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Women and Personal Law and Civil Code

2022 SOCIOLOGY-COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

The question of women was at the top of the agenda of social reformers in the 19th century. The law’s potential to improve the status of women was recognized by conciliatory Indian intellectuals seeking to bring about social reform, as well as by colonial rulers wishing to establish a modern legal system and a positive British image. The former has its dilemmas; The latter has its own problems. The colonial rulers were overwhelmed by the prevailing legal texts, codes and institutions, apart from unfamiliar customs and traditions, local customs and practices.

The discrimination felt by women in India is sanctified by tradition and rarely challenged by law. In fact, the voice of women in the formulation, implementation and interpretation of laws is very weak. The fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution have not been able to ensure equality for women in all spheres, and the Directive Principles of State Policy have remained mere sacred words. Personal laws based on religion and currently operating under the guise of freedom of religion, govern women’s lives, such as marriage, divorce, guardianship, adoption, maintenance and property issues.

In this context it is contradictory to say

It appears that despite the shortcomings of the legal system in India, it is the law that has been effective as an instrument of social change and is still expected to be a strategy to free women from bondage.

Despite the shortcomings of the legal system in India, it appears that it is law that has been effective as an instrument of social change and is still expected to be a strategy to liberate women from bondage.

inequality and subordination

The colonial rulers, in their own way, distinguished between the private and public spheres of the lives of the governed, and decided not to interfere in the private sphere as far as possible, as this could lead to unrest. laws governing issues such as marriage, divorce,

In search of the certainty they desired in the laws relating to civil and criminal liability and property contracts, they turned to the written religious codes and their commentaries. The pundits and clerics helped him in his endeavours. This approach resulted in non-recognition of their usages and practices, excessive emphasis on written religious texts, and the establishment of “law and order” by the British as deemed appropriate. Hindu law got Brahmanized, and Muslim law also became very limited in authority and took root in the system.

More complex as the hierarchy of gender, in addition to regional variations, intersects with hierarchies of class, caste and ethnicity. Women and men also find themselves in different hierarchies that give them power and status based on their birth and relationship to the main male members of the family.
why

Inheritance, succession and adoption came to be called personal laws, which had their origins in the religions of various communities. With the passage of time, little momentum remained for the customs and practices as political expediency became the guiding principle for the colonial rulers. By the time India gained independence from British rule, the personal laws of various communities were named religious laws, but in some cases they were actually state enactments while in others the content of the rules had undergone a substantial change (Parashara : 1992).
Secularisation of law in India has always been a formidable struggle because of the multiplicity and diversity found among different communities and the effectiveness of the rulers in dealing with them. Most of the pre-independence laws point to this reality (the post-independence situation has its own problems). The Special Marriage Act of 1872 provided Indians with the opportunity to contract a civil marriage. But under the Act the parties to the marriage had to declare that they had ceased to practice their religion. However, an amendment in 1923 removed this clause. The Indian Succession Act of 1925 can be seen as a secular and pro-women legislation.

Unfortunately, these two important legislations were not developed to evolve into a Uniform Civil Code (Agnes: 1992).
With nationalist fervour, the thirties brought important legislation: the Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act of 1937, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, and the Dissolution of the Muslim Marriage Act, 1939.

These Acts provided limited rights to women but did not question the fundamental gender inequality experienced by both Hindu and Muslim women.
Indian women leaders like Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and Sarojini Naidu felt the need for a comprehensive code to regulate marriage, divorce and inheritance. But the political climate was rapidly changing due to the accelerated movement for independence coupled with the two-nation theory. The struggle for women’s liberation got merged in the struggle for the liberation of the nation. Political necessity resulted in limited demand in the form of Hindu law reform.

Hindu Law:

Hindu law has its origins in ancient Sanskrit texts and age-old customs. Since Hindu law came from sources in which the religious were mixed with the social, it was considered marriage

As a religious and sacred bond, with special roles assigned to husband and wife. The sacred character of Hindu marriage was first challenged in 1885 in the case of Rukhmabai, who was married to Dadaji when she
Was 11 years old. Raised in a liberal environment, she refused to live with Grandfather when Grandfather took legal steps to claim his wife’s company after years of marriage. The court did not grant the plaintiff the relief he sought. This created upheaval in the traditional Hindu society.

Dadaji, supported by Hindu conservatives, appealed against the verdict. The appellate courts overturned the earlier decision, but Rukhmabai stood by her decision. Ultimately an out-of-court settlement was reached.

The case brought to the surface acute tensions related to social change and gender justice. The moderates and elites, influenced by Western ideology and education, were pitted against staunch Hindu traditionalists and strong nationalists who did not mind social change but did not want it through the agency of foreign rulers. Sharply divided views have contributed to the surface whenever any move for reform is considered, as can be seen from the controversy over The Hindu Code Bill.

The bill created an uproar in the Indian society to such an extent that it had to be legislated in pieces: The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; The Hindu Adoption And Maintenance

So Act, 1956; Hindu Minorities and Guardianship Act, 1956; and the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.

The law declares all Hindu marriages to be monogamous and empowers the aggrieved party—the wife and family members—to initiate criminal proceedings against the husband if he takes another wife. But in a traditional Hindu society, it is extremely difficult for a wife to go to court against her husband due to economic dependence, lack of education and information, and social pressure.

In fact, such progressive provisions do not go long enough to help a woman whose husband has taken another wife, as courts by and large hold that to declare a marriage void, which means Has all the required function to be performed. This provides a huge window for criminals to get away with ease as it is not easy to prove that the marriage has been solemnized with proper ceremonies.
Another tricky issue related to marriage is age.

There is an age condition (now, as amended in 1978, the minimum is 18 years for a girl and 21 years for boys), along with other conditions such as no bigamy and within the prohibited degree of relationship There is no marriage. Now, marriage below the prescribed age-limit does not in itself end the marriage.

Marriage, although the party/parties to the marriage may be subject to imprisonment and/or fine for breaking the law. How can a minor boy or girl who marries below the prescribed age limit be punished for violating the law? This is an issue that needs careful consideration. Very often the provision regarding the age of marriage is flouted on a large scale.
Hindu women have been given the right to divorce under specified conditions: desertion or cruelty by the husband. There is also a provision for divorce by mutual consent. Liberal judgments go a long way in mitigating the agony arising out of irreconcilable differences in marriage. Still, divorce is not easily acceptable and a divorced woman has to face social and economic problems. As far as sustenance is concerned, it doesn’t come on time or near enough. The provisions relating to maintenance and custody of children are also unsatisfactory.
Prior to the Hindu Succession Act, property rights of women were limited. Now equal rights of inheritance are given to sons and daughters, and the widow’s limited property is converted into absolute ownership. Remarriage of a widow does not deprive her of her husband’s property (as was the position under the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act).
The right to maintenance of a Hindu woman has been recognized as a tangible right against property and the husband has a personal obligation to maintain his wife, and if he or his family has property, the woman has a legal right to maintenance from that property.
However, some liberal provisions and judgments cannot erase the male-bias of the law. The Hindu Succession Act upheld co-parcenary under the Mitakshara joint family system, which excludes women from the right of inheritance and control of joint family property. The property is owned by the father, his sons and their male descendants. In case of death of any one of them, the ownership of the property remains with the remaining members.
This provision made strong arguments for and against this male bias, and is still being debated by progressive elements. Five states have taken steps to make a dent in the situation. Kerala has completely abolished the Kerala Joint Family. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka have also taken legislative steps to remove the discriminatory features of the Mitakshara joint family.

Muslim Personal Law:

There are two main schools of Muslim law prevalent in India: the Hanafi school governing Sunni Muslims and the Itnashar

The Shia school of governing Shia Muslims. Most of the Muslims in India belong to the Sunni sect governed by the Hanafi school.

For Muslims, marriage is not a sacrament but a civil contract signed by a man and a woman. Consent of both the parties is necessary. A Muslim wife receives a dowry or mehr, which is the amount paid by the husband to the wife for marriage. The parties to the marriage can lay down the terms and conditions of the marriage in the Nikahnama. In fact such marriages are one-sided, and the woman rarely knows its contents.

Muslim women are discriminated against in matters of polygamy, divorce and share in ancestral property. A Muslim man in India can marry up to four wives, although this is not the case in many other Islamic countries. The most prevalent method of divorce is the three utterances of the words by the husband: “I divorce you”.

The provision of maintenance to a Muslim divorced woman has been a matter of concern for progressive elements not only among Muslims but also among all sections of the society. The provision of maintenance to a divorced wife is limited to the period of iddat, which is usually three months, and if the wife is pregnant, it continues till delivery. On the whole, however, the courts have allowed Musal along with other women to claim maintenance under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for themselves and their children.

We have recognized the rights of women.

The case of Shah Bano is noteworthy in this context. Verdict in Mohd. Khan v. Shah Bano and others (AIR 85 SC 945) attracted national attention and had an impact on national politics. Here it was held that a divorced Muslim woman, unless she has remarried, can claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Many decisions have come in this direction earlier also, yet this decision is a milestone. The judgment recognized the right of a divorced woman to maintenance and pointed out the need for a common civil code. This stirred up the orthodox elements of the Muslim society.

The then government succumbed to pressure and Muslim women

The (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act was passed in 1986. The law provides for the maintenance of the wife during the period of iddat. It further provides that if a divorced woman has not remarried and is not able to maintain herself after the period of iddat, she may claim maintenance from such relatives as may be entitled to inherit her property on her death. shall be entitled to inherit from (first from his children and then from) parents, then from other relatives) – and if a relative is not able to pay such maintenance, then from the Waqf Board. This law was a blow to the progressive elements. However, the courts have taken a progressive stance in some cases related to maintenance even after the passage of this act.

As far as the maintenance of the divorced wife and the welfare of her children are concerned, some progressive decisions are paving the way. But the Supreme Court has more or less not taken any such step which disturbs the status quo in the Muslim society. It had opportunities to eliminate discriminatory provisions against Muslims in some cases.

Personal Law of Other Minorities:

Women from minority groups continue to be discriminated against: The Indian Christian Marriage Act of 1872, which is over a century old, is still in effect. The changed climate after the Government of India Act of 1935 did not lead to reforms in Christian personal law. Despite the reports of the Law Commission of India in 1960 and 1983, the Government of India also did not take any effective step in this direction.

Any attempt at change brings deeper issues to the surface. In Mary Roy v. State of Kerala and others (AIR 1986 SC 1011), it was held that the Indian Succession Act, 1925 supersedes the Travancore Christian Succession Act, 1916. brothers in their father’s property whereas under the Travancore Christian Succession Act the daughter can take only one fourth of the son’s share, subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000. The judgment removed discrimination, but it did not address the issue of underlying inequality.

Parsis are also not egalitarian for Parsi women. The rules under the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act (of 1865, amended in 1936) and the Indian Succession Act of 1925 as applicable to Paris do not claim to be based on Zoroastrianism. however, were

Some efforts to bring about legal changes in matters of marriage and divorce.

