatory institutions like
Panchayati Raj institutions, cooperatives and self-help groups. c) Strengthening

Tenth Five Year efforts to build

The Tenth Five self-reliance.
Year Plan was formulated to ensure requisite access of women to
Plan(2002-2007) d) The convergence
information, of services
resources from different
and services, sectors.
and advance gender equality goals.
Eleventh Five Year e)
TheA womens
Eleventhcomponent
Five Yearplan at the
Plan Central to
proposes andundertake
State levels.special measures for

Plan(2007-2012) gender empowerment and equity. The Ministry of Women and Child
Development would make synergistic use of gender budget and gender
CHAPTER 4

mainstreaming process.

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

CHAPTER 5

FINDINGS AND SUGESSIONS

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

5. FINDINGS AND SUGESSIONS

5.1 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA MILESTONES & CHALLENGES

Empowerment is now increasingly seen as a process by which the one's without power gain greater
control over their lives. This means control over material assets, intellectual resources and ideology.
It involves power to, power with and power within. Some define empowerment as a process of
awareness and conscientization, of capacity building leading to greater participation, effective
decision-making power and control leading to transformative action. This involves ability to get what
one wants and to influence others on our concerns. With reference to women the power relation that
has to be involved includes their lives at multiple levels, family, community, market and the state.
Importantly it involves at the psychological level women's ability to assert themselves and this is
constructed by the 'gender roles' assigned to her specially in a cultural which resists change like
India.

The questions surrounding women's empowerment the condition and position of women have
now become critical to the human rights based approaches to development. The Cairo conference in
1994 organized by UN on Population and Development called attention to women's empowerment as
a central focus and UNDP developed the Gender Empowerment measure (GEM) which focuses on
the three variables that reflect women's participation in society political power or decision-making,
education and health. 1995 UNDP report was devoted to women's empowerment and it declared that
if human development is not engendered it is endangered a declaration which almost become a lei
motif for further development measuring and policy planning. Equality, sustainability and
empowerment were emphasized and the stress was, that women's emancipation does not depend on
national income but is an engaged political process.

Drawing from Amartya Sen's work on 'Human capabilities' an idea drawn from Aristotle a
new matrix was created to measure human development. The emphasis was that we need to enhance
human well being flourishing and not focus on growth of national income as a goal.
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People's choices have to be enlarged and they must have economic opportunities to make use of

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

these capabilities. States and countries would consider developments in terms of whether its people
lead a long healthy painless life or no are educated and knowledgeable and enjoy decent standards of
living.

The intuitive idea behind the capability is twofold according to Martha Nussbaum (2003) first,
that there are certain functions that are particularly central to human life. Second, that there is
something do these in a truly human way, not a mere animal way. The list of capabilities that she
draws is cross-cultural as necessary element of truly human functioning. They include:

Life-being able to live to the end of human life of normal length: not dying prematurely, or
before one's life is so reduced as to be not worth living.

Bodily health being able to have good health including reproductive health, to be
adequately nourished, to have adequate shelter.

Bodily integrity Being able to move freely from place to place, to be secure against violent
assault, including sexual assault and domestic violence; having opportunities for sex
satisfaction and for choice in matters of reproduction.

Senses, imagination and thought Being able to use the sense, to imagine, think and reason
in a truly human way including but not limited to literacy. Being able to use one's mind and
imagination protected by freedom of expression.

Emotions being able to have attachments, to love, to grieve to experience longing gratitude
and justified anger. Not having one's emotional development blighted by fear and anxiety.

Practical Reason Being able to form a conception of the good and to engage in critical
reflection about planning of one's life's protected by liberty of conscience.

Affiliation Being able to live with and toward others to have social interactions, to have the
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capability of both justice and friendship. This would entail freedom of assembly and free

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speech. Having social bases for self-respect and non-humiliation, being protected against
discrimination on the basis of race, sex sexual orientation religion caste or region.

Other species Being able to concern with nature.

Play being able to laugh, play and enjoy.

Control over one's environment.

a) Political. Being able to participate effectively in political choices that govern one's life,
having the right to political participation, protection of free speech and association.
b) Material. Being able to hold property to seek employment on equal bases and having freedom
from unwarranted search and seizure. In work, being able to work as a human being,
exercising practical reason and entering into meaningful relationships of mutual recognition
with the workers.

These capabilities cover the so called "first generation rights" (political & civil liberties) as well as
the "second generation rights" (economic and social rights0. It has been emphasized that women all
over the world have been short shifted and have not found support for their central human functions.
Women are capable of these functions given sufficient, nutrition, education and other support.
Women are most often not treated as subjects. Women are as capable as men of exercising will,
controlling desires and taking decisions but males enjoy support of social institutions and women are
excluded as the 'other'. Women are often not treated as "ends in themselves" persons with dignity
who deserve respect from laws and institutions instead they are treated instrumentally as reproducers,
caregivers, sexual receivers, agents of family's general prosperity.
Human development report since 1999 demonstrate that practically no country in the world
treats its women as well as men according to the measures of life expectancy wealth and education.
Developing countries present especially urgent problems where caste and class result in acute failure
of human capabilities of women. Women in this part of south East Asia lack essential support for
fully functioning human lives. Within the country there are many issues to be addressed closely.
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5.1.1 GDI: Inter State Comparison

The virtues of a measure such as the GDI, which can project the status of women by
encapsulating achievements in three basis dimensions, soon become clear to policy makers. It
spurred efforts to rank States in India by calculating their GDI (Shiv Kumar 1966, Seeta Prabhu,
Sarkar and Radha 1996; Aasha Kapur Mehta 1996; Hirway and Mahadevia 1996). A comparison of
the HDI and GDI reveal that in Punjab, Haryana, Bihar. West Bengal and Rajasthan development has
been inequitous and women did not get equal share in the development. For Uttar Pradesh which has
the lowest HDI rank as well as the lowest GDI rank, the challenge is to see how men and women can
more from being equal partners in slow development to partners in dynamic growth.

Empowerment of women is a commitment for PACS and some others strategic programmes,
while developing strategies for empowering women some programmes are sensitive to recognizing
women's contribution and their knowledge as the first step. The appreciate that women require
principally social support to fight their sense of inadequacy and fears to enhance their self-respect
and dignity. Empowering women means control over their bodies and becoming economically
independent, controlling resources like land and property and reduction of burden of work. A society
or programme which aims at women's empowerment needs to create and strengthen sisterhood and to
promote overall nurturing, caring and gentleness. PACS emphasis on emphasis on women SHG's as
a collective is one such efforts. Being conference 1995 had identified certain quantitative and
qualitative indicators of women empowerment.

5.1.2 Beijing conference 1995 indicators of women empowerment, qualitative & quantitative
Qualitative:
Increase in self-esteem, individual and collective confidence;
Increase in articulation, knowledge and awareness on health, nutrition reproductive rights,
law and literacy;
Increase an decrease in personal leisure time and time for child care;
Increase on decrease of work loads in new programmes;
Change in roles and responsibility in family & community;
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Visible increase on decrease in violence on women and girls;

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Responses to, changes in social customs like child marriage, dowry, discrimination against
widows;
Visible changes in women's participation level attending meeting, participating and
demanding participation;
Increase in bargaining and negotiating power at home, in community and the collective;
Increase access to and ability to gather information;
Formation of women collectives;
Positive changes in social attitudes;
Awareness and recognition of womens economic contribution within and outside the
household.
Women s decision-making over her work and income.

Quantitative indicators:

A. demographic trends

maternal mortality rate

fertility rate
sex ratio
life expectancy at birth
average age of marriage
B. Number of women participating in different development programmers
C. Greater access and control over community resources/government
schemes-crche, credit cooperative, non formal education

D. Visible change in physical health status and nutritional level

E. Change in literacy and & enrollment levels
F. Participation levels of women in political processMonitorable targets for the Tenth Plan and
beyond had certain key issues related to gender.

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All children in school by 2003; all children to complete five years of schooling by 2007.
Reduction of gender gaps in literacy and wage rates by at least 50% by 2007.

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Reduction of IMR to 45 per 1000 live births by 2007 and 28 by 2012.

Reduction of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 2 per 1000 live births by 2007 onto to by
2012.

India's declining sex ratio caused through foeticide, infanticide and systematic neglect requires urgent
and comprehensive action. It is well evidenced that low literacy, endemic under nutrition and social
inequality are closely related gender inequality is a crucial antecedent to endemic undernutrition.

5.1.3 Education:

Women's education is extremely important intrinsically as it is their human right and required
for the flourishing of many of their capacities.

It is, however, noticed that most programmes for education of girls and women in India have
reinforced Gender roles specially motherhood in curriculum as well as impact evaluation. The huge
study of nearly 94% of India's population done by Drez and others looks at female literacy and its
negative and statistically significant impact on child mortality.

The questions of power are interlinked and we understand that what is necessary is both
objective power in terms of economic resources, laws, institutional roles and norms held by others as
well as subjective power in terms of self efficacy and entitlements. Empowerment of women is
th
closely related to formal and informal sources of education. Late 19 century & 20th century
reformers advocated women's education as a principal strategy to answer the 'women's question'.
Many innovative efforts are accelerated after the NPE. In UP a renewal process of correcting gender
stereotyping was initiated in 1998 looking at textbooks and training besides infrastructure and
community mobilization. There is marked improvement in girls enrollment and steady decline in
drop out rates.
Despite statistically positive trends closer studies show that privileged spaces in
classrooms are occupied by boys. Girls are rarely addressed by their names. Girls sit in last rows in
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classes of mathematics and rarely muster courage enough to come close to the board where the
teacher sits (usually a male in most remote areas? Private school initiative for gender concerns is rare

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Madarsas have large number of girls but like convents and Arya Kanya Pathshala's gender
transformation is not their agenda. Moral science text books still have preponderance of men.
Women as agents of social reform are not mentioned. CSO efforts have very often shown greater
enhancement of girls self-esteem but in many cases there is poor cognitive development generally
attributed to low paid, low qualified but highly motivated instructor. Kanya Vidya Dhan, free
uniforms, mid-day meal, school attached crche, mothers meetings have all had positive results.

In various surveys conducted by ISST it has been apparent that parental apathy or
opposition to girl child education is fast reading even in traditional male dominated states of north
Indian. Given the right infrastructure-schools located in neighbourhoods, preferably with female
teachers parents would allow girls to study "as long as they would like to". It may however be
noticed as evidenced by researchers, the same families who are willing to see girls in college react
violently if the girl decides to choose her partner in marriage or challenge other norms of feminine
behavior.

5.1.4 Health:

2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS 3) conducted through 18 research

organizations between 2005 December and August 2006 provides us with several important data
based insights not provided by earlier surveys. There has been a steady increase in institutional
delivery percentages from NFHS 1 to 3 from 26 to 41 the increase in rural from 17 to 31 is more
promising than urban from 58 to 69. Overall fertility rate has declined from 3.4 to 2.7. The states of
Punjab and Maharashtra have reached the replacement level of fertility, i.e. around 2 children per
woman. Women in Chatisgarh and Orrissa are expected to have an average of about 2.5 children at
current fertility rates. The urban areas in five states studied by NFHS, Chattisgarh, Gujrat,
Maharashtra, Orissa and Punjab have reached below replacement level fertility. There is a difference
between the fertility of women with no education and those with 10 or more years of schooling.
Trends in antenatal care have remained more or less constant in NFHS 1 and 2 between rural and
urban women but have increased from 65 to 77% total. The five state study shows regional
imbalances in post natal care from only 23 per cent in Chhatisgarh to 54-59 per cent in Maharashtra,
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Punjab and Gujrat.

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

More than 40% ever married women and about one third men in orissa and Gujrat are thin
for their height, undernutrition is much lower in Punjab (12-14%) obesity is the major problem in
Punjab 38% women are overweight. Overweight or obese women percfedntage hjas incrfeased in the
last 7 years from 16 to 20 per cent in Gujrat from 12 to 17 per cent in Maharashtra and from 4 to 7
per cent in Orissa. The extent of overweight is greater in women than men. Overall 14.8% women
are obese. Except in Punjab in the other states more than 50 per cent of the children of women
without any education are underwseight. The percentage of anaemia ranges from 38% in Punjab to
63% in Orissa. Anaemia prevalence is alarming among pregnant women 57.9 which is more than last
recorded 49.7%. 33% of women still have BMI below normal, which has declined from 36.2. IMR
has gone down but gender differences persist. This is true also of under 5 mortality. Life expectancy
of women however stands a level higher than that of men. From 1961 to 2001 both in total
population as well as in the population of 0-6 there has been a decline in sex ratio from 943 to 935
and 976 to 927 respectively. There is a fear that overall reduction of state resources in the welfare
sector and specially less than 1% investment in health is going to exacerbate the existing gender bias
in society.

