It can now obviously be connoted as an aberration quoting world-renowned English bard William Shakespeare’s remark: “Frailty thy name is woman!” in one of his magnum opuses, Hamlet.
Scores of our Indian social reformers, like Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, et al, championed for ‘women emancipation and empowerment’ and vehemently advocated for status of Indian women at par with their male counterparts.
Women play a pivotal role in our society as their contributions are indispensable for the all-round development of a society. On the contrary, it is aghast to note that most of the societies across the globe mistreat the fairer sex as a ‘beast of burden’ or a ‘use-and-throw commodity’ after taking full advantage of their strengths and services. It is further queer to notice that, in return, the ‘ungrateful society’ is reluctant to even acknowledge and respect the priceless contributions of women in the varied roles they play in the upkeep of human civilization.
Going by both the reported and unreported miseries meted out to the women in many a society, it would not be a hyperbole to state that they are no better than slaves in all aspects of life, like: right to food, work, property inheritance, health and education, running of the family system and above all, their safety and security.
Since women are a part and parcel of a nation’s human resources development process, the insane ‘gender bias/inequality’ mars the nation’s growth pace substantially. The growth cart of a nation can’t be propelled by only masculine monopolistic wheel. Both men and women can strike a balance instead of a one-man show.
Notwithstanding that, it is happy to note that today there is a well visible metamorphosis in the erstwhile medieval mean mindset. Current drift of ‘gender equality’ in all facets of human development process has rather thrown a gauntlet at the ‘traditional roles’ of women. Now, women are no more confined to the four walls of their homes, but are seen taking up fieldwork which were earlier deemed to be taboo for them. Access and exposure to education has made a paradigm shift in their role in the society. Today many women are abler and capable enough to perform those jobs with utmost alacrity which were earlier hyped as men’s monopoly, viz. wearing a brave face at a war front, driving buses, taxis, auto rickshaws, locomotives, piloting fighter planes, working in nuclear submarines and managing offices with equal ease and efficiency.
Unfortunately in India, such a robust role being played perfectly by the women is being perceived as a threat to their man folk resulting in a tug of war between the genders following special privileges being accorded to the fairer sex.
In view of such social fracas, it has become a need of the hour to protect and empower our women judiciously while, simultaneously, striking a proper gender balance so that neither side should feel having let down. Therefore, the empowerment of women must address all various needs pertaining to the role the women are playing in Indian society today. There have been many laws which are enacted to protect the rights of women and provide reasonable stability and security in their social and legal standing.
Ace issues to be addressed/being addressed in Indian context are:
1) Special protection for women from sexual exploitation by any religion/community/social setup and warrants State’s suo moto intervention.
2) Child bearing should be entirely discretionary, subject to marriage and live-in relationship contracts. Religious or community restrictive laws should stand invalid.
3) Proportionate representation of women in Parliament, legislative Assembly and local bodies laced with law thwarting ‘shadow representation’.
4) Stringent anti-rape and molestation laws with provisions for fast tracking of cases.
5) Total ban of individuals, accused of molestation and rape, from all elected representations.
6) Compulsory health insurance and assured healthcare for the prenatal and postnatal along with the new-born for minimum 5-year duration.
7) Appropriate inheritance laws for adequate and equitable rights to movable and immovable properties of both parental and in-law sides.
8) Compulsory free education to girls with requisite facilities till school certificate courses.
9) Supporting creation of women SHGs both in cities and villages-connecting with city consumer groups for market linkages.
10) Police force must have at least 50 per cent reservation for women.
11) Private companies and Government must offer overall 50 per cent reservations to women across various job expectations. Adherence to same work, same pay norm.
12) Blanket ban on malicious advertisements projecting women in bad light and imposition of penalty for violations.
13) Encouragement of green house/floriculture and small scale processing of organic foods through SHGs.
14) Maternity and paternity leave.
It is an accepted fact that the state of a civilized society is adjudged by the way it treats its women. Most of the nations, barring Germany, fondly address their respective countries as ‘motherland’. In India since time immemorial, we have been adoring woman as ‘Devi’ (goddess). It’s high time we eschewed the habit of paying lip service and quoting the phrase ‘easier said than done’. On the auspicious occasion of Durga Puja, let the long cherished dream of Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi come true with a foolproof freedom to the fairer sex of our free nation.
(Dr Rout, a management expert, can be reached at rout.jagdish@gmail.com. M- 09439569999)