Today the situation is such that such personal laws of minorities continue to operate and the state does not want to touch them, lest such efforts create unrest and disturb the political balance. In the case of Hindu women, the state has managed to increase the rights of Hindu women, but in the case of personal laws for Muslim, Parsi and Christian women, the state has not intervened. this issue dem

And note: women from minorities face inequalities and this issue is related to the rights of minorities, where most of the spokespeople remain men. The reluctance of the state to modify the religious personal laws of any community vis-à-vis the Hindu community exemplifies the conflict between minority rights and the rights of women from minority communities (Parashar: 1992).

16.5 II. Women and Civil Code Women and Law:

Inequalities are endemic in our hierarchical Indian society, and they become more complex in gender contexts. Women and men are placed in different hierarchies that give them power and status based on their birth and relation to male members of the family. The discrimination felt by women in India is sanctified by tradition and rarely challenged by law. In fact, women have very little voice in the making, implementation and interpretation of laws. The fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution have not been able to ensure equality for women in all spheres, and the Directive Principles of State Policy have remained mere sacred words. Religion-based personal laws and personal laws currently operating under the guise of freedom of religion keep women’s lives in their clutches, governing issues such as marriage, divorce, guardianship, adoption, maintenance and property. In this context, it seems paradoxical to say that despite the shortcomings of the legal system in India, it is the law that has been and is expected to be effective as an instrument of social change, a strategy to liberate women. shackles of inequality and subordination. Our experience shows that the women’s movement has been a cautious critic of the patriarchal dimensions of the legal system.

And yet it never hesitates to demand legal intervention from the state for the betterment of the lives of women.

Gender inequality in law:

, The social reforms of the nineteenth century attempted some marginal adjustments arising out of humanitarian considerations and social demands, their most important achievement being the law against the practice of Sati. Although no such legislation was attempted in 1857. The strengthening of the national movement and the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi led to demands for bringing major changes in the law and removing the legal inferiority of women and ending discrimination against them. In matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, or custody of children that affect their lives and personalities. Thus reform of Hindu law was initiated before independence, however, due to orthodox resistance, it could not be implemented piecemeal during the 1950s.

During the British period, the general policy of non-interference in social and religious affairs perpetuated many systems and stabilized and hardened the differences between different religious communities and between men and women, preventing normal adjustment to socio-economic changes . The colonial rulers, in their own way, distinguished between the private and public spheres of life according to their own rules and decided not to interfere in private spheres as far as possible, as this could lead to unrest. The laws governing such issues are personal laws, which have their origins in the religions of various communities. With the passage of time, there was little room left for rituals and customs, as political expediency became the guiding principle for the colonial rulers. By the time India gained independence from British rule, the personal laws of various communities were named religious laws, but in some cases they were actually state laws, while in others the content of the rules had changed significantly.

Matrimonial Law:

Most of the laws made before independence point towards this reality. The Special Marriage Act of 1872 provided Indians with the opportunity to contract a civil marriage. But under the Act the parties to the marriage had to declare that they had ceased to practice their religion.

The Indian Succession Act of 1925 can be seen as a secular and pro-women law that was not further developed to develop an equal citizen

Secularization of law in India has always been a formidable struggle because of the multiplicity and diversity found among different communities and the inability of the rulers to deal with them. ,

Many important Acts have been made in 1930. Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act of 1937; The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, and the Dissolution of the Muslim Marriage Act, 1939. These Acts gave limited rights to women but did not question the fundamental gender inequality experienced by both Hindu and Muslim women.

The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, declares that all Hindus enter into one marriage and empowers the aggrieved party—the wife and family members—to initiate criminal proceedings against the husband.

band if he takes a second wife. But in a traditional Hindu society it is extremely difficult for a wife to go to court against her husband because of her economic dependence, lack of education and information and social pressure, in fact, such progressive provisions go far to help the woman. Do not go till whose husbands have taken second wives, because by and large the courts hold that for a marriage to be declared void, it has to be solemnized, which means all the necessary rituals have to be performed. Muslim law is discriminatory against women in matters of polygamy. A Muslim in India can have up to four wives, although this is not the case in many other Islamic countries.

The destructive effects of child marriage prompted social reformers to stop them by law. The Child Marriage Act, 1978 sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys. While it is necessary to punish the performance of child marriage, the benefit of such a law is much greater than the fact that the marriage itself is considered valid.

The long-term objective should be to amend this aspect of the law and declare child marriage legally void. Marriage under the prescribed age limit does not in itself end the marriage, although the party to the marriage may be punished with imprisonment and/or fine for violating the law. How can a minor, boy or girl, who marries below the prescribed age-limit be punished for violating the law? This is an issue that needs careful consideration. Very often the provision regarding the age of marriage is flouted on a large scale.

Compulsory registration of marriages as recommended by the United Nations would be an effective check on child and bigamy, provide reliable proof of marriages and ensure the legitimacy and inheritance rights of children. registration of marriages

For all marriages performed under the Compulsory and Special Marriage Act, 1954 between Parsis and Christians, section 16 of this Act which allows registration of marriages celebrated under other laws,

failed to generate much response. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a system of compulsory registration of all marriages.

16.8 Dowry:

The practice of taking and giving dowry is deeply rooted, and often leads to neglect of the girl’s education, impoverishment of her parents, and even suicide of the girl. Condemned by social reformers and progressive elements, the system continues to percolate down to all levels, even to classes where it was not there before. The Dowry Prohibition Act was enacted by Parliament in 1961, which was amended in 1984 and 1986. Now the offense of dowry is treated as cognizable and non-bailable, giving and taking of dowry is prohibited, cruelty to others on abetment of suicide of woman. punished.

