Development of

Rural Women UNIT 5 EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL

WOMEN – POLICIES AND
PROGRAMMES
Contents
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Evolution of Policies on Women
5.3 National Policy on Empowerment of Women
5.4 Review of Programmes in Five Year Plans
5.5 Administrative Machinery
5.6 Programmes of Economic Empowerment
5.7 Programmes of Social Empowerment
5.8 Programmes of Political Empowerment
5.9 Let Us Sum Up
5.10 Suggested Readings

5.0 OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of this unit are to acquaint the student on policies and
programmes initiated by the Government of India from time to time on advancement
and empowerment of women. After reading the unit, the student will be:

l able to understand constitutional provisions enshrined in the Indian Constitution;

l able to know the various committees and commission at international and national
level;
l understand the provisions for women in major policies in social sector and
National Policy on empowerment of women;
l institutions relating to administrative machinery for advancement of women;
l main thrust of five year plans on women from 1st to 10th Five Year Plans; and
l major programmes/schemes of economic, social and political empowerment of
women, more specially of rural women.

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Policy documents concerning Indian women have been guided by the Constitution.
The Preamble to the Constitution of India assures “to secure to all its citizens:
Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith
and worship; Equality of status and opportunity; and to promote among them all
Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation”. To
attain these national objectives, the Constitution guarantees certain fundamental
rights and freedoms such as freedom of speech, protection of life, personal liberty
and the prohibition of discrimination or denial of equal protection.

100 The country’s concern in safeguarding the rights and privileges of women found its
best expression in the Constitution of India. While Article 14 confers equal rights Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
and opportunities on men and women in the political, economic and social spheres,
and Programmes
Article 15 prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of sex, religion,
race, caste etc. and Article 15(3) empowers the State to make affirmative
discrimination in favour of women. Similarly, Article 16 provides for equality of
opportunities in the matter of public appointments for all citizens; Article 39 stipulates
that the State shall direct its policy towards providing men and women equally the
right to means of livelihood and equal pay for equal work; Article 42 directs the
State to make provisions for ensuring just and humane conditions of work and
maternity relief; and Article 51(A)(e) imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen
to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women. To make this de-jure
equality into a de-facto one, many policies and programmes were put into action
from time to time, besides enacting/enforcing special legislations in favour 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.

From Independence to the current day, India’s approach to development planning

has shifted from welfare to human development. This has occurred partially through
an interaction between India’s national planning and its role in the international
community. International and national thinking on women, gender and development
issues has seen many changes since Independence, in large part through international
processes to improve the status and living standard of women. At the same time,
India’s tradition of including women in freedom, equality and development struggles
was supported and strengthened by international activities. These dynamics resulted
in the formulation of national policies that were guided less by ideas of women’s
welfare, where development is guided by planners and policy makers and women
are considered targets or beneficiaries, and more by notions of productivity,
empowerment, sustainability and equity.

5.2 EVOLUTION OF POLICIES ON WOMEN

India has ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments
striving to secure equal rights for women. Key among there is ratification of the
Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW). The convention promotes the substantive model of equality: equality of
opportunity, equality of access and equality of rights. Besides the CEDAW, several
other instruments have been ratified, notably the Convention on the Rights of
Child, Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Convention on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. India has also endorsed the Mexico Plan of Action;
Nairobi forward looking strategies, Beijing Platform for Action.

Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, plans
and programmes have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres. From
the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards there has been a marked shift in the
approach to women’s issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the
empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining
the status of women. In 1971, following a resolution of the Ministry of Education
and Social Welfare, the Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) was
constituted at the instance of the UN General Assembly. The presentation of the
report of the CSWI “Towards Equality” coincided with the celebration of 1975 as
International Women’s Year. To operationlize the recommendations of CSWI, a
Blueprint of Action Points and National Plan of Action for Women, 1976 was
formulated by the then Department of Social Welfare, Government of India. This,
in turn, led to the presentation of the Report of the Working Group on Employment
for Women, 1978, as well as the Report of the Working Group on Development 101
Development of of Village Level Organisations of Rural Women, 1978. It also formed a part of
Rural Women
the Sixth Five Year Plan exercise. The impact of these reports resulted in a
separate chapter on Women and Development 1980-85 in the Sixth Five Year Plan.
It also resulted in women being perceived as productive contributors to the nation’s
economy.

Following an agreement signed between the then Ministry of Agriculture and

Irrigation, Government of India and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (UN),
a Report of the National Committee on Role and Participation of Women in
Agriculture and Rural Development, 1980 was submitted. Further report of the
Working Group on Personnel Policies for Bringing Greater Involvement of Women
in Science and Technology – 1981 reported the extent of participation of women
in scientific establishments and suggested measures for promoting greater involvement
of women in science and technology. In the Seventh Five Year Plan, the Chapter
on Socio-Economic Programmes for Women – 1985-90 moved further away from
a ‘welfare’ approach to a more positive ‘developmental’ approach to women’s
corners. The Indian Parliament also adopted a National Policy on Education–
1986, which laid special emphasis on the education of women and girls in all fields
including science and technology.

The women’s movement and a wide-spread network of non-Government

Organisations, which have strong grassroots presence and deep insight into women’s
concerns have contributed in inspiring initiatives for the empowerment of women.
However, there still exists a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution,
legislation, policies, plans, programmes, and related mechanisms on the one hand
and the situational reality of the status of women in India, on the other. This has
been analyzed extensively in the Report of the Committee on the Status of Women
in India, “Towards Equality”, 1974 and highlighted in the National Perspective
Plan for Women, 1988-2000, the Shramshakti Report, 1988 and the Platform for
Action, Five Years After – An assessment”.

Women issues found prominent place in various policies formulated and adopted
from time to time by the Government of India. The National Health Policy 2001
promises to ensure increased access to women to basic health care and commits
highest priority to the funding of the identified programmes related to women’s
health. During the Ninth Plan period, several new initiatives were taken as part of
the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Programme (1997), in order to make it
broad-based and client-friendly. All the interventions of the erstwhile programme
of Child Survival and Safe Motherhood (CSSM) became part of RCH. During this
period, the focus shifted from the individualised vertical interventions to a more
holistic integrated life-cycle approach with more attention to reproductive health
care. This includes access to essential obstetric care during the entire period of
pregnancy, provision of emergency obstetric care as close to the community as
possible, improving and expanding early and safe abortion services and provision for
treatment of Reproductive Tract Infections/Sexually Transmitted Infections (RTI/
STI) cases at the sub-district level.

