Dr. Arvind Kumar*
Women constitute half of total global population and they entail the potential of playing pivotal role in furthering growth and the goal of sustainable development. However, prevalent gender inequality deprives the bulk of the half population from making their contribution to mainstream development, and female empowerment is said to be the appropriate mechanism to utilize the potential capacities of women as drivers of socioeconomic and political development. Despite gender inequalities in the labour market and gender wage gaps globally, women migrant workers were responsible for sending half of the estimated $601 billion in remittances worldwide in 2020.Women are not only the hardest hit by this Covid 19 pandemic, they are also the backbone of recovery in communities. Putting women and girls at the centre of economies will fundamentally drive better and more sustainable development outcomes for all, support a more rapid recovery, and place the world back on a footing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The concept of women empowerment has come to be construed broadly in terms of promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to impact social change for themselves and others.
Viewed in a broad framework, women empowerment is a fundamental human right and it is also a key to attaining a more peaceful, and prosperous world. The notion of female empowerment in Western nations is often associated with particular phases of the women’s rights movements that have occurred at different intervals of history. Experts have divided this female movement into three phases, and the first phase started during the nineteenth century and early 20th century that was characterized by suffrage for women; and the second phase that commenced in the 1960s included the sexual revolution and the role of women in the society, and the third phase is christened as ‘feminism’ that is said to have started garnering traction in the beginning of the 1990s. While women have made important inroads into political office across the world, their representation in national parliaments at 23.7 per cent is still far from parity. Globally, women are just 13 per cent of agricultural land holders.
With the onset of the 21st century, emphasis on women’s empowerment and promoting women’s rights have garnered sufficient clout to be reckoned as a part of global movement and is continuing to explore new horizons and the resultant impact is the increasing popularity and support for the observance of the International Women’s Empowerment Day. However, despite a great deal of progress, women and girls are still subjected to discrimination and violence occurring frequently in almost all parts of globe. Enhancing the role of women as drivers of poverty reduction, promoting female investors and entrepreneurs, and recognizing the link between gender equality and safeguarding the environment all promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and directly contribute to the 2030 Agenda. In order to empower women in the marketplace, workplace and community, UN Global Compact in collaboration with UN Women have created have created following seven Women’s Empowerment Principles:
Principle 1: Create high-level corporate· leadership· for gender equality
Principle 2: Treat all people· fairly at work, respecting and supporting non-discrimination and human rights
Principle 3: Ensure the health, wellbeing and safety of all workers, whether male or female
Principle 4: Promote education, training and professional development for women
Principle 5: Implement supply chain, marketing practices and enterprise development that empower women
Principle 6: Champion equality through community initiatives and advocacy
Principle 7: Measure and report publicly on progress to create gender equality
Recent Measures for Empowering Women in India
As per the Global Gender Index South Asia is the second-lowest performer on the index, with 62.3% of its overall gender gap closed with India as the third-worst performer in the region, having closed 62.5% of its gap. Because of its large population, India’s performance has a substantial impact on the region’s overall performance. Undoubtedly, many policy measures and programs have been taken for empowering women in India in recent years; nevertheless, PM Modi has embarked on fresh measures to further enhance women’s empowerment. According to PM Modi, Women self-help groups (SHGs) are champions of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. In pursuance of this policy, the Prime Minister recently transferred Rs 1000 crore to women self-help groups (SHGs) benefitting around 1.6 million women members. The Prime Minister also transferred crores of rupees to the account of more than one lakh female beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Scheme in UP where this scheme is becoming a great medium of support for the poor and women in rural areas.
He also referred to the Bank Sakhi campaign launched in UP that was bringing major changes in the lives of rural women along with employment opportunities for them. Under this campaign, women no longer have to go to the bank to withdraw the money that goes into their account from different government schemes through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) , and the women get their money at home in rural areas with the help of Bank Sakhi. That is, ‘Bank Sakhi’ has brought the bank to the villages.
While laying down the foundation of Take Home Ration Plant in UP recently, PM Modi said that the responsibility of Take Home Ration in UP has been entrusted to women to carry the same for children and pregnant and lactating women. This nutrient diet was to be made by women of SHGs and this was a massive plan involving thousands of crores of rupees annually. Under this plan, women belonging to SHGs were to earn additional income and the farmers of the village were to benefit from the 202 supplementary Nutrition Manufacturing Units. The women were to buy crops and grains from the villages itself and to make nutritious food in their respective factories. Emphasizing that it was these empowerment efforts that were to start changing the lives of women, PM Modi said that he was privileged to transfer 1,000 crore rupees as an installment that the government provides to SHGs as assistance in different sectors.
Emphasizing that potentials of a woman, her education and her skills determine the direction of the society and the nation and not only of the family, PM Modi stated that when his government took the initiative to realize the massive dreams and aspirations of Maa Bharati in 2014, the government began by giving new energy to the belief of the women of the country. Therefore, the government made plans and campaigns to empower women at every stage in the cycle of life from the birth of a daughter. PM Modi further added: “We tried to awaken the consciousness of the society through the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign so that daughters are not killed in the womb and they are born. Today the result is that the number of daughters has increased a lot in many states of the country. Maternity leave has been extended to six months so that the mothers can continue their work without worrying about the initial care of their child after delivery.”
Referring to the provisions of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, under which Rs 5,000 is deposited in the bank account of women during pregnancy, so that they can take care of proper diet, PM Modi informed that about Rs 10,000 crores had been given to more than two crore women. He further added that his government had not lagged in any effort whether it was building separate toilets for girls in schools for girls in schools or making sanitary pads accessible to the poorest of the poor. Alluding to measures like opening up of bank accounts of girls under the Sukanya Samridhi Yojna, construction of toilets for women and girls under the Swachh Bharat Mission, gas connection facilities under the Ujjwala scheme and ensuring the tap water, PM Modi stated that such measures have made the lives of women privileged and their dignity enhanced. He also alluded to benefits accruing to women under the Ayushman Bharat scheme Pradhan mantra Awas Yojna, the Sawmitva Yojna, the Mudra Yojna and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojna. Describing women of SHGs as the champions of the Aatmnibhar Bharat, PM Modi said that these SHGs are actually national help groups.
The Prime Minister also drew attention to other steps taken by his government for the benefits of women, such as supply of free ration during the COVID19, easing the rules to enable women to work in night shifts, removal of restriction for women working in mine, establishment of fast track courts across the country for speedy trial of heinous crime against women and passage of law against Triple Talaq to save Muslim women from atrocities etc.
Way Ahead
Undoubtedly, Modi government has undertaken laudable measures to ameliorate the lot of women by empowering them economically through various schemes. However, the data of the NCRB for recent years show that lot more needs to be done to bring them into the national mainstream of decision-making and policy implementation. Political empowerment of women is the need of the hour so that women can be equal partners in political decision making and political power sharing as well. . In order to empower women in true sense of the term by ensuring gender equality and protecting them from discrimination and heinous crimes, there is need for enhancing the role of civil society with the increased participation of women. Empowerment of women is a sure guarantee for a peaceful, stable and prosperous society. Looking ahead towards a gender-positive recovery, it is possible to design systems and policies which boost gender parity in economic participation in the recovery phase, avoid scarring of the pandemic becoming permanent, and create more resilient socio-economic systems. As economies and societies prepare for a new post-pandemic world, it is essential that the recovery is gender-equal and serves all stakeholders in society.
*President, India Water Foundation