5.1.5 Political Participation:

Women's political participation has been considered a major measure of women's

empowerment. Globally, through histories of the world we have records of very few regents,
sovereigns, and active agents in nobility who were women. Champions of liberalism like John Stuart
Mill had advocated women's participation in governance by the struggle for women suffrage in the
self avowed liberal west very well illustrates the entrenched nature of Patriarchical resistance to
women's empowerment. In the last century more women heads of state could be counted in Asia as
compared to Europe and the struggle for women suffrage in India was physically less violent but this
is not reflective of greater acceptance of women in decision-making in public spaces.

To measure women's empowerment now GEM takes 3 indicators, women's participation in

economic, political and professional activities. Within political power what is measured is mainly
women in parliament, judiciary or in local bodies. Women's empowerment or disempowerment has
CHAPTER 5

to be seen in all areas physical, socio cultural religious, political legal and economic.
It is also now often pointed out that women's empowerment must be seen as a process where

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

in we must consider women's awareness consciousness, choices with live alternatives, resources at
their disposal, voice, agency and participation. These are all related to enhancement of women's
capabilities and decisions they take individually or collectively for themselves.

Several programmes in India like Mahila Samakhya have accepted the process nature of
women's empowerment. The understandings of empowerment in PACS has also been similar but
planning of activity, time and budgets to ensure the empowering processes need greater scrutiny.
Women's education, livelihood and personal exercise of agency have to be systematically promoted .

rd
The 73 and 74th Amendments of the Constitution have impacted nearly 600 million Indian
people in 500,000 villages. Interestingly the percentage of women at various levels of political
activity have risen from 4-5% to 25-40%. Both nationally as well as at the state and local levels
women in elected bodies have been very few and even those who have been elected when observed
from closer quarters present a complex picture. The money and muscle associated with the electoral
process inhibits a large number of women from joining politics. Restriction on mobility, lack of
control over resources and low literacy rates are well known obstacles but recent panchayat elections
have evidenced a phenomenally large number of elected leaders much beyond reserved 33% seats.
Areas where PACS, Mahila Samakhya or other CSO initiatives are working women are more
articulate and vigilant and have used opportunity to improve ICPS centres, primary schools sanitation
and have also publicly dealt with issues of misbehavour with girls, violence and alcoholism as well
as sensitive issues of widowed women dressing in coloured clothes. Women are increasingly
demanding not only basis but also land literacy and fuller longer trainings instead of being short
changed through orientations.

It is obvious that a more active Gram Sabha which is sensitive to women's specific issues is a
much desired goal as a woman sarpanch or BDC member in a gender hostile panchayat may not be
able to accomplish and sustain much for the benefit of women or the village community at large.
More women in grass root organizations; better law and order will ensure better engagement of
women in decision-making.
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More than one million women have now entered political life in India and 43% of the seats are

69
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

occupied by them district, province and national level. Women's participation is understood in terms
of voter turn out, number of women contestants apart from the number of those who succeeded in
winning.

In an interesting study sponsored by State Planning Commission in U.P. 2006 about 45%
women both rural and urban reported being influenced by men of the family (father/husband) in
decision- making in the exercise of their ballot. 9 per cent reported external influence while 46 per
cent exercise independent choice.

However, the battle to make the PRI's affective instruments of local rural governance is a
battle, a struggle of the grass roots, population (women and men) against administrative apathy and
listlessness, against ignorance and low awareness. For women these odds are accompanied and
intermeshed with deep rooted patriarchal practices that determine and sanction norms of speech and
behaviour both within and outside the home.

Thus while Pre election trainings of voluntary organisations and CSVOs serve to build
awareness about the duties, responsibilities of PR's and about voting practices, the presence and
working of women's voluntary organisations at the grass roots have served to sharpen women's
understanding about the operation of patriarchy in personal lives and work places and the methods
and practices to overcome and combat them individually and collectively.

Organisations such as Mahila Samakhya working to conscientise and organise women in

groups and sanghas are able to address the issue of women and their participation in a two fold
manner. On the one hand they organise intensive training programmes for women PRI
representatives to make them effective functionaries and on the other hand tghere own programmes
with their members within there collectives serve to build a culture of questioning, critical thinking,
collective decision-making and mobilisation on public issues. A mobilised community of women is
thus able to raise issues of significance to the local community within the meetings, demand
accountably from representatives and administrative officials regarding financial and procedural
matters and intervene with creative suggestions.
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It is thus that the dominance of patriarchy money power, party politics muscle power are

70
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

steadily undercut and eroded and women's concerns are gradually pushed to the forefront of local
politics.

Drawing from intensive discussions at the level of sanghas and mahasanghas and the
experiences culled called from functionaries and from trainings, Mahila Samakhya has drawn out
learnings to strengthen women's participation in the Panchayats. A memorandum incorporating these
has been presented to the Panchayat Raj Department. It states

It is imperative to inscribe the budget for the village on the Panchayat Bhawan.

Thefre should be rules and strategies to train and activate women members who have been
elected to the post of Pradhans or members.

There should be strict rules for ensuring the participation of 2/3 voters in the open meeting.

the signatures of the people in the executive register of the open meeting should be ensured.

It should be compulsory for the Pradhan/Secretary to sit in the panchayat Bhawan.

The development plan should be widely disseminated so that it can reach the general public.

The dates and time of the panchayat meetings in the state of U.P. should be decided in
advance.

The venue of the meeting should be either the Panchayat Bhawan ofr a public place, to
enable all gram sabha members to present their problems.

Thus it is apparent that women see effective and efficient functioning of panchayats closely linked to
the issue of active women's participation. (Mahila Samakhya U.P. Annual Report 20045-05.
CHAPTER 5

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Entry into public space, utilisation of authority in practice, trainings by government and non-
government agencies are all part of a process of gradual growth of knowledge, self -esteem and
empowerment, which gives women the agency to function effectively in the political process.

Even proxy and dummy candidates may experience this process of empowerment women who
stand and win from general seats are more likely to have a higher commitment towards, and an
understanding of the political process.

Having a high participation of women at the local self government level can create an
environment which is enabling for other women, receptive to the idea of gender based initiatives and
can serve to monitor and implement community and gender based programmes of the government
related to education, nutrition and health.

It offers a potential opportunity which can be utilised at an optimum level by appropriate trainings
both capacity binding and information enhancing by government departments and the NGO Sector.

5.1.6 Decision-Making:

In terms of decision-making NFHS II had reported in the rural areas women take 71%
decisions regarding "what items to cook" 26% decisions regarding obtaining health care fro herself
10% in purchasing jewellery or other major household items. 12% decisions were taken by women
with reference to staying with their parents or siblings and 37% about how to spend money, which
they had earned. In the urban areas these figures were 71%, 35%, 13%, 18% and 57% respectively.
Women between ages 15 to 19 nearly 24% are not involved in any kind of decision-making only.
14% do not ask permission to go to the market. In rural sector 10% are involved with any decision-
making and 74% need permission for going to the market. In urban sector however only 7% are not
involved with any decision-making and 53% need permission for going to the market. Survey reports
that of the 52% illiterate women 74% of urban resident and 55% of rural resident have access to
money. Small studies on elected Panchayat leaders show episodic increase of their decision-making
in personal, social and political spaces. Studies of the NFHS scale are necessary to retrieve such data
CHAPTER 5

specially in PACs programme areas. This could be done with reference to internal lending of SHG's
as well as leveraging through other agencies in terms of both economic status enhancement and their

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decision- making. Interestingly some studies reflect that women's working outside home in paid job
does not always translate into appreciably greater autonomy within the household for most women.
In a sample study at Sonepat and Noida 66% need to consult somebody and take permission before
changing jobs 27.6% women in Noida and 35.3% in Sonepat said they are allowed to buy nothing at
all.

Working outside home women do believe that they have more experience (91.6%), enlarged
social networks (48.3%) and stronger personality (32.2%) and an increased self esteem 985.3%)
besides their decision-making power (62.2%). The researchers however observe that objective state
of affairs do not bear this out and women's decision-making is concentrated to making small
purchases. In buying and selling assets they have no say.

Methodologically here there is a dilemma about privileging of perspective that of the

responmdent or that of the urban middle class educated researcher. This is particularly pertinent as
the sense of being empowered is also importantly about "feeling empowered".

5.1.7 Self Help Groups:

PACS programme has largely utilized SHG's as an empowsering instrument. More than 80% of these
are exclusively for women. The fifth national synthesis report (Draft) reports that official perception
has changed as SHG's are firmly raising voices and SHG's are being used to achieve RTI awareness:

> Women members are elected as PRI representatives.

> SHG/PRIs are regularly organising Gram Sabha as a forum for public appraisal.

Anecdotal accounts suggest that women are economically empowered those suffering domestic
violence are given legal reference and awareness to prevent child marriage promote girls education
and prevent dowry marriage and alcoholism.
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Self-help groups have emerges as an important strategy for empowering women and
alleviating poverty. SHG's are based on idea of dialogic small groups, which shall function at

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

developing collective consciousness. Linked with micro credit these groups are able to access credit
and subsidy to meet crisis needs as well as developmental needs reducing their dependence on
money lenders. There is fair amount of evidence to suggest that PACS SHG's have successfully
ensured people's entitlements including women.

Statistically PAC's initiatives in realizing entitlements show that In Balika Samriddhi

Yojana 189 females have been benefitted rfealizing 2572400 Rs. in Employment Guarantee Scheme
55397 women have been provided, 1271 girls enrolled and 9524 women provided Indira Awas
Yojna. Kanya Vidya Dhan has been availed by 131 girls while Mahila Samridhi Yojana has
benefitted 7 women. Maternity benefits have reached 2943 women and NFE educated 862 women.
Old age pension went to 7774 women while no woman benefitted from the Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojna. Sam Vikas Yojna benefitted 975 women compared to 467 men Bridge courses benefitted 740
girls. Widow pension was ensured to 2948 women and 217 women get yellow cards.

The realization of entitlements has been primarily through RTI, NREGS and the women further
train communities. in Jharkhand a large number of women were trained in social audit. In total
number of beneficiaries of entitlement 13342 women in Bihar 156217 in Jharkhand 19906 women in
Maharashtra 18762 in M.P. and Chhattisgarh and 55114 in U.P. were reached. Men have however
benefitted more except in Bihar.

5.1.8 Violence:

The questions regarding crimes against women are most entrenched, as most of them are
committed within the family NCRB records that the highest percdentage of crime against women is
torture (37.7%) followed by Moleslation (22.4%), Rape (11.8%), Kidnapping (8.8%) and immoral
traffic (3.7%). 4.6 Dowry Death and 6.5% eve teasing were recorded. the further details report that in
victims of rape 532 were below 10 and 1090 below 14. 3189 within ages of 30-50. No age is safe for
women. In U.P. nearly 32% crimes against women were committed within the family by husbands
and relatives. This figure when compounded with 12% dowry deaths makes 45% of crimes
domestically located. Incidents of honour killings and battery through not large are often threats to
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women's functioning and their emotional development is severely blighted. In caste ridden society
women's caste membership increase her vulnerability. Small efforts to train police by UN agencies

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

and state initiatives are encouraging but very small in scale. They require follow-ups and support
monitoring.

5.1.9 Women and Work:

Women's work is statistically less visible non monetized and relegated to subsistence
production and domestic side this accounts for 60% of unpaid family work and 98% of domestic
work. The non paid work includes domestic chares like cooking, cleaning, child care aand care for
the elderly and the handicapped-traditonally understood as women's work. Subsistence activities like
pitches gardening post harvest processing, feeding farm hands, live stock maintenance, gathering of
fuel, forest produce, unpaid family labour in family farm or enterprise are done by women who are
reported to be non working housewives Census estimates 51.93% men & 25% women workers while
NSS estimates 52.7 male and 25.68 female workers. Most men are in stable employment. Micro
studies report many challenges 20 out of 104 women reported in a survey as non working were
actually winnowwwing, thrashing or paraboling (WB). S. Mukhopadhyaya in her study reports 4
times more work participation in her study. Female work participation rate in U.P. is reported as 11%
with a Gender gap of 52% equal to. West Bengal but less than Punjab. 56% women are in
community service 17% in Manufacturing & 8.6 rural women in agriculture. Only 4% women as
against 10% men are in the formal sector. If women's work is rendered visible specially unpaid
household work there will be many dramatic results. Studies show that working women but 664
hours & others put 872 hours on child care, womens' share of work in 55% women's unpaid work is
51% while men's is 33%. R. Malathy's extrapolation estimates 23,773 core as the value of wowmen's
household reserve rendered by women in the urban sector alone. From 17% women's contribution
will increase to 33% of agricultural earning will include unpaid household work. Restriction on
women's mobility, complete child care responsibility ideology of female seclusion, vulnerability to
abuse, low access to information and mass media, low literacy, assumption that women's
supplementary and confinement to largely manual untrained tasks leads to women's poor access to
income.