Unfortunately the social conscience is still sleeping as is evident from the many cases of ill-treatment of a girl child by her in-laws or her husband for failing to bring sufficient dowry, which were reported to the police. Legal technicalities and loopholes in the laws, which delay the process, reluctance of the woman and her parents/relatives to take legal action, and social prejudice, defeat the very purpose of progressive legislation.

Parents often do not want their married daughters to return to the parental home. So instead of making strategy for the dignified life of the daughter, they fulfill the demand of dowry. Helpless and humiliated, the women either resort to suicide or burn themselves in their homes. Although the court condemns the dowry system, its approach only accepts the patriarchal notions of the dominant family ideology, which sees brides move from their paternal families to their matrimonial families (Kapur and Cossman: 1993).

Divorce :

The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, upholds the superior rights of the father and makes him the first (mother second) natural guardian for boys and unmarried girls. However, the father has lost his previous right to disinherit the mother by appointing a testamentary guardian. The prior right of the mother is recognized ‘generally’ only for the custody of children below the age of five years. Even in the case of illegitimate children, she has a better claim than the father. The Act also directs that, in deciding guardianship, the courts should take

The ‘welfare of the child’ as a paramount consideration.

Hindu women have been given the right to divorce under specified conditions: Importance of the husband; abandonment or cruelty. There is also a provision for divorce by mutual consent. Liberal judgments go a long way in mitigating the agony arising out of irreconcilable differences in marriage. Still, divorce is not easily acceptable and a divorced woman has to face social and economic problems. as far as maintenance is concerned

Related, it does not come on time or there is insufficient amount for it. The provisions relating to maintenance and custody of children are also unsatisfactory.

Inheritance :

Even after so many years of independence, women still have to face equality, supremacy and exploitation. Whereas the Constitution of India prescribes the norm of family as egalitarian, conjugal and nuclear families of husband and wife who have entered into a marriage of their own choice; Several Acts, especially those dealing with personal laws, gave legal legitimacy to the different, diverse and contradictory patterns of family types for different religious communities. These pertain to personal laws allowing patriarchal, monogamous, large families which not only shape different structures of families but also provide diversity and contradiction in the rights and obligations of different members within the family, as well as succession, descent , also discriminate with respect to heritage and other aspects of the family.

There were several systems of succession among Hindus in pre-independence India, in most of which the status of women was that of a dependency with hardly any proprietary rights. Where they had some rights, they had only life interest and absolute ownership. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 has given equal rights of succession among female heirs in the same category (brother and sister, son and daughter). But this act remained imaginary because they are so cultured that they do not oppose only a part of their brothers. But in the absence of social security and adequate employment opportunities, inheritance rights in property, financial security and preventing women from becoming destitute.

While it is true that only a limited number of women are benefiting from wealth, gender inequality persists. However, some liberal provisions cannot remove the male-bias of the law. The Hindu Succession Act upheld co-obligation under the Mitakshara joint family system, which excludes women from the right to inherit and control joint family property. The property is owned by the father, his sons and their male descendants. On the death of any of them, the remaining members continue to be the owners of the property. This provision raised strong arguments for and against this male bias, and is still being debated by progressive elements. Five states have taken steps to deal with the situation. Kerala has completely abolished the Kerala Joint Family. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maha

Maharashtra and Karnataka have also taken legislative steps to remove the discriminatory feature of the Mitakshara joint family.

Further, the woman’s right to maintenance is recognized as a tangible right

Property and the husband has a personal obligation to maintain his wife, and if he or his family has property, the woman has a legal right to be maintained from that property.

In conclusion, it can be seen that granting fundamental rights and passing progressive laws have not paved the way for an egalitarian society. It is not easy to adapt the legal system to the pace of social change. The Directive Principles of State Policy remain ideals; And the archaic functions remain operative. Woman is still seen more as an embodiment of virtue and sacrifice than as a citizen, equal to man and a participant in the process of development. Bad practices like bigamy, dowry system etc. have not ended yet. Crimes against women are not decreasing. In addition, the legal process is cumbersome and costly.

The right to development is a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of the fundamental human rights. Thus, the human person naturally becomes the central subject of development. The right to development should be fulfilled so as to be fulfilled equitably

Population, development and environment. This is the need of present and future generations.

All human beings are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. They have the right to an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing, housing, water and sanitation for themselves and their families. Countries should ensure that all individuals are given the opportunity to reach their maximum potential. UNDP’s Human Development Reports (HDRs) since 1990 have repeatedly pointed out that people are the real asset of a nation. Human progress is not about expanding income and speeding up the production of goods, but about expanding human capabilities.

Concept of Development:

Development is defined by HDR as the process of increasing people’s choices. Such choices are very broad with some very basic choices such as living healthy, gaining knowledge and, soon, greater social, economic and political freedom, including choices to be creative and productive and to enjoy personal self-respect and There are opportunities to be sure. human rights. However, at all levels of development, especially from the perspective of poverty and inequality, the three most essential choices are for people to live a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge and to have access to the resources necessary for a decent standard of living. The Human Development Index (HDI) that HRD presents annually reflects the level of achievements of various countries on these three important dimensions of human development. By ranking the world’s countries, the HDI shows how far a country has to travel to provide these three essential options to all of its people. This means that by ignoring half of the population, there can be no human development and overall development of any country.

