A string of initiatives the Government has taken is bringing revolutionary changes in gender equality
In the whirlwind of the country’s continued developments over the past one year — be it demonetisation, surgical strikes, the just-concluded elections to five States or the various victories of the BJP in local body elections in Maharashtra, Odisha, Faridabad et al — a very critical aspect about the Modi Government’s functioning has been missed. In all these endeavours, the entire focus or the discussion point of our media, political pundits, commentators and analysts about the regime has been its political deftness and successes. What has been overlooked is the amelioration of the positioning of women in society. It has undergone a sea change.
This is not to say that issues surrounding women were not debated or did not receive due attention earlier. But in the entire hullabaloo, a very obvious structure seems to have been downplayed, which is the Modi Government’s thrust towards women-centric issues. Perhaps, the inherent pattern did not get highlighted because many of these issues have been dealt with at different points of time as if they were in isolation. But they were looped upon and commented as individual steps. However, taken together they create a pattern.
At the very least, it can be said that the Government is very clear about its policy intentions on empowering women and reducing the gender gap. Through its many schemes and initiatives, a roadmap has been laid to fight the age-old patriarchal, misogynistic norms that Indian women have been suffering, right from pre-birth sex discrimination to denial of education to lack of sanitation and employment to unfair treatment and the brutal gendered violence.
The new attitude has found resonance across the country — from rural to urban, from rich to poor, from social to educational, from economical and occupational to legal and political empowerment. The salient feature of all these initiatives has been to reach the grassroots level, to the economically weak sections of society — the Scheduled Castes and the tribal women. The underlying goal, however, is to create a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, outcomes, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.
Crucial among the many initiatives is the Government’s focus on the girl child. The NDA’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, which seeks to prevent gender-biased sex elimination; ensure survival and protection of the girl child; guarantee education and participation of the girl child, has been a rolling success with an initial coverage of 100 districts. It has been expanded to 61 districts and now covers 11 States. Besides, the Government has also launched schemes to encourage women entrepreneurs. For example, the Stand Up India programme which provides easy loans to Scheduled castes and female entrepreneurs with an aim to provide social security to them. The UJJAWAlA scheme, which seeks to prevent trafficking of women and offers to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate the victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. The Prime Minister’s ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign created an enormous buzz in social media and led to a remarkable awareness about the education and well-being of our girls.
There have been enormous data to support the success of these schemes. For example, recent figures from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reveal that there has been a sharp decline in infant mortality rate (by about 16 points in the past 10 years). From 54 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005-06, the ratio came down to 41 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015-16. Some laudable figures have also come in the sex ratio at birth. It saw a slight improvement from 914 females to 1,000 males in 2005-06 to 919 females to 1,000 males in 2015-16.
What is encouraging is that endless efforts have been made on the part of the Government to communicate its social message through various advertisements on television and radio programmes. Awareness about campaigns like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Swachch Bharat, polio eradication etc, have been a regular feature where noted women actors like Vidya Balan have been roped in to spread the message. These advertisements serve a dual purpose. On the one hand, they bring out the core message. On the other, there is an underlying social narrative about a new thinking that’s desirable.
To be fair, women have also been integrated in the decision-making process at the administrative, executive and bureaucratic levels. Ever since independence, it is for the first time that the Union Ministry has a decent representation of women. There are about seven powerful women ministers in the 45-member Council of Ministers.
And, it was also for the first time in history of independent India, that during US President Barack Obama’s visit for the Republic Day event, that a woman officer got the opportunity to serve the Guard of Honour. Floodgates for women to prove their mettle too opened up under the current regime as India’s first female fighter pilots took to the skies. All of these decisions of the Government have come to boost the morale of our women in the Armed Forces. It will definitely inspire more and more women to join our forces. The move to make women who have excelled in their fields of activity, as brand ambassadors of States, is excellent.
And yet, while India has made much progress, there is still a long way to go. According to data presented in Women in Politics 2017, by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women, India ranked 148th in the representation of women in executive and Government. Data revealed that women made up to about 11.8 per cent of the lok Sabha in the country, where 64 were elected to the 542-member House; and 11 per cent of the Rajya Sabha with 27 of the 245 members. India ranked 88th in the number of women Ministers, with five, or 18.5 per cent, in the Cabinet.
It is encouraging that adopting Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy, the Modi Government believes that unless the women lot of this country are empowered and made equal stakeholders, there can be no development in the real sense. The meaninglessness of entitlement has been recognised. Although it will take time for policies to get translated into reality, small baby steps have been indeed taken.
The Bill that many women are awaiting
It is a sad reality that the women’s reservation Bill, which proposes to reserve one-third of the seats in Parliament and in all legislative Assemblies for women, hangs fire till date. Ever since 1996, when it was first introduced, successive Governments have made endless efforts to make this crucial piece of legislation see the light of the day, but failed to do so either due to the lack of political will or paucity of numbers. There have been some serious but mostly frivolous objections to certain clauses of the Bill. Given that the proposed legislation can be instrumental in sending out the powerful message of women's empowerment, the present Government must leave no stone unturned to have India’s biggest parliamentary gender-reform legislation. Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu's recent assurance that once the BJP gets a majority in the Rajya Sabha, the Bill will be passed, has offered some hope. n