5.1.10 Women and Reforms:

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It is often argued that economic reforms have had a differential gender impact but there are further

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complexities. The reforms have meant more openness in trade regime and progressive decontrol of
domestic production sector. There seems a steady withdrawal of state presence from the production
sector arguing that this would promote greater efficiency and accountability. There has however been
much protest that this will leave labour more vulnerable as profit motive alone drives the market.
Market argue that since women are crowded towards the bottom end of labour market they will be
more adversely impacted. The 55th round of National Sample Survey organization (1999-2000)
generally reflects that over the years specially in urban areas gender differences in the structure of
industrial and occupational distributions and distribution of labour status categories seems to have
lessened. There is higher demand of female labour in some sectors which can be linked to a thrust
towards export orientation and deregulation in the domestic production sector. According to Swapna
Mukhopadhyaya changes in structure of job opportunities have not translated into overall reduction
in the degree of market segmentation along gender lines. There is marginal decrease in employment
of men and marginal increase for women in urban India. Educated women in the labour market who
are unemployed are for more than their male counterparts 62.7% unemployed women in rural areas
as compared to 56.9% men. It seems IT enabled sectors in recent years may have benefitted educated
women. There is not enough reliable data but persistently low wages of women to the tune of 50% to
80% compare to men suggest systematic wage discrimination. Wage earnings in casual female
workers in 1999-2000 were 64.70% of corresponding male earnings in rural India are even lower at
60.57% in urban India. 2005 HDR reports that women spend 457 minutes at work as compared to
391 minutes per day for men.

5.1.11 Ownership of Land:

A recent legislation of the Central Government, the Hindu succession Amendment Act 2005
has also moved towards women's equality in property rights. It makes Hindu women's inheritance
rights in agricultural land legally equal to those of men. All daughters including married daughters
age Co-parceners in joint family properly daughters now have the right to claim partition and to
become 'Karta'. All daughters, married or unmarried can reside, seek partition of the parental
dwelling place.
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This law of the centre well have the power to displace any conflicting laws of the state which
are unequal to women. this is a far reaching message to assure women control over property.

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According to a recent study made by Bina Agarwal in Kerala, women's risk of physical
violence from husbands is dramatically less of they own hand or a house. The incidence of violence
is 49 per cent among women without property, but 18 per cent among land owning women and 7 per
cent of they own both land and house.

Recent initiative of the state of U.P. (ordinance of 23 Feb. 2006) regarding the reduction of
stamp duty on the purchase of land from 7 per cent 6 per cent has worked in the direction of more
land being bought in the name of women in the family. This transfer of asset in favour of women
though initially used by male members of the family to save family money will gradually contribute
to build women's agency. 2,97715 transactions have been done in the name of women in 68 districts
of Uttar Pradesh between April 2006 and August 2006. The women move out of their homes to sign
the papers in Tehsils and in many cases it is their first exposure to an office. This initiative developed
with women's trainings on legal, land and human rights literacy will go a long way.

However, this effectiveness is greatly linked with the willingness of the state administration to
devolve effective administrative and financial power to the local self-governing units, and the
responsiveness and sensitivity of the lower echelons of the administrative machinery to the aspiration
and needs of the local population. Alcohol has not favoured women and increase in indirect taxes has
also impacted them poorly. The thrust of budgets also seems to push people to private providers.

Government schemes could be seen as Relief policies like widow pension schemes. Gender
reinforcing assistance like mother support schemes in health and Empowering schemes for women to
demand and enjoy full human rights.

5.1.12 State Initiatives:

Development writers are so often used to repeating that focus of women development in India has
shifted from 'welfare' in the 50's to development in the 70's and now to empowerment. This is hardly
borne out in the programmes on the ground. There are largely schemes for relief like old age and
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widowhood schemes and major schemes related to Gender reinforcing assistance related to
reproduction National Institute of Public Finance and Policy undertook the first gender budget

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exercise and categorized expenditure in 3 categories.

5.1.13 National Institute of Public Finance & Policy Gender Analysis of the Budget

NIPFP undertook the first gender budget exercise and categorized expenditure in 3 categories.
1. Specifically targetted expenditure on women.
2. Pro women allocation composite expenditure in the women component (at least 30%).

3. Mainstream expenditure with gender differential impact.

It was understood that public expenditure can be clustered in terms of 4 categories:
a) Protective and welfare services accounting for 67%
b) Social service-education, water housing health 26%
c) Economic resources-self employment training fuel supply management 4%
d) Regulatory services awareness generation NCW 3%

Allocation for women directed scheme is pitiful. Only ten ministries/Departments have specially
targetted schemes for women in India. The share of women specific programmes in departments like
education, agriculture, tribal affairs and social justice is also only around one percent. No proper
administrative mechanism for execution and monitoring of expenditure. Heads still under ruberic of
benefits for mother and child. Shelter homes and counselling centres are still low on priority. NIPF
observed that reduction in cost of foreign liquour has not positively impacted them.

It is, however, necessary that even though schemes are relief oriented the process of accessing them
has often been an individual and collected struggle which has sometimes led to empowerment and at
others disheartening. PACS strategy of collective pressure to access public resources for women has
largely been empowering though anecdotal.

There are several critical issues to ensure a just an equitable state with reference to gender. Some
issues are not addressable due to procedural limitations of data collection which makes specific
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recommendations difficult. There is need to develop a workable gender audit system for govt. &
CSO programmes which would look at targets, training recruitments promotion, infrastructure and

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decision making opportunities. The verbal change from women welfare to women rights needs to be
converted into reality. This has some direct fall outs. Pitiful allotment for Vriddha and Vidva Pension
and minimum wages will have to be reconsidered in terms of living wages, recent work and human
right to opportunities for highest form of physical and mental health.

Greatest inequity exits in family but poverty alleviation schemes address only the family. Just
as one poverty calculation takes per capita consumption it should also address per capita income
enhancement not family.

Gender budgets need participation of other departments besides the existing ones. Gender
auditing of all organizations is necessary.