Definition of Jurisdiction:

Women’s oppression is, among other things, rooted in age-old power-based gender relations in the family, community, and society. Empowering women actually meant strengthening them against family, community, caste, religious and traditional forces, patriarchal forces and prejudices and powerful patriarchal forces working within government departments. Interests that are supported by government structures and agencies. The process of such change requires a struggle against inefficiencies, insensitivity, corruption and centralization at various levels.

Even at the government level. The behavioral change that the program aimed to bring about in government officials and departments was to highlight the inadequacies of state laws, their weak implementation and to ask for new laws and rights in areas where they did not exist. The emphasis is on decentralization of structures, flexibility of agenda, participation of women at the grassroots level and, importantly, voluntarism to achieve the objectives of women’s empowerment.

Education and training interventions combined with effective linkages with other support services and activities are considered to be one of the most appropriate and potentially effective tools for the empowerment of rural women. The principle aims at empowering women through communication of information, education and training and enabling them to identify and improve their social and economic status. The Indo-Dutch Mission, which came out with a background paper on the Mahila Samakhya programme, stated that “Empowerment in the Indian context

It meant the development of women’s ability to make informed choices and the expansion of their capacity to manage their domestic and economic empowerment.

However, the process of ’empowerment’ itself was bound to generate conflict – conflict with family members, community, caste and religious interest groups, challenge oppressive customs and practices on issues of development and rights along with class interests Due to giving clutched patriarchal interests. To bring any structural change in the society and economy for the benefit of women. Ignoring the social aspects

There is a tendency to see CAS as an economic process only. The problem is that planners are reluctant to recognize the diversity of women’s experiences and the conflicting and sometimes contradictory nature of the interests of the women they are planning for. It needs to be understood that apart from gender, class, caste, age, etc. are other important factors that influence their lives. Interests based on these diverse aspects may contradict each other or strengthen or undermine the relations of oppression in which they live… Their influence may be felt differently at different times of different stages of life. Could This means that there is no single way of understanding women’s needs and there is a need to assess women’s interests objectively and empirically, beyond the basic physical needs of food, clothing and shelter.

The empowerment approach is concerned with three things: exposing the oppressive nature of gender-relations, critically challenging them, and trying to creatively shape different social relations with the active participation of women (Arya: 2000). Thus, the new approach expanded the meaning of the concept of development to include other tangible benefits as well as changes in social attitudes that hindered the empowerment of the marginalized sections of women to be achieved through their own active participation. . Women can be empowered through education, information sharing and training so that they can realize their collective power. Thus, there are two concepts involved in this approach: participation and empowerment. Participation is empowerment became an accepted notion by 1985. This meant that the empowerment of women required a strong element of participation, which would enable them to achieve social, economic and political equality.

17.4 PHILOSOPHY AND STRUCTURE OF THE EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS:

The philosophy and concepts behind the programs and the new approach to development and empowerment were based on a new understanding of the status of women. Earlier programs focused on the economic upliftment of women by providing them training, skills and loans to make them financially independent, without taking into account other aspects of their lives that kept them subordinate and oppressed.

Thus, the Women’s Development Project proposal stated, “It does not require much sensitivity to feel the indifference and injustice towards women. They have to learn the harsh facts of life without the opportunity of schooling. They are recognized as workers.” without work and throughout their lives they are expected to obey the commands of men – father, husband and son” (WDP: 1985). Similarly, the awareness generation program recognized that women’s participation in various processes of development is not coming to the fore due to social prejudices, cultural tensions and exploitative and oppressive attitudes towards them, which confine them to their own little world.

Mahila Samakhya’s analysis on the status of women states, “Women are caught in a vicious cycle where they are not able to educate themselves. This leads to a feeling that education is irrelevant to them. Food, fuel, The daily struggle for water, feed, childbirth and child-rearing drains all energy. Their social interactions are determined by cultural traditions, taboos and superstitions. Their social and family roles are well defined and they are

socially and physically abused. They do not have access to the information. They are cut off from the decision making process. It deals with government programs as passive recipients. Since they are not aware of their rights, they view their surroundings with suspicion and fear. All of these factors reinforce a low self-image, causing women to eventually become trapped in week’s perception of themselves and the way society views them (Mahila Sakhya Report: 1990). This program was meant to change the basic conditions of feminine love. It was suggested that this would come about only when there is a change in the attitude of women about themselves and their perception of the society regarding the traditional roles of women. Realization that ‘development is a concept which calls for a qualitative change in the outlook of the people’

Loved, the program’s emphasis is on creating experiences that facilitate an alternative perception of women’s self-image as well as societal image. Therefore, it was emphasized that there is a need to focus training programs on ‘Swachhata, Poshan, Child Vikas’ to create an environment of inquiry, contemplation, sharing, choosing, exploring and discovering through listening and listening. There was hope. Talking

The future of development and society lies in the future of men as well as women. It has never been more evident that women’s issues cannot be compartmentalized and isolated as secondary issues in development. Another bitter truth is that women are not only a major part of the society but also have more responsibilities than men towards many aspects of life. In addition, they are directly related to those factors of population change that affect the quality of life. age at marriage, childbearing, gender discrimination, health and nutrition,

Fertility and mortality rates (infant and female), economic profile, housing, education, religion, sex-practice, migration, employment, politics, social and cultural life, environmental consciousness and many other aspects of life directly involve women. Huh. That’s why women matter because if a woman is empowered through education, health and information then the whole family benefits and these benefits automatically spread to the whole society. In this way, the overall process of development becomes easier and faster. Thus, empowerment of women is a part of Human Resource Development (HRD) and cannot be considered independently and both must necessarily go hand in hand for the achievement of sustainable development. Empowerment and autonomy of women and improving their political, social, economic and health

Status is a highly important end in itself, especially in developing countries. Instead, priority should be given to the issue of women to bring them at par with men as they have been exploited and neglected for a long time.

HDR 1995 draws attention to the persistence of serious gender inequalities in human development. The central message of the report is that human development does not arise, it is endangered. HRD, 1995 shows that the GDI for India is 0.401 and it ranks 99 out of 130 countries in the world for which GDI has been calculated. Such a low level of human development and gender inequality for such a large population is indeed a sad reflection of the poor state of social progress in the country.

There can be two major approaches to women’s development:

Government
non-governmental

Voluntary organization approach may further involve voluntary organization and participation of local people. Both methods are being used for the development of women in India.

Government programs for women:

Government programs for the development of women started in India as early as 1954. Although the beginning was made in 1954, the real participation of women in mainstream economic activities began only in 1974 with the report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India. In the seventies, the government dealt with women’s issues as part of a wider range of poverty alleviation. In the eighties it was realized that women are not just a segment but the core of India’s poor. This brought to the fore the need for special programs for women as a top priority. Such initiatives include:

National Commission for Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector.
Preparation of National Perspective Plan for Women (NAPPW).
Support for Employment Program for Women (STEP).

Pilot Mahila Samakhya Programme: Women’s access to information and participation in development in ten districts of Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
Network of State Level Women’s Development Corporations.
Mahila Credit Fund.

Apart from this, the Government of India has many schemes for women some of which are women specific. In 1985, the Government of India formed a separate department in the Ministry of Human Resource Development for the development of women and children. During the Sixth and Seventh Plan periods, several programs were envisaged to provide employment and income generation, education, training, support services, general awareness and legal aid. they are:

Women Development Corporation (WDC).
Support for Training and Employment Program (STE).
Training-cum-Production Center for women.
Awareness generation camp for rural and poor women.
Women’s training centers or institutes for rehabilitation of women in distress.
Voluntary Action Bureau and Family Counseling Center.
Short stay homes for women and girls.
Free legal and para-legal training.
Working Women’s Hostel.

In this series, the state governments also took support of many women development programs.

mms. Haryana government started “Hamari Beti Hamara Dhan Yojana” for SC and ST girls from 1994, “Kalpavriksha Yojana” in Madhya Pradesh etc.

NGO for women:

In the eighties, an increasing role was played by non-governmental organizations in women’s development programmes. She helped create grassroots women’s organizations such as the Mahila Mandal and the Development of Women and Children in Rural

Area (Davkara). DWACRA was started on 1st September 1982. The objective of this program was to provide employment opportunities to women from rural families living below the poverty line. Later, a Rashtriya Mahila Kosh was set up in 1992-93 to enable women to avail loans. Along with this, Mahila Samridhi Yojana was started on October 2, 1993 to provide economic security to women and to develop the habit of saving in them. However, despite these strenuous efforts, Indian women still face serious developmental problems.

Need for women empowerment:

To evaluate the status of women, we have to take a holistic view of the development process. But to make it more precise the development of women should be seen in various fields like health, family planning, nutrition, education, employment etc.

demographic profile :

Gender Imbalance (Sex Ratio):

The sex ratio in India is not favorable to women and it is continuously falling down. In 1951 it was 946 and in 1991 it

reduced to 927. This is because the sex ratio at birth is becoming more favorable to males than before. Many female feticide have resulted in an imbalance of sex-ratio. The girl child is also neglected after birth; There is also a difference in the female infant mortality rate.

Maternal mortality rate :

Despite massive expansion in health facilities in the country, especially in the post-independence period, the maternal mortality rate remained high due to lack of proper care, hygienic and scientific delivery methods. Only a quarter of deliveries in India take place in medical institutions and two-thirds are not under the supervision of a trained medical professional. Access to antenatal care and delivery services is low.

marital status :

Marital status should be viewed from the perspective of fertility propensity in proportion to the proportion of individuals (especially women) married at an early age. Very young marriages are on the decline, but are still very high.

Education Level:

The high incidence of illiteracy among women is one of the biggest hindrances to their development. This limits their scope of employment, training, access to health facilities and exercise of legal and constitutional rights. The all-India female literacy rate according to the 1991 census is 39.3 percent against 64.1 percent for males.

Migration :

The plight of women is further compounded by migration which is often forced upon them by a number of social and cultural factors. The incidence of migration among women within the country is much higher than among men. According to the 1981 census, out of a total of 201.8 million migrants in India, the number of female migrants was as high as 141.8 million.

Economic Profile:

Poor women are invariably involved in economic activities, but they are invisible workers. Based on their employment status, these are the main groups of workers: (a) self-employed; (b) Salaried (agriculture workers, construction workers, contract and sub-contract workers etc.); and (c) unpaid family helpers.

The individual contribution of women gets merged with the family and becomes invisible. Even where he receives wages which are generally low, he is seen as providing supplemental income to the family. The reality is that the quantitative contribution of poor women is not very important, but the qualitative contribution is also very important for their families. Unlike men, who spend a portion of their earnings on themselves? The poor women workers hardly spend anything on themselves. His entire earning is spent on his upkeep and betterment of the family members. Despite the fact that majority of women workers are not counted, it cannot be denied that majority of women workers belong to insecure, self-employed and unorganized sector, where earning is very low. Hence, it is no wonder that in India, the contribution of women to the national income is hardly 10 to 15 per cent.

Health care and nutrition:

Heavy physical labor done by women, shocking work and living

Status, malnutrition, frequent pregnancies, poor quality of health services and poor access to them, lack of maternity benefits in the unorganized sector take a toll on women’s health. Women also face occupational hazards. In addition, reproductive health problems create specific health problems for women.

Children suffer from lack of primary health care, malnutrition, overcrowding, unhygienic living conditions, lack of education opportunities, neglect and lack of attention, especially in poor families. Often the invisible victim is the young girl child in the family, who helps her mother with housework, economic activities and looking after the younger children. Ignorance of mothers about vaccination, treatment of acute respiratory infections, fever and diarrhea etc. is the main cause of mortality and morbidity of children.

Women are responsible for the kitchen work and lack of knowledge about nutritional value of food and hygiene is responsible for malnutrition and poor health of the family. The inclusion of food products with minimal nutritional food value in the diet and improper methods of cooking are the result of ignorance among women. Undernutrition is much higher among women.

Political Profile:

For a very long time, women hardly got any representation in village panchayats, or cooperative societies etc. But now there is 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayat bodies. Still women, even those in power have miles to go, not only are women very less visible on the political scene, but their awareness about political parties and political rights etc. is also very dismal.

17.8 Women and Development:

An overview of those different paths looks at the important role of women in development. Scholars and development organizations now see the improvement of women’s status as an end in itself and as one of the most important means of reducing rapid population growth and improving the life chances of poor children .

The development efforts of the first two decades from 1950 to 1970 hardly gave any consideration to gender issues. Women were largely invisible, both as actors in the development process and as potential beneficiaries (or victims). Esther Bowser

Krupp’s 1970 book, The Role of Women in Economic Development, was the first work on

development to highlight women, and it came in the form of an academic bolt of lightning. Boserup pointed out that in less developed countries those women contribute significantly not only to the domestic sphere of reproduction but also to economic production.

In retrospect, Boserup’s findings seem obvious, but official economic statistics from countries around the world at the time consistently underestimated women’s non-domestic work. For example, Egyptian national statistics for 1970 listed only 3.6 percent of the agricultural workforce as women. An in-depth study revealed a completely different picture. Half of the women participated in plowing and leveling the land, and three-quarters participated in dairy and poultry production. In Peru the 1972 census recorded only 2.6 percent of the agricultural work force as women, while in one interview study 86 percent of women participated in field work.

Bosrep’s survey found that, although there is considerable variation by region and level of agricultural intensity, women work in agriculture just as much as men, if not more. The types of agricultural work done by women and men are different. However, men are more involved in mechanized and animal-assisted aspects of production, such as tillage, and women are more involved in hand operations, such as seeding and weeding.

Contrary to stereotypes about men’s greater physical capabilities, women actually do most of the world’s physical work.

However, development efforts were ignoring the implications of developmental policies for women’s work and women’s status. In many rural areas in less developed countries, especially in Africa, women gather the bulk of the fuel wood needed for cooking—another activity dominated by women. Development policies emphasizing exports encouraged poor countries to convert forest lands to timber and crop production, ignoring their importance as a source of fuel wood. Women soon found themselves walking miles and miles to collect projects, emphasizing men’s work, undermining women’s agricultural contributions, and almost completely ignoring domestic work, relegating it to money. outside the economy and therefore not really considered an economic activity.

At the time Boserup wrote, the status of women in households and communities, as well as in politics and the economy, was not seen as a development issue. In later years however, issues of the status of women and gender relations came closer to

Scholars central to the development debate recognized that women were disproportionately represented in the ranks of the poor. Furthermore, while women live longer than men in developed jobs, their longevity is significantly lower than that of men in less developed countries. The United Nations declared the Decade for Women from 1976 to 1985, and now few development projects proceed without some explicit attention to women, though often in passing.

One reason for “women in development”

(or WID, as it is often called by development experts) has shown so much interest in the growing recognition of the importance of women in population issues. Demographic studies suggest that women’s status, measured through their education and participation in the paid economy, is the most consistent factor in fertility decline. Women often seek to reduce fertility rates, sometimes in contrast to their male sexual partners. When men see women as economic equals, they tend to see them more as social equals as well, and women have more rights in family planning and other family decisions.

Education gives to women, as well as to men. A comprehensive understanding of possibilities is needed to eradicate determinism and build a sense of empowerment. The greater economic status of women in paid work in an increasingly monetized world means that childbirth and child care become more of an economic burden than an economic opportunity for families. Improving the status of women may be one of the major routes of demographic transition for less developed countries, in contrast to the general economic growth of structural adjustment and modernization diversity.

Some feminist critics are skeptical of this view of development, seeing the improvement of women’s status as an end to population stabilization, rather than a moral end in itself. Sylvia Walby argues that the emphasis should be on dismantling patriarchy, not on furthering the economic development of women. Patriarchy is a system of social organization in which women consistently have lower status and less social power than men—a system that, most scholars agree, still characterizes nearly all human societies. Emphasizing the economic development of women is perhaps putting the cart before the horse.

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The reason for this skepticism about women’s economic development is the tendency of women to take up low paid work. As less developed countries build up their exports to reduce debt and follow structural adjustment plans,

have tried to run, they

Has promoted cheap factory work’ usually done by women. As Valentin Moghadam has said, women are the ‘new proletariat around the world’.

There is considerable controversy among feminist scholars about this phenomenon, which is often referred to as the feminization of labor. Does this represent the continued subordination of women in a new form, or does it represent an opportunity for poor women to obtain a better life for themselves and their families through one of the few means available to them? Is this empowerment or continued disempowerment?

