ROUGH DRAFT ON LAW RELATING TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN

ON

EMPOWERMENT AND PROTECTION OF WOMEN UNDER EQUAL RENUMERATION

ACT

Submitted to: - Vijyant Sinha

Faculty of Law Relating to Women And Children

Submitted by: - Deepak Kumar

Roll No- 1015

5th Year, B.B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)

CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION

This Chapter will deal with the basics of women empowerment, the status of women in the past,
the concept of the Equal Remuneration Act, and its objectives.

CHAPTER 2- GENDER JUSTICE & CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

This Chapter will deal the concept of gender justice, provisions for women equality in the
Constitution of India. Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 16, 39(a), 39(b), 39(c) and 42 of the Constitution are
of specific importance in this regard. 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 neutralizing the cumulative socio economic, education and political disadvantages
faced by them.

CHAPTER 3- RIGHT TO EQUALITY AND EQUAL RENUMERATION ACT

This Chapter will deal with the concept of Right to Equality, its various interpretations by the
court of law like Test of Reasonable Classification, New Concept of Equality, various case laws
in which the term equality was discussed like Indira Sawhney case, E. P. Royappa case, Maneka
Gandhi case. It will also deal with Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, an act to provide for the
payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers and for the prevention of
discrimination, on the ground of sex, against women in the matter of employment and for
matters, connected there with or incidental thereto. It will also include critical analysis of Equal
Remuneration Act.

CHAPTER 4- ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

This Chapter will deal with the role of government in enacting various schemes for women
empowerment. In the year 2001, the Government of India launched a National Policy for
Empowerment of Women. Its objective are:-

 Creation of an environment for enjoyments of all human rights and fundamental freedom by
women on equal basis with men in all political, economic, social, cultural and civil spheres.
 Providing equal access to participation and decision making of women in social political and
economic life of the nation.
 Providing 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 life etc.
 Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against
women.
 Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child.

Various schemes of the Ministry are like:-

Support to Training and Employment Program for Women (STEP). Under this program training
is provided to poor and marginalized women in traditional trades which are largely in the
informal sector. The scheme has 2 fold objectives:-

 To provide skills that give employability to women.

 To provide competencies and skills that enable women to become self-
employed/entrepreneurs.

Swawlamban scheme being implemented by the Department of Women and Child Development.
Its basic objective is to provide training and skill to women to facilitate them obtains
employment or self-employment on a sustained basis. The target group under the scheme is the
poor and needy women, women from weaker sections of the society, such as Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes, etc.
Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) Scheme was introduced in 2010 and is
implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It is a conditional cash transfer
scheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for first live birth. It
provides partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and
to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) to provide micro-finance services to bring about the socio-
economic upliftment of poor women through Intermediary Organisations (IMOs) for income
generating activities. It extends micro-credit to poor and underprivileged women through a
collateral-free, quasi-formal delivery mechanism where NGOs, women co-operatives,
federations etc. act as intermediaries.

CHAPTER 5- INTERNATIONAL MEASURES FOR GENDER JUSTICE

This Chapter will deal with various international conventions, declarations, rules and regulations
like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 ,the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, 1966 , International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),
adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and ratified by India in 1993, is often described as
an international bill of rights for women. It was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been
ratified by 189 states.

The Convention is structured in six parts with 30 articles total.

Part I (Articles 1-6) focuses on non-discrimination, sex stereotypes, and sex trafficking.

Part II (Articles 7-9) outlines women's rights in the public sphere with an emphasis on political
life, representation, and rights to nationality.

Part III (Articles 10-14) describes the economic and social rights of women, particularly focusing
on education, employment, and health. It also includes special protections for rural women and
the problems they face.

Part IV (Article 15 and 16) outlines women's right to equality in marriage and family life along
with the right to equality before the law.
Part V (Articles 17-22) establishes the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women as well as the states parties' reporting procedure.

Part VI (Articles 23-30) describes the effects of the Convention on other treaties, the
commitment of the states parties and the administration of the Convention. India has
reserved Art. 5 (a) relating to change of discriminatory social and cultural patterns, Art 16 (1)
and (2) relating to rights within the family and compulsory registration of marriages.

In 1999, in Gita Hariharan's case, where the question was whether the mother of a Hindu minor
could be the legal guardian during the lifetime of the father, the Apex Court, while holding in
favour of women stated, "the message of CEDAW and the Beijing Declaration which directs all
State Parties to take appropriate measures to prevent discrimination in all forms against women
is quite clear. India is a signatory to CEDAW. . . the domestic courts are under an obligation to
give due regard to International Covenants and norms for construing domestic law when there is
no inconsistency between them.

On signature India made the following declarations and a reservation, which India confirmed on
ratification as it contradict the "spirit and aim" of India's constitutional guarantees of equality and
non-discrimination.

Declarations:

"i) With regard to articles 5 (a) and 16 (1) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, the Government of the Republic of India declares that it shall
abide by and ensure these provisions in conformity with its policy of non-interference in the
personal affairs of any Community without its initiative and consent.

"ii) With regard to article 16 (2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, the Government of the Republic of India declares that though in
principle it fully supports the principle of compulsory registration of marriages, it is not practical
in a vast country like India with its variety of customs, religions and level of literacy."
Reservation:

"With regard to article 29 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, the Government of the Republic of India declares that it does not consider itself
bound by paragraph 1 of this article."

Implementation

India follows the dualist theory for implementation of international law at the domestic level.

The UN Committee, citing concerns about the lack of adequate structures, mechanisms, and
actions to ensure consistent application of the Convention in all states and union territories,
recommended that India create formal links between the National Commission for Women and
the various state-level women's commissions and that India consider using its constitutional
powers under article 253 to establish standards and coordination and monitoring mechanisms in
order to harmonize and implement gender equality programs and policies and enforce women's
rights legislation at the central, state and union territory levels.

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY