LEVEL B CSS Cadre Training Programme Institute of Secretariat Training & Management

Mrs. Rashmi Satpathy Mr. M. Manoharan Mrs. C Baby Usha Mrs. Renu Sablania Mrs. Madhu Bala Pasi Mr. Kajal Kumar

What is Women Empowerment? In the simplest of words it is basically the creation of an environment where

women can make independent

decisions on their personal development as well as shine as equals in society.

Women want to be treated as equals so much so that if a woman rises to the top of her field. This can only happen if there is a proper system for the empowerment of women. Thus, women empowerment in India is a topic for discussion with no real solution except to redouble our efforts and continue to target the sources of all the violence and ill-will towards women.

Present Position

It is a fact that in the modern India, the woman has always been a second grade citizen, no matter what its esteemed leaders have said or done.
It is only in India that glaring and brutal gang rapes occur frequently in a state that is headed by a woman Chief Minister.

Political leaders have already identified the large vote bank in women, particularly rural woman folk. In the election campaign, political leaders are talking much about woman empowerment. They consider that women are playing crucial role in nation-building and that the root of all problems is the discrimination against women, and that women should be free to choose their careers, marry person of their choice, and so on. (Shri Narendra Modi) Regarding their security, laws are not enough and that speedy justice is required to create fear in those who commit crime against women.

In Lucknow, during an election campaign, a prominent political leader said, women would have to identify their strengths and become self-reliant to improve the future of their families and the country. (Shri Rahul Gandhi)

Women will be considerably empowered if they are freed from certain basic chore of daily life. Their daily duties include fetching water for drinking and collect fuel for cooking, etc. According to Census 2011, about 13 crore households do not have a water source within their homes. They have to fetch water from distant places. This backbreaking work is womans chore almost everywhere. These women would greatly be empowered and developed if taps or even hand-pumps are installed in their home.

Women not only do cooking but also the preparatory work starting with fetching fuel to lighting the fire. LPG or piped gas should be provided to these women so that they can devote their time to productive work. Nearly 13 crore households do not have toilets in their homes. Women have to go out either before dawn or at dusk, a security risk. We request political leaders should think and do needful in the matter.

Why Woman should be treated as equal A key factor driving gender inequality is the preference for sons, as they are deemed more useful than girls. Boys are given the exclusive rights to inherit the family name and properties and they are viewed as additional status for their family. They are also believed to have a higher economic utility as they can provide additional labour in agriculture. Another factor is that of religious practices, which can only be performed by males for their parents' afterlife. Indian women tend to be valued by society in relation to their role in the family, namely as a wife, daughter-in-law, and mother. Women who fall outside of these roles, such as widows and single women, face discrimination and in many cases, loss of property. Since a woman is considered incomplete without being married, a strong social stigma exists for unmarried adult women, widows, and divorcees.

The United Nations Development Programme constituted eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for ensuring equity and peace across the world. The third MDG is directly related to the empowerment of women in India. The MDGs are agreed-upon goals to reduce certain indicators of disparity across the world by the year 2015.

For the holistic development of the child, the Ministry of Woman and Child Development has been implementing the world's largest and most unique and outreach programme of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) providing a package of services. The Ministry has undertaken in the recent past universalisation of ICDS and Kishori Shakti Yojana, launching a nutrition programme for adolescent girls, establishment of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights and enactment of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Most of the programmes of the Ministry are run through non-governmental organisations. Efforts are made to have more effective involvement of NGOs. The Ministry has 6 autonomous organisations viz. National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) National Commission for women (NCW) National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK)

The ministry has implemented the following: Immoral Traffic in Women and Girl Act. 1956 (as amended upto 1986) . The Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act, 1986 (60 of 1986). The Dowry Prohibition Act. 1961 (28 of 1961) The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (3 of 1988), excluding the administration of criminal justice in regard to offences under these Acts.

Steps taken by the Government of India for Woman Empowerment and Gender Equity are: National Commission for Women. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (56 of 2000). Probation of Juvenile offenders. Issues relating to adoption, Central Adoption Resource Agency and Child Help Line (Childline.) The Children Act, 1960 (60 of 1960). The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 (19 of 1929).

The educational scenario in Kerala is far advanced than other states of India. Girls outnumber boys in all classes comprising 49.23% of the total students enrolment in schools. Besides, out of the 46998 students studying in vocational higher secondary schools, 51.86% are girls and at the graduate and postgraduate level too girls took the prime position with 67% and 78.2% (2006-2007) respectively. The picture showed that in the university education too girls stood first, which means that the government had laid emphasis on enrolling and retention of girls in normal schooling and non-formal education. Moreover, the government of Kerala is committed to bring about basic change in the status of women through education.

It is found that women do actively participate in democratic activities also. For e.g. the Provisional data available with the Election Commission shows in five states / Union territories completed polling in the first four phases of the Lok Sabha elections this year, the voting percentage for women was higher than men. The five states / UTs where more women have voted than men are Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim 7 Lakshadweep. The voting percentage for women was 65.96% in 2009, a good 15% more than for men. This was the first time since 1962, when the records male and female voters were first compiled, the voting percentage was higher for women.

Recently Ms. Rohini has been appointed as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. She is one of the best examples of empowering women.

Social Media has changed the life of 38 year old Mumtaz Biwi, a small entrepreneur and social activist belongs to Mandarpur Village of East Midnapur district of West Bengal. This young, energetic and committed lady is now using social media to share here ideas with other groups and also expand her business. Though belonging to an orthodox Muslim family, she wishes to provide proper education to her two children to bestow them the benefit literacy. Empowerment of women in a knowledge based society like India involves enhancing their ability and skill development their ability and skill development to gain insight into the issues pertaining to them, provide them opportunity to overcome social and institutional barriers and strengthening their participation in the economic and political activities so as to being about overall improvement in their quality of life.

Women's Reservation Bill or The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, is a pending bill in India which proposes to amend the Constitution of India to reserve 33 per cent of all seats in the Lower house of Parliament of India, the Lok Sabha, and in all state legislative assemblies for women. The seats to be reserved in rotation will be determined by draw of lots in such a way that a seat shall be reserved only once in three consecutive general elections. The Upper House Rajya Sabha passed the bill on 9 Mar 2010. As of February 2014, the Lower House Lok Sabha has not yet voted on the bill. If the Lok Sabha were to approve the bill, it would then have to be passed by half of India's state legislatures and signed by the President.

We suggest that if the problems pointed above are addressed and solutions are implemented, our country will progress faster and will project to the world as one of the best of part of the world.