Improving the status of women is not just a means of stabilizing the population and increasing exports. However, as can be seen by the governments and development agencies involved, better conditions bode well for both women and their families. If nothing else, reproduction should be viewed as a women’s health issue. Half a million women die each year from pregnancy-related causes—some 200,000 through unsafe and illegal abortions and others through stillbirth, postnatal infections, and other diseases; 90 percent of these deaths occur in less developed countries. Better health for women also means better health for their children.

Despite improvements in women’s health and economic and social status, the persistence of patriarchy appears undeniable. Ending patriarchal social relations is the only way to ultimately achieve equal status for women. But the fact that women in development are finally getting attention (though perhaps not yet with enough sensitivity and commitment) shouldn’t be seen as just a patriarchal ploy. Rather, it may be a sign that the world is beginning to recognize that improving the status of women is not only good for women. It’s good for everyone.

Family Planning and Birth Control:

Another controversial aspect of the population is the use of birth control in family planning. Controversy stems partly from the draconian way of applying birth control in some instances, partly from ethical decisions related to some forms of birth control, and partly about the importance of birth control techniques in reducing fertility. In the questions.

India’s National Population Policy of 1976 emphasized health care, nutrition, and education of girls, along with sterilization. Sterilization plans proceeded rapidly, but other aspects of the policy were more long-term and were largely neglected. Most Indian states set bureaucratic quotas to monitor the ‘execution’ of policy, as it was called.

The forceful way in which it was implemented was not appreciated.

Examples like this, or examples like the sterilization of Native Americans carried out on some American reservations, are intolerable. They can also lead people, in anger and suspicion, to associate all advocacy for population control with persecution. To quote another, many critics have been worrying about population, a “racist eugenic and patriarchal tradition”—a fear of the rich and

About the white rising black-skinned mob, as well as the attempt to control women’s bodies. Critics have been particularly concerned about some Malthusians’ focus on birth control as a means of reducing population growth, given that most contemporary population growth is outside the West.

Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s 1990 book, The Population Explosion, may be an example. He predicted that, “The population explosion will end long ago. The only remaining question is whether it will be stopped through the human method of birth control, or the surplus will be wiped out by nature”. There’s nothing explicitly racist about such a statement, and probably not even explicitly racist. Nevertheless, critics have argued that all emphasis on birth control as a solution to population growth perpetuates the social inequality that is primarily the cause of growth. Whatever the intent of Ehrlich’s position (and assuming Ehrlich is indeed strongly committed to social equality), critics suggest the effect will be a continuation of social inequality of race, class, and gender.

But just because racism, classism, and sexism have been a dimension of some birth control policies and possibly some theories, doesn’t mean that birth control is necessarily racist or sexist. In fact, preventing people from controlling births can be just as racist, classist, and sexist as any wrong birth control policy. Reproduction is a basic human right. But it is also the right not to reproduce. Most couples around the world voluntarily seek control and regulation to plan their reproduction. Limiting their ability to do so may also be coercion.

An example of a policy of forced reproduction occurred in Romania in the late 1960s under the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, one of the harshest dictators of the twentieth century. In 1966, Ceausescu suddenly outlawed any form of birth control, as well as abortion. Women will undergo a gynecological examination for three months to determine whether they are complying with the new law.

Had to go through many years. resulting birth rate

Doubly, at least initially.

Maternal mortality also doubled, with nearly 85 percent of these deaths being due to wrongful abortions that were performed illegally. Women across Romania began avoiding gynecologists as much as possible, skipping appointments and failing to sign up for them, even for routine gynecological checkups. The result is that Romania now suffers from one of the highest rates of mortality due to cervical cancer in Europe. Infant mortality also increased significantly (up to a third) as parents neglected, abused, and even abandoned unwanted children.

Granting the right to control and plan births is not the same as approving all forms of birth control and all national birth control policies. There is certainly widespread disagreement over the mortality rate of some forms of birth control, especially abortion. But one can reject abortion and still support other means of birth control.

However, the question remains whether modern birth control technologies are an effective means of reducing population growth. Scholars in detailed historical studies have noted that, at least in the European demographic transition, fertility decline usually began before modern birth control techniques became widely available. In fact, fertility in some places had declined even before industrialization began.

The point is that there is nothing new about family planning. People have been and are using many techniques of family planning in addition to the pill, diaphragm, condom, sponge, and other modern birth control techniques. Practices such as late marriage, extended nursing, abstinence, talus, withdrawal and polyandry, can be and have been effective forms of family planning.

But there’s no doubt that modern methods can be more effective, which is one of the main reasons why so many couples around the world choose them when they become available. However, commitment to birth planning is absolutely essential to the success of any family planning practice. If social conditions are such that people are unwilling to make such a commitment, then no technique can be effective. In other words, birth control and greater social equality may be complementary rather than contradictory social policies.

Its promotion of birth control has serious black marks on its record. One of the worst was the National Population Policy of India of 1976, which was launched during a period of eighteen months between June 1975 and January 1977, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi acted as a dictator. I ruled. Prime Minister Gandhi was found guilty of electoral fraud, and declared a national emrgency to stay in power. The press was censored, dissidents were jailed, civil liberties were curtailed. In this climate of excessive state control, the government pursued a national population policy under the direction of Sanjay Gandhi, Mrs Gandhi’s son.

Although people were paid for sterilisations, this undemocratic period in India’s history saw much abuse as government officials struggled to meet their quotas. Near the capital Delhi, the government set up sterilization booths. People were harassed, threatened and bribed. In about six months, some 8 million vasectomy were performed, mainly on the poor, who were also often targeted by the program. Hundreds died in riots sparked by the protests, as well as from infections caused by sterilization procedures. When Mrs. Gandhi finally lifted the National Emergency, the program was soon abandoned.

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