Status Of Indian Women In Present Scenario
“If you educate a man educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family” Mahatma Gandhi
“That country and that nation which doesn’t respect women will never become great now and nor will ever in future” Swami Vivekananda
These are quotes of Indian legends, they underlining the significance of women in any nation. The mission of becoming great nation is not possible without providing equal opportunities in social, political, economical, educational fields. Status to women in any country is the indicator of its progress. India got independence in 1947 from British rule, after 70 years of independence how far the situation of women is changed in India is a question of million dollars. There is a huge cry on women equality in the area of socio-political and economical status. Though India is making progress in economical and technological area with high speed but where is the place of women in this Indian society. There is still gender discrimination is in practice. Engineering and Medical streams are open for girls but how far their choice is taken in consideration very girls choose mechanical, production and automobile engineering, how many lady cardiac surgeon we have in India the numbers are very few. After completing MBA how many female work as a manageress in a bank and other firms and very important how many male like to work under the lady boss? The answer is not encouraging one.
The time has come to provide access to all freedom and opportunities to women which are denied to them just because they are women. It is time to give women chance to regulate their day-today lives in the social, political and economic terms a power which enables them to move from secondary position to main one. In ancient India, women were respected and honoured as mother Goddess and she has been given a great position in the family and society. In the changing time the position of women declined in the name of religious and socio-political practices and women were denied the opportunities to develop. The women were treated as a commodity in the past. Her place in the society was not at par with men she has no rights she cannot move nor do anything at her will.
The women in India have remained a matter of joy and a source of entertainment as such she was used and misused by men just to serve their evil ends. It is said that at each stage in woman is depend on man she is depend on her father when she is a child woman is depend on husband when she get married sand in old age woman is on the mercy of her son. This is the truth about Indian woman in present scenario with few exceptions. Many attempts were made to bring out women from this situation but due to hard core religious practices and superstitious in the social condition of women remains more or less the same. The condition of women in rural and urban is somewhat different; it is also distinguishable in upper and lower strata of society. Woman is at the central position in her family for responsibility. Women in rural area woke up early in the morning to fetch water, fuel wood, fodder and she prepares food for family members. She has the responsibility of raring her children and she has to support her family financially by working with her husband in farm. Woman has additional responsibility to preserve the Indian culture. She has to attention to all family matters. She has to take care of heath of her family members. Women work for 14 to 16 hours daily, she often falls sick, but does not complain and this goes unnoticed by others in the family as they continue to work as usual for the sake of the family, she manages the family very efficiently with meagre means, but is still treated as illiterate. Even today women suffer in the society due to illiteracy, ill health, deprivation and humiliation. Poor women especially from backward communities and lower castes, are mostly illiterate, untrained and have very little social and economical power, they are unable to do any business on their own even with financial assistance. Women are denied opportunities to utilize their full potential; they are having more tolerance, intellect and high level of coordination.
Our tradition and culture treat women as subordinate to men. The ages of deprivation and subordination develop immense tolerance among women in one hand and developed courage to fight back the socio-political problems. Women take parts in movements of well being of human beings that movement may be of save environment, corruption or any other socio-political issues. Dropping sex ratio shows our gender disparity towards woman even at the stage of her birth. The scientific research proves that due to presence of two X chromosomes women are more resistant to diseases compared to men. A shocking study reveals that half of the world’s malnourished children live in India owing primarily to the lack of nutritious food available to the mother. In all important stages like infancy, childhood, adolescence or reproductive phase many women suffer malnutrition purely due to the gender disparity and the narrow mindsets of the society. Women in rural areas have huge burden and face sufferings in accordance to their social and economical status, local customs, size of family any other factors. Hence, an intensive study with close intervention with women can help to identify suitable solutions for their problems.
Dowry is one more stigma on our Indian society and one of the significant factors for all the discriminations and injustices shown to women. Dowry is always inseparable part of Indian marriages. Although dowry was legally prohibited in 1961 (Dowry Prohibition Act), it continued to be highly institutionalized. It is shocking truth that even among highly educated sections; the articles of dowry are proudly exhibited in the marriages as a status symbol. The exercise of dowry abuse is rising in India. The most hateful thing is bride burning, the burning of women whose dowry was not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws. In most of the cases such events are reported as accidental burn in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide. It is evident that there exist deep-rooted prejudices against women in India. Since women comprise half of the population of India, it is necessary to make them economically, socially and educationally strong without this half population how can India become superpower in the world some steps can be taken to initiate the change. Women and girls should be given equal access to education some strong steps should be taken to eliminate discrimination among men and women, education should be given to everyone, co-education, create a gender sensitive educational system, increase enrolment and continuity of girls.
Gender sensitive curricula should be developed at all levels of educational system in order to address sex stereotyping as are of the causes of gender discrimination. Girl students should be encouraged to enrol in technical and science stream, efforts should be taken to develop scientific temperament among girls and women. Technology should be developed to reduce the hard work of women. Measure should be taken to give equality in power sharing and active participation in decision making, including decision making in political processes at all levels. True empowerment will only be reached when women take part actively the decision making process of our country. Women Reservation Bill that entitles to provide 33% reservation in parliament is a bill of utmost importance.
To enhance the situation of women they should be supported in every field. First of all we must treat female child as equal to male child and restore equality among them. Indian Constitution guaranteed political equality among men and women, yet there is difference between the constitutional rights and rights enjoyed in reality by women. Even after 70 years of independence, barring a few exceptions, women have mostly remained outside the domain of power and political authority.
To change the present scenario of women in India one needs strong determination among every man that every woman in this country should be honoured. This could be possible only by adopting definite social and economical policies with a view of total development of women and to make them realize that they have the potential to be strong human being.