As is evidenced in many studies level of awareness of government schemes is very low so

more effective publicity is necessary. A more effective MIS system for monitoring women welfare,
women empowerment programmes is to be developed which is simple, transparent and involves both
government and non government functionaries. Gender resource centres with autonomy need to be
established in all states and in case of larger states there must be more than one such centre involving
academic & activities.

Practically no schemes exist to encourage women in non stero typical occupations. Training of
women in leadership market research and entrepreneurship with follow ups must be institutionalized.
At the national as well as state levels we need a full fledged mechanism to ensure gender sensitive
policy, implementation through a participatory apex body. Clearer definition of work, Joint Pattas for
women & men will ensure better control of women over resources as well as their acknowledgement
in National income. Country's inclusive agenda requires a consistent engendering at all levels.

5.2 International Policies and Indias Constitutional Provisions, Policies and

Programmes for Women

5.2.1 UN Human Rights Instruments

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights - adopted in 1948

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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted in 1966 / entered
into force in 1976, monitored by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - adopted
in 1965 / entered into force in 1969, monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (CERD)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - adopted in 1979
/ entered into force in 1981, monitored by the Committee on CEDAW
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment - adopted in 1984 / entered into force in 1987, monitored by Committee Against
Torture (CAT)
Convention on the Rights of the Child - adopted in 1989 / entered into force in 1990,
monitored by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

5.2.2 Commitments at UN Conferences

World Conference on Education for All (1990) Jomtien

UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992) Rio de Janiero
Second UN World Conference on Human Rights (1993) Vienna
International Conference on Population and Development (1994) Cairo
World Summit on Social Development (1995) Copenhagen
Fourth World Conference on Women (1995) Beijing
Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (1996) Istanbul
World Food Summit (1997) Rome
Education for All Dakar Framework (2000) Dakar

5.2.3 Constitution of India Guarantees

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)]
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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

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office under the State (Article 16)

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
39A)
The State to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity
relief (Article 42)
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 and the
improvement of Public Health (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)]
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)]
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5.3 SCHEMES FOR ASSISTANCE

5.3.1 Ministry of Women and Child Development

> Support to Training and Employment Programme (STEP)

> Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG)
> Swawlamban, erstwhile Setting up of Employment and Income Generating Training- cum-
Production Units for Women (NORAD)
> Construction/Expansion of Hostel Building for Working Women with a Day Care
Centre(WWH)
> Balika Samriddhi Yojana (BSY)
> National Programme for Adolescent Girls (Kishori Shakti Yojana)
> Shishu Greh Scheme (Erstwhile - Homes for Infants and Young Children for Promotion of In-
Country Adoption)
> Integrated Scheme for Street Children
> Scheme for Welfare of Working Children in Need of Care and Protection
> Prevention and Control of Juvenile Maladjustment
> Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS)
> Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme for the Girl Child with Insurance Cover
> General Grant-in-Aid for Voluntary Organisations in the Field of Women and Child
Development
> National Mission of Empowerment of Women
> Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women
> Conditional Maternity Benefit Scheme
> Other Programmes (Relief to and Rehabilitation of Rape Victims)
> Education Scheme, Food and Nutrition Board (FNB)
> Ujjawala, Scheme for Combating Trafficking
> Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG)
> Wheat Based Nutrition Programme
> Anganwadi Karyakati Bima Yojana
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5.3.2 Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB)

> General Grant-in-Aid for Voluntary Organisations in the field of Women and Child
Development
> Mahila Mandal Programme (MMP)
> Short Stay Homes for Women and Girls (SSH)
> Socio-Economic Programme (SEP)

Other Schemes

> Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

> The Swa-Shakti Project, a scheme for Rural Womens Development and Empowerment
> Swadhar, Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances
> Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (Credit for Women)
> Scheme for Rescue of Victims of Trafficking
> Priyadarshini, Womens Empowerment and Livelihood Programme in the Mid Gangetic Plains
> Innovative Work on Women and Children
> Scheme for Relief to and Rehabilitation of Victims of Rape

5.3.3 Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education

> Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)

> District Primary Education Programme (DPEP)
> National Programme of Mid Day Meals in Schools
> The Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrassas
> Scheme for Infrastructure Development in Minority Institutions
> Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK)
> Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
> Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC)
> Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary School (IEDSS)
> Scheme of Vocationalisation of Education +2 Level
>
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Scheme for Universal Access and Quality at the Secondary Stage (SUCCESS)
> National Scheme for Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education (SUCCESS)

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> National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMS)

> Scheme for Construction and Running of Girls Hostel for Students of Secondary andnHigher
Secondary Schools
> Adult Education and Skill Development Scheme
> Development of Womens Studies in Universities and Colleges
> Schemes for Promotion of Higher Education for SC/ST/Minorities/OBC
> Post Graduate Scholarships for Students belonging to SC/ST/Minorities/OBC
> Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women
> District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) for Special Groups
> National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL)
> Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV)
> Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV)
> Navodaya Vidyalayas (NV)
> National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)
> Focus on Minority Areas
> National Literacy Mission (NLM)
> Jan Shikhan Sansthan (JSS)
> Mahila Samakhya : Education for Womens Equality

5.3.4 Ministry of Rural Development

> Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

> Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), including Food Grains Component
> Assistance for Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes
> National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP)
> National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)
> National Food for Work Programme (NFWP)
> National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP)
> Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP)
> Cash Component for Food for Work Programme
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> Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)

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> Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP)

> Rural Sanitation
> Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
> Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA)

5.3.5 Ministry of Urban Development

> Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

> Water Supply and Sanitation
> Housing

5.3.6 Ministry of Textiles

> Handloom Weavers Comprehensive Welfare Scheme

> Handicraft Artisans Comprehensive Welfare Scheme

5.3.7 Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

> The Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)

> Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)
> Interest Subsidy Schemes for Housing for Urban Poor (ISSHU)
> Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Programme
> UNDP Assistance for National Strategy for Urban Poor
> Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)
> Other Housing Schemes

5.3.8 Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

> Book Banks for Scheduled Caste Students

> Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls
> Hostels for Scheduled Caste Girls and Boys
> Scheme of Pre-Matric Scholarship to the Children of Scheduled Castes and OBCs
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> Post Matric Scholarship to Students belonging to Scheduled Castes and OBCs

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> Scheme of Assistance to Voluntary Organisations for Welfare of Scheduled Castes

