Essay on the Empowerment of Women in India

"When women are the advisor, the Lords of creation don't take the advice till they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do; then they act upon it and if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it; if fails, they generously give herself the whole".- Louisa May Alcott

India today is at the cusp of a paradigm change in its growth and its position in the world. We (both men and women) must act decisively to capture this opportunity. We need to think big and scale up rapidly in each and every area, be it education, infrastructure, industry, financial services or equality of both genders. For around two centuries, social reformers and missionaries in India have endeavored to bring women out of confines in which centuries of traditions had kept them. According to the 2001 Census, the percentage of female literacy in the country is 54% up from 9% 1951.

But we should not forget that history in a witness to the women who have in the past demonstrated unique leadership capabilities. Razia Sultana, Rani of Jhansi, Sarojini Naidu and Indira Gandhi are motivation examples of women empowerment. Earlier, most women were able to demonstrate the leadership qualities only on their home fronts, as in Indian society man has always acted as the master of the scene and the decision regarding the issue of empowering women has always been taken by him. God has gifted women with compassion, tender-heartedness, caring nature, concern for others. These are very positive signs which imply that women can be leaders. Though some women have shown their mettle yet a large number of them have to sharpen their leadership qualities in various ways. In order to help women to be in limelight, they need to be empowered. Therefore, empowerment of women is the prerequisite to transform a developing country into a developed country.

I would like to peep into the past when the stature of women as destroyed. They were treated as chattel in the early Roman society. In France, they were termed as half-soul creatures responsible for the destruction of society. The Chinese considered them as devil's soul. Japanese men preferred to live unmarried lives. Before the advent of Islam, Arabs buried their daughters alive considering them as a sign of disgrace. In this way, they deprived women of their due place. Most men view themselves as being the superior life-form in society. They justify this belief by saying that they are stronger and more capable; thus, making them more qualified for the more important roles in society. they place themselves on pedestals and force women to believe in their own inferiority to men and their incapability to excel educationally, politically, economically and domestically. But the truth is that women have advanced in all those areas.

In Shakespeare's works, many female characters are portrayed as being manipulated, if not controlled outright by the men in their lives as fathers, uncles, suitors, husbands. Therefore, Shakespeare's works appear to send mixed singles regarding the notion of female empowerment. empowerment has multiple, interrelated and interdependent dimensions economic, social, cultural and political. It can be understood in relation to resources, perceptions. relationship and power. But what does women empowerment mean? Women empowerment generally has five components : firstly, women's sense of self worth; secondly, their right to have the power of control their own lives, both within and outside home; and lastly, their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a just social and economic order nationally, internationally and universally.

Educational attainment and economic participation are they key constituents in ensuring the empowerment of women. Educational attainment is essential for empowering women in all spheres of society, for without education of comparable quality and content given to boys and men, updated with existing knowledge and relevant to current needs, women will be able to have access to well-paid formal sector jobs and advance with men. The economic empowerment of women is a vital element of strong economic growth in any country. Empowering women enhances their ability to influence changes and to create a better society.

Other than educational and economic empowerment, changes in women's mobility and social interaction and changes in intra-household decision-making are necessary. Slight improvement in women's involvement in household decision-making in male-headed household, on such issues as credit, the disposal of household assets, children's education and family healthcare can work wonders. Traditionally, gender based divisions persisted in intra-household decision-making. Women basically decide on food preparation and men make the financial decision. Women are one of the greatest assets in our society. They equal to men in all aspects. Women are more perfectionist in the power to create, nurture and transform.' Today, women are emerging as leaders in growing range of fields. be it aeronautics, medicine, space, engineering, law, politics, education, business...you just name the profession and they are there, all that needed in today's world in their empowerment.

In India, the empowerment process has already begun. We are now witnessing a steady improvement in the enrollment of women in schools, colleges and even in profession institutes. Their health is better as compared to earlier decades. In this decade, women are entering into the job market in increasing numbers. They are showing their skills even in non-traditional sectors like police, defence, administration, media and research fields. Twenty-six laws have been enacted so far to protect women from various crimes. The recent law on the 'protection of women against domestic violence' satisfies the long pending demand of the women activities. In the political field, the reservation for women is a significant step forward towards their political empowerment. When thirty-three percent reservation for women in Parliament becomes a reality, women's voice will be heard in the highest forum of democracy. The day, women of India will reach zenith in their empowerment. But a lot of work has to be done as there is a category of women (who consider themselves highly educated) that proudly accepts that they don't have digital literacy even though they own a computer, they cannot even operate bank accounts or make travel arrangements for family or handle hospital admissions even during emergencies. Even for a simple task like social visits or shopping generally they need the company of their husbands.