The National Nutrition Policy (1993) advocates a comprehensive inter-sectoral

strategy for alleviating all the multi-faceted problems of under/malnutrition and its
related deficiencies and diseases so as to achieve an optimal state of nutrition for
all sections of society, but with a special priority for women, mothers and children,
who are vulnerable as well as ‘at-risk’. Of the two major problems of macro and
micro-nutritional deficiencies that the women, mothers and children suffer from,
while the former are manifested through chronic energy deficiency (CED), the
102
latter are reflected in Vitamin A, Iron and Iodine deficiencies. Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
and Programmes
The National Population Policy adopted in 2000 seeks to address the issues
related to population stabilisation and to ensure universal access to quality
contraceptive services as a step towards attaining the two-child norm. It calls for
reduction in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 30 and Maternal Mortality Rate
(MMR) to 100 by 2010, immunisation of children, promoting delayed marriage for
girls and enhancing the number of institutional deliveries. IMR and MMR have been
showing a steady declining trend. While IMR declined from 94.5 in 1988 to 71.7
in 1998 and to 70.0 in 1999, MMR declined from 437 in 1993 to 407 in 1998.

The National Policy on Education, announced in 1986 (revised in 1992), gave a

big momentum to the task of providing basic education for all. Concerted efforts
made during the Ninth Plan were able to expand access, increase retention and
improve learning achievements of children in primary and upper primary schools.
The National literacy Mission, set up in 1988 with the goal of attaining full literacy,
i.e. a sustainable threshold level of 75 per cent by 2005, continued to follow a multi-
pronged strategy to eradicate illiteracy in the country. The Mahila Samakhya scheme
was launched in 1989 to translate the goals of the empowerment of women
into a concrete programme for education and empowerment of women in rural
areas, particularly the women in socially and economically marginalised groups. The
programme is currently implemented in over 9,000 villages in 60 districts spread
over 10 states. The programme has enabled women’s collectives to address the
larger socio-cultural issues that have traditionally inhibited the participation of women
and girls in the education system. Through its strategy of building grassroot women’s
organisations, the programme has created a forum and environment for women’s
education at the community level besides managing 866 NFE Centres and around
1,000 Early Childhood-Care Education Centres by the end of the Ninth Plan.

5.3 NATIONAL POLICY ON EMPOWERMENT OF

WOMEN
The Government has adopted the National Policy for the Empowerment of women
on 20 March 2001. The main objective of this policy is to bring about the
advancement, development and empowerment of women and to eliminate all forms
of discrimination against women and to ensure their active participation in all spheres
of life and activities.

The themes and issues covered by the policy include the judicial-legal system,
economic empowerment of women, social empowerment including health education
and violence against women, etc., women and decision making, women and media,
women and science and technology, girls child, etc. The policy provides prescriptions
under each of the above and calls upon different departments and ministries for the
coverage of their resources and actions. The policy also stresses on the importance
of earmarking allocations under the Women’s Component Plan and prioritizes the
need for gender budgeting.

Goal and Objectives

The goal of this policy is to bring about the advancement, development and
empowerment of women. The Policy will be widely disseminated so as to encourage
active participation of all stakeholders for achieving its goals. Specifically, the objectives
of this Policy include:
103
Development of i) Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for full
Rural Women
development of women to enable them to realize their full potential.

ii) The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom
by women on equal basis with men in all spheres – political, economic, social,
cultural and civil.

iii) Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political
and economic life of the nation.

iv) 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 office, etc.

v) Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination

against women.

vi) Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and
involvement of both men and women.

vii) Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.

viii) Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the
girl child; and

ix) Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly women’s
organisations.

To ensure that the policy prescriptions get implemented, the Department has drafted
a Plan of Action (POA) with achievable goals by the year 2010. The POA will also
identify commitment of resources and responsibilities for implementation and
strengthen institutional mechanisms and structures for monitoring. The operational
strategy also mentions the need to develop Gender Development Index as a method
of gender auditing and stresses the importance of collecting gender-disaggregated
data, which will be useful for planning, implementation and monitoring. The POA
is being finalized in consultation with all the stakeholders.

5.4 REVIEW OF PROGRAMMES IN FIVE YEAR

PLANS
Development of women has been receiving attention of the Government right from
the very First Plan (1951-56). But, the same has been treated as a subject of
‘welfare’ and clubbed together with the welfare of the disadvantaged groups like
destitute, disabled, aged, etc. The Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB), set up in
1953, acts as an Apex Body at national level to promote voluntary action at various
levels, especially at the grassroots, to take up welfare-related activities for women
and children. The Second to Fifth Plans (1956-79) continued to reflect the very
same welfare approach, besides giving priority to women’s education, and launching
measures to improve maternal and child health services, supplementary feeding for
children and expectant and nursing mothers.

The shift in the approach from ‘welfare’ to ‘development’ of women could take
place only in the Sixth Plan (1980-85). Accordingly, the Sixth Plan adopted a multi-
disciplinary approach with a special thrust on the three core sectors of health,
education and employment. In the Seventh Plan (1985-90), the developmental
104
programmes continued with the major objective of raising their economic and social Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
status and bringing them into the mainstream of national development. A significant
and Programmes
step in this direction was to identify/promote the ‘Beneficiary-Oriented Schemes’
(BOS) in various developmental sectors, which extended direct benefits to women.
The thrust on generation of both skilled and unskilled employment through proper
education and vocational training continued. The Eighth Plan (1992-97), with human
development as its major focus, played a very important role in the development of
women. It promised to ensure that benefits of development from different sectors
do not by-pass women, implement special programmes to complement the general
development programmes and to monitor the flow of benefits to women from other
development sectors and enable women to function as equal partners and participants
in the development process.

The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) made two significant changes in the conceptual strategy
of planning for women. Firstly, ‘Empowerment of Women’ became one of the nine
primary objectives of the Ninth Plan. To this effect, the Approach of the Plan was
to create an enabling environment where women could freely exercise their rights
both within and outside home, as equal partners along with men. Secondly, the Plan
attempted ‘convergence of existing services’ available in both women-specific and
women-related sectors. To this effect, it directed both the centre and the states to
adopt a special strategy of ‘Women’s Component Plan’ (WCP) through which not
less than 30 per cent of funds/benefits flow to women from all the general
development sectors. It also suggested that a special vigil be kept on the flow of
the earmarked funds/benefits through an effective mechanism to ensure that the
proposed strategy brings forth a holistic approach towards empowering women.

To ensure that other general developmental sectors do not by-pass women and
benefits from these sectors continue to flow to them, a special mechanism of
monitoring the 27 BOS for women was put into action in 1986, at the instance of
the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The same continues to be an effective instrument
till today. Sector/scheme-wise achievements under women-specific and women-
related sectors of health, nutrition, education, labour, rural development, urban
development, science and technology and women and child development are detailed
in the following paragraphs:

Tenth Five Year Plan will give emphasis on:

– Creating an environment, through positive economic and social policies, for the
development of women to enable them to realise their full potential;
– Allowing the de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms by women on par with men in all spheres – political, economic, social,
cultural and civil;
– Providing equal access to participation and decision-making for women in social,
political and economic life of the nation;
– Ensuring 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 office, etc.;
– Strengthening legal systems aimed at the elimination of all forms of discrimination
against women;
– Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and
involvement of both men and women;
– Mainstreaming a gender perspective into the development process;
– Eliminating discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl
105
child; and
Development of – Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly women’s
Rural Women organisations, corporate and private sector agencies.

5.5 ADMINISTRATIVE MACHINERY

A number of government institutions also contribute to the advancement of women.
For example, the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) was
established in 1985 as the nodal agency for monitoring schemes relating to women.
The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) was set up in 1993 as a national-level
mechanism to meet the credit needs of poor and assetless women in the informal
sector. RMK has taken a number of promotional measures to popularise the concept
of micro-financing, thrift credit, formation and stabilization of SHGs and also enterprise
development for poor women. Since its inception, RMK has so far, sanctioned
credit worth Rs. 109.73 crore, benefiting 4.2 lakh women through 992 NGOs and
disbursed Rs. 82.38 crore upto February 2002. The National Commission for
Women (NCW), set up in 1992, has a mandate to safeguard the rights and interests
of women. Its major objectives are to investigate, examine and review all matters
relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution, review of
both women-specific and women-related legislations and suggest amendments
wherever needed and to function as an agency to keep surveillance and facilitate
redressal of grievances of women. Of the total 41 legislations having a direct
bearing on women, the Commission reviewed and suggested remedial legislative
measures in respect of 32 Acts and forwarded the same to the government for
further action. The Commission has accorded the highest priority to securing speedy
justice to women.

The National Commission for Women reaches out to people through a complaints
and counselling unit, court interventions and state seminars.It also facilitates
workshops, conferences and public hearings. The Central Social Welfare Board
(CSWB) channels funds to NGOs and other agencies working on women’s
development issues. A Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women
was established in 1997 to monitor development and empowerment initiatives. Finally,
state and national government ministries and parliamentarians take steps towards
women’s empowerment in the post-Beijing era.

Check Your Progress 1

Note: a) Write your answers in the space provided below.
b) Compare your answers with the text.

1) What are international documents on rights of women?

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2) Write a short note on the evolution of policies for the advancement of
women.
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 Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
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and Programmes
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3) Describe the main provision for women in National Health Policy.

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4) Write short note on Central Social Welfare Board.

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5.6 PROGRAMMES OF ECONOMIC

EMPOWERMENT
Employment and Income-Generation
The status of women in society depends on a large extent on economic empowerment.
If a women is earning independently the income of the household or if she has
control over the productive or even non productive assets of the household, her
value, esteem and even power of bargaining within the household, and in the
community and the society at large increases. An earning woman has to face less
attitudes of discrimination in the society than a non earning one, although her dual
role as mother and husband within the family and worker outside puts additional
strains on her, which is not always compensated by her income. Further, women
have been found to be more judicious in spending their income. Additional income
of women have been found to have far greater incremental effect on spending on
nutrition, shelter and savings than the additional income of a male. Therefore, the
net income worth of the income of a woman has been found to be higher than that
of a man.

Employment and Income Generation

Further, as the ultimate objective of empowering women is to make them economically
independent and self-reliant, special efforts will be made to generate gainful
employment through promotion/expansion of both wage and self-employment
opportunities. In this context, the on-going training-cum-employment–cum–income-
generation programmes viz. SGSY, SJSRY, PMRY, STEP, NORAD, etc. will be
further expanded to create more and more of employment-cum-income-generation
opportunities and to cover as many women as possible living below the poverty line.
In these efforts, priority will be given to female-headed households and women
living in extreme/abject poverty.

The Department of Women and Child Development is implementing three unique

programmes for the empowerment of women at the grassroots through the processes 107
Development of of mobilization, organisation and awareness generation, which would enhance the
Rural Women
self-confidence of women within the household and community and empower them
to access resources from various available and new sources. Swayamsidha is a
centrally sponsored programme implemented in 650 selected blocks throughout the
country, modeled on the basis of the two erstwhile programmes of Indira Mahila
Yojana and Mahila Samridhi Yojana, which it subsumes.

Women and Micro-Credit

There is a need for a comprehensive Credit Policy to increase women’s access to
credit either through the establishment of new micro-credit mechanisms or micro-
financial institutions or strengthening the existing ones. In this context, expansion of
the activities of RMK will receive special attention with adequate financial support.
Efforts will be made to draw lessons from the success stories of various voluntary
organisations, which have already established their credentials in the field of micro-
credit for women and encourage them to expand their activities, both within and
outside their states. There will also be efforts to equip all States/UTs with Women’s
Development Corporations to provide both ‘forward’ and ‘backward’ linkages of
credit and marketing facilities to women entrepreneurs, besides being active catalysts
for empowering women economically. Further, the government will try and expedite
the earlier efforts of setting up of an exclusive ‘Development Bank for Women
Entrepreneurs’ in the Small Scale and Tiny Sectors.

Swayamsidha is an integrated scheme for women’s empowerment. It is based on

the formation of women into self-help groups (SHGs) and aims at the holistic
empowerment of women through mobilization, awareness generation and convergence
of various schemes. The long-term objective of the programme is the all-round
empowerment of women by ensuring their direct access to and control over resources
through a sustained process of mobilization and convergence of all the on-going
sectoral programmes. The immediate objectives of the programme are:

1) Establishment of self-reliant women’s self-help groups (SHGs).

2) Creation of confidence and awareness among members of SHGs regarding
women’s status, health, nutrition, education, sanitation and hygiene, legal rights,
economic upliftment and other social, economic and political issues.
3) Strengthen and institutionalize the saving habit in rural women and their control
over economic resources.
4) Improving access of women to micro credit.
5) Involvement of women in local level planning.
6) Convergence of services of DWCD and other departments.

The programme will cover 650 blocks throughout the country including 238 IMY
blocks. Fifty-three thousand one hundred self help groups comprising 9,29,250 new
women beneficiaries shall be set up throughout the country under the programme.
The most important component of the programme is the formulation, implementation
and monitoring of block-specific composite projects for four to five years, incorporating
the following four elements:

l Group formation/mobilization activities,

l Community oriented innovative interventions,

108
l Other schemes of DWCD, namely Swawblamban, STEP, SEP and AGP, and Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
other schemes, too, if there is a felt need for the same, and and Programmes
l Schemes of other departments, whether converged under GOI directions or
state government initiative.
The Swa-Shakti Project, also known as Rural Women’s Development and
Empowerment Project, was sanctioned on 16 October, 1998 as a centrally sponsored
project to be implemented in seven states over a period of five years with an
estimated outlay of Rs. 186.21 crore. In addition, an amount of Rs. 5 crore was
provided for facilitating the setting up of revolving funds for giving interest bearing
loans to beneficiary groups primarily during their initial formative stage.

The project is implemented through Women’s Development Corporations (WDCs),

other state government undertakings and NGOs in the states of Bihar, Haryana,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and
Uttaranchal, covering 57 districts, 323 blocks and 7,288 villages. A project support
unit at the central level (CPSU) provides technical and managerial support for
project implementation. The project originally covered 35 districts in seven states.
The mid term review in March 2001 recommended both intensification and expansion
of the project. Accordingly two newly created states, viz. Chhattisgarh and
Uttaranchal, and 22 new districts were taken up. Swa-Shakti is a rural women’s
development and empowerment project supported jointly by World Bank and the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The project aims at
enhancing women’s access to resources for better quality of life through use of
drudgery and time reduction devices, health, literacy and confidence enhancement
and increasing their control over incomes through their involvement in skill development
and income generating activities.The specific objectives of the project are:

1) Establishment of 7,400-12,000 (later revised to 16,000) self-reliant women’s self

help groups (SHGs) having 15-20 members each.
2) Developing linkages between SHGs and lending institutions to ensure women’s
continued access to credit facilities for income generation activities.
3) Increased control of women, particularly poor women, over income and spending,
through their involvement in income generation activities, which will help in poverty
alleviation.
4) Enhancing women’s access to resources for better quality of life including those
for drudgery reduction and time saving devices.
5) Sensitizing and strengthening the institutional capacity of support agencies to pro-
actively address women’s needs.

A substantial part of the project fund is available as soft term loan credit to
Government of India from the IFAD and International Development Association
(IDA). Fund needed for setting up the revolving fund in project states are being
provided by the Government of India from its own sources.

About 16,000 women self-help groups (covering over 2.40 lakh women agriculturists
and agricultural labourers) were expected to be formed under the programme,
however, the actual group formation has exceeded the target. So far, 17,527 women
self help groups have been formed with the involvement of 231 partner NGOs. A
very significant feature of the project is that 717 clusters have been linked with the
banks. Group savings aggregating an amount of Rs. 10.78 crore have been mobilized
and inter-loaning of Rs. 19.25 crore have been transacted among the members.

109
Development of Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
Rural Women
This programme, launched in 1987, seeks to provide updated skills and new knowledge
to poor and assetless women in traditional occupations, such as, agriculture, animal
husbandry, dairying, fisheries, handlooms, handicrafts, khadi and village industries,
sericulture, social forestry and wasteland development for enhancing their productivity
and income generation. This would enhance and broaden their employment
opportunities, including self-employment and development of entrepreneurial skills.
Women beneficiaries are organised into viable and cohesive groups or co-operatives.
A comprehensive package of services, such as, training, extension, infrastructure,
market linkages etc. are provided besides linkages with credit for transfer of assets.

Since the inception of the programme, about 6,55,222 women have been covered
under 138 projects launched in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura,
Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal. So far, women in the dairying sector
have been receiving the maximum support, keeping in view the nature of demands.
This is followed by handlooms, handicrafts, sericulture and poultry.

In the year 2001-2002, 29 projects were sanctioned to benefit 87,140 women and
an amount of Rs. 18.57 crore was released. During the first three quarters of the
financial year 2002-2003, seven new projects have been sanctioned at a total
estimated cost of Rs. 1,934,18 lakh out of which an amount of Rs. 451.80 lakh was
released to the implementing organizations. This will benefit 32,821 women.

Swawblamban
The programme was launched in 1982-83 with assistance from the Norwegian
Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) to provide training and skills to
women to facilitate them to obtain employment or self-employment on a sustained
basis. The target group under the scheme are the poor and needy women, women
from weaker sections of society, such as scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,
etc. Previously known as Women’s Economic Programme, the nomenclature of the
programme was changed to swawblamban during the year.

Financial assistance under the programme is provided to women’s development

corporation, public sector corporations, autonomous bodies and voluntary organisations
to train poor women, mostly in non-traditional trades and to ensure their employment
in these areas. Some of the popular trades under the programme are computer
programming, medical transcription, electronics, watch assembling, radio and television
repairs, garment making, handloom weaving, secretarial practice, community health
work, embroidery, etc. Financial assistance is also provided to the guarantee
organisations for hiring of training-cum-production sheds, training cost, machinery
and equipment, stipend to the trainees and remuneration for the trainers. The upper
ceiling for assistance under this scheme is normally confined to Rs. 8,000 per
beneficiary. The success of the programme has demonstrated the efficacy of informal
and low cost training modules in imparting skills to disadvantaged women at the
grassroots. Various evaluation studies, including independent studies commissioned
by NORAD, have shown that nearly 50-60 per cent of the women trained under
the programme have been able to get employment or self-employment.

Considering the success of the programme, the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) adopted it
as a central sector plan scheme. While on the one hand, the total allocation under
the programme was stepped up, the assistance of NORAD was scaled down.
During the Ninth Plan, assistance of NORAD was restricted to 20 per cent of the
110 total outlay of Rs. 88.98 crore on the scheme, as per the proposed new agreement
with the Norwegian Government during the first three years (2002-2004) of the Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
Tenth Plan. This works out to only about six per cent of the total programme outlay
and Programmes
during the Tenth Plan period. This assistance shall be utilized for improving the
methodology of the training programme, certification of training and monitoring of
the programme.

Annually, about 2000 project proposals are received from the NGOs and other
organisations, out of which nearly 50 per cent are sanctioned by the Project
Sanctioning Committee. Most of the project proposals are received from the voluntary
organisations.Training in specialized fields like computers, electronics, medical
transcription, etc., are conducted through organisations or undertakings specialising
in these fields and having good extension network in the field. Women’s Development
Corporations are the nodal agencies for the implementation of the programme in the
states. The corporations are required to conduct pre-appraisal of project proposals
and mid-term monitoring of sanctioned projects, for which three per cent of the
project costs are sanctioned to them.

In order to have enhanced involvement of the states in the implementation of the

programme, a State Empowerment Committee has been set up in each state (except
Bihar, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram) during the current year. The
Empowered Committee scrutinises the project proposals received from the NGOs/
corporations/undertakings from the state concerned and submits the same, along
with its recommendations, to the Department for consideration. All eligible and
complete project proposals are received through the State Empowered Committee
(PSC) of the Department for consideration. Another change in the procedure
introduced during the year is the proposals received from the states by the internal
finance wing of the Department before these are put up before the PSC. As many
as 902 projects including 262 continuing projects, benefiting 58,458 women, have
been sanctioned during the first three quarters of the current financial year.

Women in Small-Scale/Cottage Industries

The Tenth Plan will make special efforts to identify the traditional sectors that are
shrinking due to advancement of technology, market shifts and changes in the
economic policies and will introduce necessary training programmes to re-train/
upgrade the skills of the displaced women to take up jobs in the new and emerging
areas of employment. Also, formulation of appropriate policies and programmes will
be attempted to generate opportunities for wage/self-employment in traditional sectors
like khadi and village industries, handicrafts, handlooms, sericulture, small scale and
cottage industries. While attempting to bring forth necessary structural adjustments
in these sectors, women will receive priority attention.

Women in the Unorganised/Informal Sector

Women in the Informal Sector will receive special attention, as they account for
more than 90 per cent and are still continuing to struggle in the most precarious
working conditions without any legislative safeguards. To start with, efforts will be
made to ensure both minimum and equal wages for women at par with men,
towards fulfilling the Constitutional commitment of ‘equal pay for equal work’. To
this effect, the Tenth Plan will also endeavour to extend the important labour
legislations to the Informal Sector, especially those legislations where the employers
have a mandatory binding for providing basic minimum working conditions along
with necessary welfare services for women workers. While formulating necessary
policies and programmes for the betterment of women in the Informal Sector, the
findings/results of the Fourth Economic Census (2001) as well as the un-attended
recommendations of the National Commission on Self-Employed Women and Women
in the Informal Sector (Shram Shakti) will be taken into consideration. 111
Development of Women in Poverty
Rural Women
As women comprise nearly 70 per cent of the population living below the poverty
line, and are very often in situations of extreme/abject poverty, the on-going poverty
alleviation programmes are expected to address specifically the needs and problems
of such women as poverty affects women more than men. Though 40 per cent of
benefits under SGSY have been earmarked for women, but in practice, benefits are
not reaching women in the same proportion, as some of the studies have revealed.
Therefore, the Tenth Plan will address the need for better targeting of benefits to
women under various poverty alleviation programmes. Further, as the women-
specific scheme of Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA)
has been subsumed/merged under the SGSY, it is necessary to exercise a greater
vigil to ensure that the allocations earmarked for women are not diverted to other
components of SGSY. Also, as the earlier programmes have proved that the ‘Group
Approach’ is more successful than the individual beneficiary approach, steps will
be taken for mobilisation of poor women into SHGs and through convergence of
services, offering them a wide range of economic and social options, along with
necessary support services to enhance their joint capabilities. To this effect, the
available programmes for women will be converged into block level action plans of
the newly launched Swayamsidha programme, meant for empowering women.

Women in Agriculture and Land Management

As the majority (89.5 per cent) of female workforce is concentrated in the agricultural
sector, they are being doubly marginalised, first as women and secondly as landless
labourers with no inheritance rights, either for land or for other productive assets.
Therefore, the effective implementation of land reform legislations, ceiling and
distribution of surplus land and issue of Joint Pattas under Government schemes
etc. will go a long way in the process of the empowerment of women. It will also
make concerted efforts to ensure that the benefits of training and extension in
agriculture and its allied activities of horticulture, small animal husbandry, poultry,
fisheries etc. reach women in proportion to their numbers. Special training programmes
in the latest technology, keeping in view the role of women as producers, will be
expanded to assist rural women in meeting the market demands. With the rise in
the number of women-headed households, the phenomenon of feminisation of
agriculture, will be attended to as a concern at the policy level.

Women’s Component in Ministry of Rural Development

The Ministry of Rural Development has special components for Women in its
programmes and funds are earmarked as “Women’s Component” to ensure flow
of adequate resources for the same. The major Schemes having Women’s Component,
(implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development during the last three years)
include the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), the Jawahar Gram
Samridhi Yojana (JGSY), the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), the National Social
Assistance Programme (NSAP), the Restructured Central Rural Sanitation
Programme, the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme, the (erstwhile)
Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), the (erstwhile) Development of
Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) and the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana
(JRY). The brief details of the Schemes are as follows:

The Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, which has been launched with effect
from April 1,1999, is a holistic programme covering various aspects of self-
employment, such as organisation of the poor into self-help groups, training, credit,
112 technology, infrastructure and marketing. It is envisaged that 50 percent of the
Groups formed in each Block should be exclusively for women who will account Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
for at least 40 percent of the Swarozgaris. Under this Scheme, women are encouraged and Programmes
in the practice of thrift and credit, which enables them to become self-reliant.
Through assistance in the form of Revolving Fund, Bank Credit and Subsidy, the
Yojana seeks to integrate women in the economy by providing increasing opportunities
of self-employment.

The Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) has been launched with effect
from April 1, 1999, with the twin objectives of creation of demand-driven community
village infrastructure and the generation of supplementary employment (for the
unemployed poor) in the rural areas. Wage-employment under the JGSY is extended
to below poverty line families. It is stipulated that 30 percent of the employment
opportunities should be reserved for women.

The Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) aims at providing assistance for the construction
of houses for people ‘Below the Poverty Line’ in rural areas. Under the Scheme,
priority is extended to widows, Women Self-help Group engaged in income generation
activity and unmarried women. It has been laid down that IAY houses are to be
allotted in the name of women members of the household or, alternatively, in the
joint names of husband and wife.

The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), which came into effect
five years back represents a significant step towards introducing a National Policy
for Social Assistance benefits to households ‘Below the Poverty Line’, with major
focus on women. The NSAP has three components, namely, the National Old Age
Pension Scheme, the National Family Benefit Scheme and the National Maternity
Benefit Scheme. The National Maternity Benefit Scheme is exclusively aimed at
assisting expectant mothers by providing them Rs.500 each for the first two live
births. Under the National Old Age Pension Scheme, Central Assistance of Rs.75
per month is provided to women and men, who are 65 years of age and above and
have little or no regular means of subsistence from their own sources of income
or through financial support from the family members. Under the National Family
Benefit Scheme, Central Assistance of Rs.10,000 is extended to the bereaved
family in the case of death of the primary breadwinner due to natural or accidental
causes. Women are also beneficiaries under this Scheme.

The Restructured Centrally Sponsored Rural Sanitation Programme (RCRSP),

which was launched with effect from 1st April, 1999, provides for the construction
of sanitary latrines for rural households. Where individual household latrines are not
feasible, provision exists for the construction of village sanitary complexes exclusively
for women, to ensure privacy/dignity. Upto 10 percent of the allocated fund can be
utilised for the construction and maintenance of public latrines for women.

Under the Rural Water Supply Programme, training is being afforded to women
to enable them to play an active role in using and maintaining handpumps for the
supply of drinking water. Women are also represented in Village Level Committees
and are actively involved in the selection of sites for handpumps and other sources.

The erstwhile Scheme of Development of Women and Children in Rural

Areas (DWCRA), now merged with the SGSY, was intended to raise the income
level of women of poor households so as to enable organised participation by them
in social development for economic self-reliance.The primary thrust was the formation
of groups of 10-50 women from poor households at the village level for delivery of
services like credit and skill training and cash and infrastructure support or self-
employment. 113
Development of
Rural Women 5.7 PROGRAMMES OF SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT
Gender Justice
As stated earlier, the principles of gender equality and gender justice and protection
of women’s rights have been the prime concern since independence. The Constitution
of India not only guarantees gender equality by conferring equal rights on both
women and men, but also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex. It also em-
powers the State to make affirmative discrimination in favour of women only to
ensure gender justice through Gender Equality.

Eliminate all forms of gender discrimination and, thus, enable women to enjoy not
only de-jure, but also de-facto rights and fundamental freedom at par with men in
all spheres, viz. political, economic, social, civil, cultural etc. through:

l Complete eradication of female foeticide and female infanticide through effective

enforcement of both the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Technique (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 with most stringent
measures of punishment, so that a very harsh path is set for the illegal
practitioners.
l Adopting measures that take into account the reproductive rights of women to
enable them to exercise their reproductive choices.
l Working out strategies, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, to
ensure extension of employment opportunities and thus, remove inequalities in
employment – both in work and accessibility.
l Initiating interventions at the macro-economic level to amend existing legislations
to improve women’s access to productive assets and resources.
l Ensuring that the value added by women in the Informal Sector as workers and
producers is recognised through redefinition/re-interpretation of conventional
concepts of work and preparation of Satellite and National Accounts.
l Defining the Women’s Component Plan (WCP) clearly and identifying the
schemes/programmes/projects under each Ministry/Department, which should
be covered under WCP and ensuring the adoption of women-related mechanisms
through which funds/benefits flow to women from these sectors.
l Initiating action for enacting new women-specific legislations; amending the
existing women-related legislation, if necessary, based on the review made and
recommendations already available to ensure gender justice, besides, reviewing
all the subordinate legislations to eliminate all gender discriminatory references.
l Expediting action to legislate reservation of not less than 1/3 seats for women
in the Parliament and in the State Legislative Assemblies and, thus, ensure
women in proportion to their numbers reaching decision-making bodies, so that
their voices are heard.
l Arresting the ever-increasing violence against women and the Girl Child including
the Adolescent girls on top priority with the strength and support of a well-
planned Programme of Action prepared in consultation with all the concerned,
especially the enforcement authorities; implementing effectively with the strength
of the Law and Order Authorities both at the centre and state levels and
assessing the situation.
l Expediting standardisation of a Gender Development Index based on which the
gender segregated data will be collected at national, state and district levels;
114 compiled/collated and analysed to assess the progress made in improving the
 status of women at regular intervals with an ultimate objective of achieving Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
equality at par with men.
and Programmes
l Initiating/accelerating the process of societal reorientation towards creating a
Gender-Just Society. The number of children between 0-6 years came down
from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 illustrate the most disturbing survival scene of
women and the girl child in India. The ever-declining trend in the sex ratios can
be attributed to higher mortality rates amongst females as compared to males
in all age groups right from the childhood to the child-bearing ages. Other
contributory factors include – limited access to health care services and relative
deprivation of the female child in respect of rearing as well as feeding practices.
Interventions to this effect have been in progress, but not with much impact in
reaching the set goal.

Affirmative developmental policies and programmes for development of women,

besides providing them easy and equal access to all the basic minimum services so
as to enable them to realise their full potentials through –

l Providing easy and equal access to ensure basic minimum services of primary
health care and family welfare with special focus on the under-served and
under-privileged segments of population through universalising Reproductive
and Child Health (RCH) services.
l Achieving the goals set by the National Population Policy (2000) with regard
to reducing Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 30 per thousand and Maternal
Mortality Rate (MMR) to 100 per lakh live births by 2010.
l Supplementing health care and nutrition services through the Pradhan Mantri
Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) to fill the critical gaps in the existing primary
health care infrastructure and nutrition services.
l Tackling both macro and micro-nutrient deficiencies through nutrition
supplementary feeding programmes with necessary support services like health
check-ups, immunisation, health and nutrition education and nutrition awareness
etc.
l Consolidating the progress made under female education and carrying it forward
for achieving the set goal of ‘Education for Women’s Equality’ as advocated
by the National Policy on Education, 1986 (revised in 1992).
l Providing easy and equal access to and free education for women and girls at
all levels and in the field of technical and vocational education and training in
up-coming and job-oriented trades.
l Increasing enrolment/retention rates and reducing drop-out rates by expanding
the support services through mid-day meals, hostels and incentives like free
supply of uniforms, text-books, transport charges, etc.
l Extending the existing network of regional vocational training centres to all the
states and Women’s Industrial Training Institutes and Women’s Wings with
General Industrial Training Institutes with residential facilities in all districts and
sub-districts and provision of training in marketable trades.
l Encouraging the media to project positive images of women and the Girl Child;
change the mind-set of the people and, thus, promote the balanced portrayals
of women and men.
l Gender sensitising both the administrative and enforcement machinery and
ensuring that the rights and interests of women are taken care of, besides
involving them in planning, implementation and monitoring of processes.
115
Development of Access to Health
Rural Women
Discrimination in the access to health and education for women and girls continues
to persist in many areas owing to negative societal attitudes. Discriminatory practices
do exist even in child-rearing, feeding and providing health services. The same are
very much reflected in the health and nutritional status of women and girls, especially
amongst pregnant and lactating mothers, as mentioned earlier. Therefore, the
government will adopt a holistic approach to women’s health, which includes both
nutrition and health services with special attention to the needs of women and girls
at all stages of the life-cycle. Also, special efforts will be made to increase easy
access towards a comprehensive, affordable and quality health and nutrition care
through widespread RCH and ICDS services. Also, measures will be adopted to
take into account the reproductive rights of women to enable them to exercise their
reproductive choices.

Education and Training

Girls and young women are expected to manage both educational and domestic
responsibilities, which often results in poor academic performance and early drop-
out from the educational system. The same are very much reflected in the existing
gender differentials in respect of literacy rates (54.16 for females as against 75.85
per cent for males in 2001), enrolment ratios (85.2 for girls and 104.1 for boys at
the primary level in 1999-2000) and drop-out rates (42.3 for girls and 38.7 for boys
at the primary level in 1999-2000). These have long-lasting consequences for all
aspects of women’s life. Therefore, the Plan will endeavour to create a favourable
social environment in which women and men and girls and boys are treated equally
and are encouraged to achieve their full potential. Further, it will also initiate various
actions to increase access to women and girls through special affirmative measures,
viz. providing free education, appointing more women teachers, creating a gender-
sensitive educational system, increasing enrolment and retention rates of girls through
provision of hostels, mid-day meals and improving the quality of education to facilitate
life-long learning as well as development of vocational/technical skills and thus,
eliminate discrimination against women and girls in respect of education. Efforts will
also be made to develop gender-sensitive curricula at all levels of the educational
system in order to address the issue of stereotyping, which is one of the causes of
gender discrimination.

The bold decision to declare ‘Education as the Fundamental Right’ (being processed)
reflects the Government’s concern and commitment to ensure that everyone born
in this country is literate/educated and, thus, fulfil the Constitutional commitment of
‘Education for All’ by 2007. Through the specially targeted programme of Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), launched in 2000, efforts will be made to reach the un-
reached women and the girl child. Thus, all out efforts will be made during the
Tenth Plan to ensure that the SSA achieves its commitment within the set time
target.

While ‘Education for All’ continues to be a priority area in the Tenth Plan, special
efforts will be made to create an enabling environment by providing easy and equal
access to and free education for women and girls. Steps will also be initiated to
remove gender bias and stereo-types in the curricula, text-books and learning material;
create a gender-sensitive educational system; promote gender sensitisation of teachers
on a regular basis; appoint more women teachers at primary level (at least 90 per
cent); reduce drop-out rates and increase enrolment and retention rates of girl
children through special incentives like free supply of uniforms, text-books, mid-day
meals, scholarships, flexible school timings and attached hostels and crèches; and
116 improve the quality of education besides facilitating life-long learning through
correspondence courses, distance learning and self-study programmes for women Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
and girls, who drop-out from the formal system of schooling. In fact, the re-cast and Programmes
programme of BSY revolves around the very same theme of educating and
empowering the girl child living below the poverty line with adequate financial
support till she completes higher secondary education or gets equipped with the
necessary skills to earn her livelihood. (More details under Section on ‘Development
of Children’.)

Vocationalisation of secondary education and vocational training for women is another

priority area requiring greater attention. In this direction, efforts will be made to
extend the existing network of regional vocational training centres to all the states
and Women’s ITIs with residential facilities to all districts and sub-districts.
Simultaneously, efforts will also be made to encourage eligible women/girls with
suitable incentives to join vocational education/training, so that the facilities available
both at the general/exclusive Training Institutions for women are utilized optimally.
Introduction of part-time and short-term courses will also be considered to meet the
special needs and timings of working women/girls. Special campaigns will be
organised, with necessary incentives, to encourage women and girls to opt for the
emerging trades/areas of technical education having high employment potential,
such as electronics, computer applications, bio-engineering, bio-technology, food
processing, fabric designing, beauty culture, communications, media, etc.

Distance Education for Women’ s Empowerment

The objective of the project is to provide a certificate course of training of
“Empowering Women Through Self Help Groups’ to voluntary social workers,
community organisers, social animators, facilitators, functionaries of self help groups,
etc. through a distance mode all over the country. The project is being jointly
implemented by the Department of Women and Child Development and Indira
Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for the empowerment of women through
self help groups (SHGs). While the expenditure for the project is borne by the
DWCD, the development/implementation of the training programme is the concern
of IGNOU.

Women and Environment

Considering the impact of environmental factors on sustenance and livelihood, special
efforts will be made to increase women’s participation in the conservation and
restoration of the environment and in the control of environmental degradation.
Therefore, the major strategy is to promote only those programmes that involve the
efficient use of non-conventional energy resources in an environment-friendly manner.
Further, women will also be involved in propagating the use of solar energy, biogas,
smokeless chullahs and other rural applications, so that these measures will have
both visible and viable impact in influencing the eco-system and also in changing the
lifestyles of rural women. Efforts will also be made to sensitise the forest staff and
local communities about the need to involve women’s groups in the planning and
management of forest conservation, as they have already proved their credentials
through the programmes of Social Forestry in Gujarat and West Bengal.

5.8 PROGRAMMES OF POLITICAL

EMPOWERMENT
Social and human development emphasises the leadership capabilities and talents of
men and women of all ages. This includes the capacities of women to plan, implement,
117
Development of make decisions and lead in public life. Women’s participation in public life promotes
Rural Women
notions of secularism and strengthens democracy in India. It fulfils India’s
commitment to international conventions and processes, such as the Beijing
Declaration. Their participation also challenges current gender inequalities in Indian
society and reconstructs that society to include women and men as equal partners
in decision-making processes. Their participation is a form of empowerment, as
they provide role models for young women and act as powerful agents in areas of
society that are constructed as masculine.

There can be no true democracy, no true people’s participation in governance and

development without the equal participation of women and men in all spheres of life
and levels of decision making. The goals of development cannot be attained without
women’s participation not only in the development process, but also in shaping its
goals. In focusing attention on the most neglected portion of humanity today, women
and girls, women’s participation will make society more responsive to the needs of
all people. In bringing new insights and contributions to all issues, it will enrich and
shift the focus on content of discourse in politics and society to include wider ranges
of misuse. In changing the unequal balance of decision making power and control
in the relations of men women – in the household, in work place, in communities,
in government and in the international area – it will lead to women’s empowerment.
Participation has two dimensions: quantitative and qualitative. In recent past, the
73rd Constitutional amendment provides women’s participation in local governance
by numbers only. Inspite of one third representation of women, participation remains
passive in Panchayati Raj Institutions without any voice in the decision making.
There is, of course, a relationship between the quantitative and qualitative aspects
of participation: the larger the number difference. Factors such as universal gender
discrimination present obstacle not only to the number of women participants, but
also to their access to leadership and decision making.

The political space belongs to all citizens: politics is the source for empowerment
and affects the lives of each of us. More the participation of women, more they
can change the modalities and outcomes of politics. Democracy and the participation
of women go hand in hand and promote each other mutually. Although women are
participating in increasing number in politics and public life in India, they still remain
largely outside the realm of power and decision making in government. The gap
between women’s and men’s political participation is still large.

Many interrelated factors affect women’s ability to participate in politics as given

below:

i) Lack of experience in campaigning, public debate.

ii) Prevailing negative attitudes towards women.
iii) Lack of confidence and support for female candidates and politicians.
iv) Difficulties in combining a political carrier with traditional women’s role in family
and society.
v) Economic dependency or lack of financial means.
vi) Insufficient education in general and political education in particular.
vii) Women’s reluctance to participate in politics.
viii) Criminalization of politics.
ix) Political parties not giving adequate number of tickets in election and their
representation in party’s governing/decision making bodies is also inadequate.
118
Women in Local Governance Empowerment of Rural
Women –Policies
The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1993 marks historic event in and Programmes
the advancement of Indian Women as it ensures 1/3rd of total seats for women in
all elected offices of local bodies in rural areas and urban areas. In the rural areas,
about eight lakh women are going to emerge as decision makers at the grassroots
level and enter into public life. Of these, about 75,000 would be Chairpersons at the
village, block and district levels. Women have, thus, been brought to the center
stage in the nation’s efforts to strengthen democratic institutions.

The Passage of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 marks a new era in
the federal democratic set up of the country and provides constitutional status to
the Panchayati Raj Institutions. The Act, which came into force from 24 April,
1993, stipulates that Panchayats shall be given powers and authority to function as
institutions of self-government.

Salient Features of the Act

l A 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all States having population of over 20 lakhs.
l Regular Panchayat elections after every five years.
l Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes in propotion to
their population and not less than 1/3 seats for women.
l State Finance Commissioners to make recommendations on financial powers of
the Panchayats.
l Independent State Election Commissions.

Powers and Responsibilities of Panchayats

l Preparation of plan for economic development and social justice.
l Implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice in
relation to 29 subjects given in Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
l To levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees.

Gram Sabha
The 73rd Amendment Act gives Constitutional status to the Gram Sabha – the
general assembly of villagers. In the Gram Sabha, the rural poor, the women and
the marginalised get an opportunity to participate in decision making on matters
affecting their lives. Actively functioning Gram Sabhas ensure a vibrant grassroots
democracy with transparency, accountability and achievement. The Provisions of
the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 extend Panchayats
to the tribal areas of the eight States, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. This law
vests Gram Sabhas and Panchayats with significant powers of control over natural
resources as well as the social and cultrual spheres of their lives.

The effective implementations of provision of 73rd and 74th Constitutional

Amendments calls for empowering the elected women representatives, so that they
can actively participate in decision making process. Experience reveals that in spite
of one third representation of women, their role in decision making is negligible in
many a place, more specially, where women literacy is low. Still decisions are taken
by male members or husbands/sons of the elected women representatives on their
behalf. There is an urgent need to formulate comprehensive policy and programmes
for training of elected women representatives.
119
Development of
Rural Women Check Your Progress II
Note: a) Write your answers in the space provided below.
b) Compare your answers with the text.

1) Write short notes on following schemes:

i) Sawadhar
……...…………….....………………………………...…………………
……...……………………………………………………………………
……...……………………....……………………………………………

ii) Sawablamban
……...…………….....………………………………...…………………
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iii) Sarwa Shakti

……...…………….....………………………………...…………………
……...……………………………………………………………………
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2) Write short notes on programmes relating to:

i) Women in unorganised sector

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ii) Women in small scale and cottage industry

……...…………….....………………………………...…………………
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3) Write the major steps adopted for gender justice and social empowerment
by Government.

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4) Write briefly on programmes relating to:

i) Health
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120
 Empowerment of Rural
ii) Education Women –Policies
and Programmes
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iii) Employment
……...…………….....………………………………...…………………
……...……………………………………………………………………
……...……………………....……………………………………………

iv) Micro-credit
……...…………….....………………………………...…………………
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……...……………………....……………………………………………

5) Describe the Political empowerment process of women.

……...…………….....………………………………...…………………
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6) What are the obstacles in participation of women in Panchayats.

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7) Describe the major provisions of 73rd Constitutional Amendment.

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Development of
Rural Women 5.9 LET US SUM UP
In this unit ‘Empowerment of Rural Women–Policies and Programmes’ we have
discussed in detail about the evolution of policies on women in the Indian context.
The Government of India adopted the National Policy for the Empowerment of
women on March 20, 2001. We have described the objectives of this National
Policy in detail. We have also seen that development of women has been receiving
attention of the Government of India right from the first five year plan. We also
discussed the emphasis given for the development of the women in various plans
including the 10th five year plan. There are also several Government institutions
which make contribution towards the advancement of women such as Rashtriya
Mahilla Kosh (RMK), the National Commission for Women (NCW), the Central
Social Welfare Board (CSWB) and the Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment
of Women. In this unit we have also discussed about the various programmes for
the economic and social development of women. Another aspect which has been
highlighted in this unit is on various programmes for the political empowerment of
women. In short in this unit we have explained various policies and programmes
pertaining to the empowerment of rural women.

5.10 SUGGESTED READINGS

Government of India (1988), Manual on Women’s Development and Gender
Justice, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Human Resource Development,
New Delhi.
Archana Kalegaonkar – Pursuing Third World Women’s Interests, Economic and
Political Weekly, April 26, 1997.
Government of India (1995), Country Report, Fourth World Conference in Beijing.
Government of India – Tenth Five Year Plan Planning Commission, Government of
India.
Government of India (1988), Empowered Girl Empowered Society, Department of
Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development,
New Delhi.
Government of India (1999), Schemes for Assistance – A Handbook, Department
of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development,
New Delhi.
NIPCCD (1998), Financial Assistance to Voluntary Agencies – A Sourcebook,
NIPCCD, New Delhi.
Government of India (1996), National Policy for the Empowerment of Women.
Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, New Delhi.
Government of India, Towards Equality – Report of Committee on the Status of
Women in India, Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, New Delhi.
Government of India (1993), Policies and Programmes for the Advancement of
Women, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi.
Government of India (1988), National Perspective Plan for Women (1988–2000
AD). Deptt. of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, New Delhi.
Government of India – Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement
of Women – Department of Women and Child Development, New Delhi.
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