> Scheme of Pre-examination Coaching for Weaker Sections based on Economic Criteria
> Aids and Appliances for the Handicapped
> Schemes for Implementation of Persons with Disability Act
> Education Work for Prohibition and Drug Abuse Prevention

5.3.9 Ministry of Tribal Affairs

> Schemes for Pre-Matric Scholarship (PMS), Book Bank and Upgradation of Merit of ST
Students
> Scheme of Top Class Education for Scheduled Tribe Students
> Coaching and Allied Scheme for Scheduled Tribes
> Scheme for Construction of Hostels for Scheduled Tribe Girls and Boys
> Educational Complex in Low Literacy Pockets for Development of Womens Literacy in
Tribal Areas
> Post Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribes Students
> Scheme for the Development of Primitive Tribal Groups
> Ashram Schools in Tribal Sub-Plan Area
> ACA for Educational Development of Tribal Children in Schedule-V areas and Naxal-
affected areas
> National/State ST Finance and Development Corporations
> Scheme of Assistance to State Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development
Corporation(STFDCs)
> Scheme of GrantInAid to Voluntary Organisations Working for Welfare of the
Scheduled Tribes
> National Overseas Scholarship Scheme
> Village Grain Banks Scheme for Protection of Tribals from Starvation
> Vocational Training in Tribal Areas

5.3.10 Ministry of Science and Technology

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> Science and Technology Programmes for Socio - Economic Development

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> Science and Technology Application Programme

> Tribal Sub-Plan and Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan for Development of Scheduled
> Caste Population
> National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development

5.3.11 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

> Reproductive and Child Health Programme (Maternal Health and Child Health)
> National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
> National Urban Health Mission (NUHM)
> Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana for Primary Health Sector
> Universal Immunization Programme
> Pulse Polio Immunization Programme
> Prophylaxis Programme to Prevent Blindness due to Vitamin A Deficiency
> Prophylaxis Programme to Prevent Anaemia due to Iron Deficiency
> Prophylaxis Programme to Prevent Iodine Deficiency Disorders (Goitre)
> Janani Suraksha Yojana (National Maternity Benefit Scheme)
> National Mental Health Programme
> Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (Financial Assistance to BPL Patients)
> National AIDS Control Programme
> National Diseases Control Programmes (TB, Leprosy, Malaria, etc.)

5.3.12 Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation

> Assistance to National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for Cooperative

Development
> Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)

5.3.13 Ministry of Labour & Employment

> Labour Welfare Schemes

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> Improvement in Working Conditions of Child and Women Labour

> Vocational Training for Women

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> Beedi Workers Welfare Fund

> Cine Workers Welfare Fund
> Employees Pension Scheme
> Family Pension cum Life Insurance Scheme for Plantation Workers in Assam, Deposit link
Insurance Scheme for Tea Plantation Workers in Assam
> Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana
> Diversification and Extension of Vocational Training Programmes for Women
> Establishment of Regional Vocational Training Institutes (RVTI)
> Establishment of Placement Cells and Conducting Training Needs Assessment
> Grants-in-Aid for State Governments for Establishing Women Industrial Training Institutes(ITI)
> Social Security (Health Insurance) for Unorganised Sector Workers
> Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour

5.3.14 Ministry of Minority Affairs

> Grants-in-Aid to Maulana Azad Education Foundation

> Free Coaching and Allied Scheme for Minorities
> Pre-Matric Scholarship for Minorities
> Post Matric Scholarship for Minorities
> Merit - cum - Means Scholarships for Professional and Technical Courses of
Undergraduate and Post Graduate Level
> Multi - Sectoral Development Programme for Minorities in Selected Minority
Concentration Districts
> National Fellowship for Students for the Minorities Communities
> Schemes for Leadership Development of Minority Women
> Grants-in-Aid to Wakf
> National Minority Development and Finanace Corporation

5.3.15 Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Department of Food
and Public Distribution
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> Village Grain Bank Scheme

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> Evaluation, Monitoring & Research in Food Grain Management and Strengthening of Public
Distribution System
> Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)
> Antyodaya Anna Yojana
> Mid-Day Meal Scheme (Implemented by Ministry of Human Resource Development)
> Wheat Based Nutrition Programme (WBNP) (Implemented by Ministry of Women and Child
Development under ICDS Scheme)
> Annapurna Scheme (Implemented by Ministry of Rural Development)
> Emergency Feeding Programme (EFP)
> Schemes for Supply of Foodgrains to Hostels/Welfare Institutions (5% of BPL Allocation)
> Schemes for Supply of Foodgrains for SC/ST/OBC Hostels
> Nutritional Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG) (Implemented by Ministry of Women and
Child Development)

5.3.16 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

> Credit Support Programme

> Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana
> Prime Ministers Employment Generation Programme
> Workshed Scheme for Khadi Artisans

5.3.17 Ministry of Law and Justice

> Fast Tracks Courts

> Assistance to State Governments for Establishing and Operating Gram Nyayalayas

5.3.18 Policy Documents

> National Commission for Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector:
Shram Shakti Report 1988
> Committee on Status of Women in India CSWI Towards Equality 1975
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> National Child Labour Policy 1987

> National AIDS Control Policy 2002

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> National Commission on Women Act 1990

> National Health Policy 2002
> National Nutrition Policy 1993
> National Perspective Plan 1988
> National Plan for Action 1976
> National Plan of Action for the Girl Child (1992-2000) 1992
> National Policy for the Empowerment of Women 2001
> National Policy on Education 1986
> National Population Policy 2000
> Report of National Expert Committee on Women Prisoners 1987
> National Charter for Children 2004
> National Plan of Action for Children 2005
> Protocol for Pre-Rescue, Rescue and Post-Rescue Operations of Child Victims of
Trafficking

5.3.19 International Documents

> Beijing Declaration - Platform for Action

> Declaration of Mexico Plan
> Narobi Forward Looking Strategies
> United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (UN CEDAW)

5.4 The Objectives of the National Policy for Empowerment of Women include

(i) Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for full
development of women to enable them to realize their full potential
(ii) 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
(iii) Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and
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economic life of the nation

(iv) Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career and vocational

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guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security and
public office, etc.
(v) Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women

(vi) Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and
involvement of both men and women
(vii) Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process
(viii) Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child;
and
(ix) Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly womens
organizations

5.5 Critical Areas of Concern

A. Women and Poverty

o Strategic Objective: Review, adopt and maintain macroeconomic policies and

development strategies that address the needs and efforts of women in poverty.
o Revise laws and administrative practices to ensure womens equal rights and access to
economic resources.
o Provide women with access to savings and credit mechanisms and institutions.

B. Education and Training of Women

o Ensure equal access to education

o Eradicate illiteracy among women
o Improve womens access to vocational training, science and technology, and
continuing education
o Develop non-discriminatory education and training
o Allocate sufficient resources for and monitor the implementation of educational
reforms
o Promote lifelong education and training for girls and women
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C. Women and Health

o Increase womens access throughout the life cycle to appropriate, affordable and
quality health care, information and related services
o Strengthen preventive programmes that promote womens health
o Undertake gender-sensitive initiatives that address sexually transmitted diseases,
HIV/AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health issues
o Increase resources and monitor follow-up for womens health

D. Violence against Women

o Take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women

o Study the causes and consequences of violence against women and the
effectiveness of preventive measures
o Eliminate trafficking in women and assist victims of prostitution and trafficking.

E. Women and Armed Conflict

o Increase the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels

and protect women living in situations of armed and other conflicts or under foreign
occupation
o Reduce excessive military expenditures and control the availability of armaments
o Promote nonviolent forms of conflict resolution and reduce the incidence of human
rights abuse in conflict situations
o Promote womens contribution to fostering a culture of peace
o Provide protection, assistance and training to refugee women, other displaced
women in need of international protection and internally displaced women
o Provide assistance to women of the colonies and non-self governing territories

F. Women and Economy

o Promote womens economic rights and independence, including access to

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employment, appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources

o Facilitate womens equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade

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o Provide business services, training and access to markets, information and

technology, particularly to low income women
o Strengthen womens economic capacity and commercial networks
o Eliminate occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination
o Promote harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women

G. Women in Power and Decision-making

o Take measures to ensure womens equal access to and full participation in power
structures and decision-making
o Increase womens capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership

H. Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women

o Create or strengthen national machineries and other government bodies

o Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects
o Generate and disseminate gender-disaggregated data and information for planning and
evaluation

I. Human Rights of Women

o Promote and protect the human rights of women, through the full implementation of
all human rights instruments, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women
o Ensure equality and non-discrimination under the law and in practice
o Achieve legal literacy

J. Women and the Media

o Increase the participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in

and through the media and new technologies of communication
o Promote a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media
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K. Women and the Environment

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o Involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels

o Integrate gender concerns and perspective in policies and programmes for
sustainable development
o Strengthen or establish mechanism at the national, regional and international levels to
assess the impact of development and environmental policies on women

L. Womens Empowerment

The National Policy for the Empowerment of Women with the objective of bringing
about advancement, development and empowerment of women in all walks of life has been
formulated
Stree Shakti Puraskars to honour and recognize the achievement and contribution of
individual women and institutions who have done outstanding work in the social sector have
been instituted
Guidelines for operationalisation of District Level Committees on Violence against
Women and Helplines for women in distress have been issued
A National level Committee to monitor Supreme Courts Guidelines on prevention of
sexual harassment of women at workplace has been set up.
A National Resource Centre for Women (NRCW) Portal has been set up to inform and
empower women, and lodge complaints of womens rights violations on-line.
Gender Budget analysis of various Ministries spending was undertaken to assess the
utilization of funds for women.

5.6 Programmes for Women

Swawlamban, the erstwhile Training-cum-Employment Programme for Women provides skill

training to women to facilitate their employment or self- employment on a sustained basis in
traditional and non- traditional trades. Till December 2002, 902 projects including 262 continuing
projects benefiting 58,458 women were sanctioned. With effect from 1.4.2006, Swawlamban
is being transferred to the States. During 2005-06, 7660 beneficiaries availed benefits under
the scheme.
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The Department has initiated the gender budgeting exercise to assess the impact and
outcome of Government spending on Women. Gender Budget Cells have been set up in 9

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Departments/Ministries namely, Health, Family Welfare, Elementary Education and

Literacy, Labour and Employment, Rural Development, Social Justice and
Empowerment, Tribal Affairs, Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation and Small Scale
Industries.

Measures have been initiated for preparing Gender Development Index for the States
and Districts.
Swayamsiddha, an integrated scheme for womens empowerment, is based on the
formation of women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and aims at the holistic empowerment of
women through awareness generation, economic empowerment and convergence of various
schemes. Against the target of 65,000 SHGs, 69,803 Womens Self Help Groups have been
formed, covering a total of 1.002 million beneficiaries till 2008. The scheme ended on
31.03.2008.
Support and Training for Employment Programme (STEP) provides updated skills and
new knowledge to poor and asset-less women in traditional occupations for enhancing their
productivity and income generation. A package of services such as training, extension,
infrastructure, market linkages, etc. is provided besides linkage with credit for transfer of
assets. Since its inception in 1987, about 0.8 million women have been covered under various
projects till 2008-09. Since 2005-06, each year between 31,000 to 40,000 women benefit under
STEP. So far women in dairying sector have received maximum support keeping in view the
nature of demands. This is followed by handlooms, handicrafts, sericulture, piggery and poultry.

5.6.1 Working Womens Hostels

876 Working Womens Hostels have been sanctioned benefiting 63,989 women, with 321
having Day Care Centres, benefiting 8442 children in 2009.

5.6.2 Legislative Reforms

Comprehensive review of legislation affecting women has been undertaken by Sub- Groups
formed under the Task Force on Women and Children.

5.6.3 Status of Major International Human Rights Instruments

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International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979
Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment 1984
Ratification, accession or succession
Signature not yet followed by ratification

Conclusion

The primary objective of this project was to assess progress in India toward the twin goals of
gender equality and womens empowerment. The specific areas investigated included son preference,
education, age at marriage, spousal age differentials, employment, female household headship,
womens access to resources, gender relations in the household, womens participation in
decisionmaking, and spousal violence. In general, the report finds that gender inequality is persistent
in every domain examined, and women are disempowered both absolutely and relative to men.
Further, an examination of indicators for which trend data are available shows that the progress
toward gender equality and womens empowerment remains very slow.

In addition to examining progress toward achieving gender equality and womens

empowerment, the report also examined gender differentials in selected health and nutritional
outcomes and evaluated differences by sex in the relationship of womens empowerment and
experience of spousal violence with indicators of these selected health and nutrition outcomes.
Finally, the variation in current use of modern contraception by indicators of womens empowerment
and experience of spousal violence was also explored.
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