Women in India feel proud to display that they are well protected and pampered by their husbands without realizing that they are making themselves helpless. Such women's economic literacy is so low that they cannot play any role in family's decision regarding family's budget, savings and investments. To such women, the national budget discussion is for men only and soap operas are for them. Such women suffer a lot if something untoward happens to their husbands. This type of extreme dependency is not good for the development of women. Women should remember that they are also rational, intelligent and thinking human beings. Dependent women are not empowered women. If modern women think that they are empowered, it's a myth for them. Empowerment means to inspire women with he courage to break free from the chains of limiting beliefs, patterns and societal or religious conditions that have traditionally kept women suppressed and unable to realize their true beauty and power.

Some qualities to be acquired by women to become truly empowered are awareness about risk prevailing at home, in work place, in traveling and staying outside home. They should have political, legal, economic and health awareness. They should have knowledge about support groups and positive attitudes towards life. They should get goals for future and strive to achieve them with courage. The best gift parents today can give to their daughters is education. If women choose to be ignorant then all the efforts taken by the Government and women activists will go in vain. Even in twenty-fifth century, they will remain backward and will be paying a heavy price for their dependence, So, it is a wake-up call for women to awake from their deep slumber and understand the true meaning of their empowerment. In the end I would like to conclude with the following words, "Women as the motherhood of the nation should be strong, aware and alert".

Women Empowerment: Challenges and Prospects

India, the sub-continent, is indubitably a great country of miscellaneous cultures, traditions, religions, castes and geographical characteristics. However, India is even known for its sobriquet 'male-chauvinistic nation'. It's 'Bharath Maatha' who is inturn a woman that serves as the mother of every Indian. While such a woman looks after every Indian child, women in general are simply being disregarded at the dominant men's best. Men ought not to forget the fact that 'men' are in 'WOmen'. Women are no less than men in India in any sector. Women are not what they really were. Some decades ago, women were limited to the kitchen. Today, Indian women have made their presence felt virtually in every field. Women have ultimately come out of their 'saree' image and entrap the nation by dint of their hardwork and power. Women Empowerment is infact the ability of women to exercise full control over one’s actions. Empowerment of women in India is conspicuous by many live examples. But, is that all? Are only those women empowered? If not, how about rest of the Indian-women world? Are the common women vested with powers to drive the nation? These above questions, if posed to our so called leaders, would simply be parried. Women have become marionettes in the hands of them.

Delegating power or an authority to a woman seemed astonishing to our governing bodies. Ironically, our country, our leaders and governing bodies in particular, are being ruled by Smt.Sonia Gandhi who is a woman. It is that woman who had been ranked 13th among world's most powerful women by Forbes magazine. It's a woman who is leading Indian National Congress as its president. Sonia Gandhi would be an epitome of women's leadership qualities. She did umpteen things what a male leader couldn't do. Smt. Mamta Banerjee is the next big name; she has managed to break the jinx of Communist Party in Bengal who has ruled there for more than half the century. She is the Railway minister of India and is working hard to improve the image of Indian railway. Smt.Mayawati who is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and president of the Bahujan Samaj Party is the most influential name in the Indian Politics. Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil is the first women President of India and is actively working for the upliftment of Indian women. The year 2009 witnessed the History written moments when Smt. Meira Kumar became the first Indian women to hold the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker. She is an ex-IFS officer and hails from the Bhojpuri land clearly indicating the women power in politics. Women could really do more than what they actually think they can. The real power within a woman is exuded by the first woman IPS Officer Kiran Bedi. The ability of a woman to break the barriers and tread on a new path was proved by her. People usually get carried by the myth that men can do far better than women. Indian women dispelled the myth by making their footprints in almost every field of work.

Women are not only law-makers and law-controllers, but also Business magnates. Chanda Kochhar is the current CEO and MD of ICICI Bank. She was born in 1961 and now heads ICICI Bank. The CEO and Chairperson of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, born in 1955, sets the perfect model of a Business magnate. She carved out a niche for herself in Business. Nafisa Ali who was actress, model and politician is now an eminent social worker, with her crusade on HIV/AIDS being world recognized. She has been appointed as the Chairman of the Environment Committee of Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010. She is industrious in the area of health, women and child rights poverty and social development. She reached out to the masses and made a significant difference in lives of the people. Tennis star Sania Mirza and Badminton player Saina Nehwal made their mark representing India. Women have the inherent potential to overlook any impediments, to commit themselves to their ambitions and eventually drive the nation by fulfilling them. The real empowerment is attained only when they are wise-enough and highly-powered to make decisions and women, when authoritative, would turn into economic carriers of India.

Gender equality plays a crucial role in uplifting women. Rather, gender inequality certainly needs to be abolished. Gender-based discrimination and disparity are evident from various dowry cases and sexual harassment incidents. The idea of equal employment opportunities is still lingering unimplemented in several remote areas. Women in some inaccessible areas are yet confined to their household routines while their spouses go for work. India has the lowest percentage of women employees (23%), followed by Japan (24%), Turkey (26%) and Austria (29%), according to the Corporate Gender Gap report brought out by the World Economic Forum. Women must be given freedom to choose their interest of work and discharge their duties unbiased. Government should open its doors for women to be given opportunities to prove themselves on a par with the men. Survey confirms various percentages of employed women in distinct sectors - the financial services and insurance (60%), professional services (56%) and media and entertainment (42%). The sectors that flaunt the lowest percentage of women in the 20 economies are automotive (18%), mining (18%) and agriculture (21%). Besides employment, gender inequality is clearly observed at temples wherein only entry of male devotees is sternly followed. One of such temples is Sabarimala temple where women are not at all allowed in which creates imbalance between men and women.

"When women are the advisor, the Lords of creation don't take the advice till they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do; then they act upon it and if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it; if fails, they generously give herself the whole".

- Louisa May Alcott.

'A blessing in disguise' seems to justify the women empowerment in India. Although women are brought up by themselves to the top-notch position, some miscellaneous factors clampdown on them. Top brass officials politicise things and it's ultimately women who become victims which lead to their resignation or stall of activities being carried out by them. Drearily, sometimes it might even result in suicides. Sexual harassment is one of the horrendous factors that suppresses women. The Ruchika Girhotra Case involving the molestation of 14 year old Ruchika Girhotra in 1990 by the

Inspector General of Police Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore is a shame on Indian bureaucracy. If this is the case of police being culprit, how can women be protected then and where is the question of empowering women. Another incident of girls assaulted in Mangalore Pub by Sri Ram Sena and Bajrang Dal activists throws down the gauntlet to the government. Rape is another abysmal crime that government needs to tackle to ensure women empowerment. Hardly a day passes without a case of rape being reported in Indian newspapers and media. Statistics from 2000 showed that on average a woman is raped every hour in India. Welfare of women is the foremost thing that government must lay an emphasis on.

The Government of India declared 2001 as the Year of Women's Empowerment. The National Policy For The Empowerment Of Women came was passed in 2001 the goal of which is to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. It underscores girl rights, health, women education, gender equality, decision making, poverty eradication and violence against women.

Women's Reservation Bill, which promises 33% of LokSabha seats reserved for women, is put on hold. Although it was passed by RajyaSabha, Loksabha is yet to table it. The bill, if passed, makes history in Indian politics and constitution. This bill certainly adds to empowering of women. The key benefits that can be reaped out of the bill are - women's resistance to corruption, gender equality, equal employment opportunities for men and women, sensible and legal politics, sincerity and eventually transparency in implementing the policies. A berth in Loksabha is an impetus for women to voice their views and take up the gauntlet to bring a revolution in the country.

Women empowerment can be achieved chiefly through Health and Education. "Health is Wealth". Basic sanitation facilities, adequate medical camps, government health schemes would be conducive to bring about a major change. According to National Literacy Mission, referring to the last census held in 2001, the percentage of female literacy in the country is 54.16%. The female literacy rate has also increased from 8.86% in 1951 to 54.16%. It is noticed that the female literacy rate during the period 1991-2001 increased by 14.87% whereas male literacy rate rose by 11.72%. Enrolment of girls in schools makes a huge difference in transforming the nation.

Women are no less than outstanding, be it in business, politics, entertainment, sports or whatever. They must be provided with ardent invigoration and their spirits must be kept high to delete the term 'impossible' from the dictionary. Like sarojini naidu, Jhansi lakshmi bhai and Indira Gandhi who exemplified women empowerment with their deeds, let us expect many more epitomes of such personality traits.