What measures are taken for upliftment of women and removing gender bias with reference to Indian Constitution.
“If you educate a man you educate an individual, however, if you educate a woman you educate a whole family. Women empowered means mother India empowered”. — Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
Introduction:
Over the years women have contributed in various spheres of life, however they are subjected to suffering due to their disadvantaged position in the society.
In ancient India women were given a special place in every religion in order to curtain the eyes of people from various. Ill practices such as — sati pratha, dowry system, sexual violence, domestic violence, female infanticide, child marriage etc. All of these ill practices flourished due to superiority of men in the society giving rise to the patriarchal system of the society. Women are at one hand elevated to a status of Shakti and at the same time are prone to discrimination and are treated badly in family and society. People of India refer to their country as Bharat -mata, but have taken a long time to understand the true meaning of it.
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNDFW) is the women’s fund at the United Nations. It is mandated to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the national, regional and international agendas and in the work of the United Nations system.
According to it women empowerment means :-
“Developing a sense of self-worth, a belief in one’s ability to secure desired changes and the right to control one’s life.” Empowerment can be seen as a means to create a social environment where one can make decisions and have choices as individually or as a collective to encourage social transformation. Empowering women for equality is to sensitise society towards women issues and the problems faced by them.
Women empowerment has been in the forefront of various governments and has brought about various changes in our Indian Constitution. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. It not only grants equality to women but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. This is done in order to neutralise the socio- economic, educational and political disadvantages faced by women over several centuries. However ,the constitution is not to be construed as a mere law, but as a machinery by which laws are made. The constitution is a living and organic thing which, of all instruments has the greatest claim to be constructed broadly and liberally.
Indian Constitution is the largest constitution in the world. It consists of —
1 Preamble, 395 Articles ,22 parts,8 schedules
Over the years, several changes have been made to the resulting in various amendments keeping in mind the gender -bias and its inhibitions. Which modified our constitutions into -
1 Preamble, 470 Articles ,25 Parts,12 Schedules
These additions have been included in the already existing parts and articles. For example Article 15 and Article 15 A
Constitutional Provisions for improving gender bias:
Preamble: The preamble contains the essence of the. Constitution and reflects the ideals and aims of the people.
The Preamble contains the goal of equality of status and opportunity to all citizens. This particular goal has been incorporated to give equal rights to women and men in terms of status as well as opportunity. Under the Constitutional law, women have equal rights as men so as to enable them to take part effectively in the administrative of the country.
Fundamental Rights, among others, ensure equality before the law and equal protection of law; prohibits discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and guarantee equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters relating to employment. Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 16, 39(a), 39(b), 39(c) and 42 of the Constitution are of specific importance in this regard
- Article 14 : Equality before Law : guarantees that the State shall not deny equality before the law and equal protection of the laws; The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
2. Article: 15 Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, cast, sex, or place of birth
a. (1)The state shall not discrimination against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, cast, sex, or place of birth or any of them.
b. (3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.
3.Article: 16 Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
(1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state.
(2) No citizens shall, on grounds only of religion, race, cast, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the state. There is still a considerable gap between constitutional rights and their application in the day-to-day lives of most women.
4.Article 21 Protection of life and personal liberty. “No person shall be deprive of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Denial of right of succession to women of Scheduled Tribes amounts to deprivation of their right to livelihood under article 21
5.Article 23. Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour. —
a. (1)Traffickinghumanbeingsandbeggarandothersimilarformsofforcedlabour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.
b. (2) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for public purposes, and in imposing such service the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any of them.
6. Article 39
a. Article39(a)directstheStatetodirectitspolicytowardssecuringthatcitizens, men and women, equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood.
Article 39(d) directs the State to secure equal pay for equal work for both men and women. The State in furtherance of this directive passed the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 to give effect to the provision.
Article39(e)specificallydirectstheStatenottoabusethehealthandstrengthof workers, men and women.
7. Article 42 :Provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. The State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. Article 42 of the Constitution incorporates a very important provision for the benefit of women. It directs the State to make provisions for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.
8. Article 44: Uniform civil code for the citizens. —
The State shall Endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India. Article 44 directs the State to secure for citizens a Uniform Civil Code applicable throughout the territory of India. Its particular goal is towards the achievement of gender justice. Even though the State has not yet made any efforts to introduce a Uniform Civil Code in India, the judiciary has recognised the necessity of uniformity in the application of civil laws relating to marriage, succession, adoption, divorce, maintenance, etc. but as it is only a directive it cannot be enforced in a court of law.
9. Article 46 : The State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation
10.Article 47: The State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people 11.(Article 51(A) (e) : To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women
12.Article 243 D(3): Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat
13.Article 243 D (4) : Not less than one- third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level to be reserved for women
14.Article 243 D(3): Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat
15.Article 243 D (4) : Not less than one- third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level to be reserved for women
16.Article 243 T (3): Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Municipality to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality
17.Article 243 T (4): Reservation of offices of Chairpersons in Municipalities for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the legislature of a State may by law provide
Gender discrimination still persists in India and lot more needs to be done in the field of women’s education in India. The gap in the male-female literacy rate is just a simple indicator. While the male literary rate is more than 82.14% and the female literacy rate is just 65.46%. (b). the women were consider only house wife and better to be live in the house.
Lack of political and economic powers add to the subservient and unequal position of women. After Independence, in spite of having our own constitution, India was not able to achieve morals like fairness, equality and social justice. The condition of women didn’t improve even having a woman prime minister for few numbers of years. Women’s representation in politics all over the world began to assume importance from mid 1970s when United Nations (UN) declared 1975 as the ‘International Women’s Year’. This was followed by the UN’s decade for Women from 1976- 1985 and the theme was “Equality, Development and Peace”.
Women’s participation in politics remained quite inconsequential in India even today but some sort of improvement took place by the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment acts which gave boost to the status of women at the political level by giving opportunity to women in the process of decision-making. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local level
To ensure women are empowered, the government and the public sector need to play important roles to enable their welfare in various sectors. Here are a few that are breaking new ground and improving the lives of women, and encouraging them to think big, both in urban and rural areas.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Ministry of Human Resource Development.
It is being implemented through a national campaign and focussed multi-sectoral action in 100 selected districts low in CSR, covering all states and UTs. Launched on January 22, 2015, in Panipat, Haryana, it aims to generate awareness and also improve the efficiency of welfare services for the girl child. The initial aim of the campaign was to address the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) but has come to include gender-biased sex-selective eliminations, and propagating education, survival, and protection of the girl child.
Mahila-E-Haat
Under the purview of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the government launched Mahila-E-Haat in 2016. It is a bilingual online marketing platform that leverages technology to help aspiring women entrepreneurs, self-help groups, and NGOs to showcase their products and services.
Among the many services provided by Mahila-E-Haat is facilitating direct contact between the vendors and buyers, sensitisation, advocacy, training, packing and soft intervention workshops, and offering a web-based approach. Open to all Indian women above the age of 18, this platform offers an easy sign-in process and convenient payment modes. Everything can be handled on a mobile with no other intervention required. The portal claims to have attracted 17 lakh visitors since its launch and features over 2,000 products and services across 18 categories from 24 states
Mahila Shakti Kendra
The government launched the Mahila Shakti Kendra in 2017 to empower rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition. The Mahila Shakti Kendras will work through community engagement through student volunteers in the 115 most backward districts. Each Mahila Shakti Kendra will provide an interface for rural women to approach the government to avail of their entitlements through training and capacity building. It works at the National, State, District, and Block levels.
Working Women Hostel
The government launched the Working Women Hostels to ensure availability of safe, convenient accommodation for working family, along with daycare facilities for their children, wherever possible in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. Under the scheme, assistance is provided for construction of new hostels and expansion of existing ones. The working women hostels are available to any woman provided her gross income does not exceed Rs 50,000 per month in metropolitan cities and Rs 35,000 per month in any other place.
Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
The STEP scheme was set up to provide skills to women so that they can take up gainful employment. It also provides the right competencies and training for women to become entrepreneurs. Open to every woman above the age of 16, it is run through a grant given to an institution/organisation including NGOs directly. According to the Ministry website, the assistance under STEP Scheme will be available in any sector for imparting skills related to employability and entrepreneurship, including but not limited to the agriculture, horticulture, food processing, handlooms, tailoring, stitching, embroidery, zari, handicrafts, computers & IT- enabled services along with soft skills and skills for the workplace, such as spoken English, gems and jewellery, travel and tourism, and hospitality.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
Falling under the ambit of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is a government-backed savings scheme for girl children. The account can be opened at any India Post office or a branch of an authorised commercial bank anytime between the birth of the girl child and till the age of 10 by a parent or guardian. Only one account is allowed per child and parents with a minimum of Rs 1,000 deposited into it. There is no limit to the number of deposits either in a month or in a financial year. The account offers an interest of 8.6 percent. The girl child can operate the account once she reaches 10 years of age and the account allows for 50 percent withdrawal for higher education at the age of 18. The account reaches maturity in 21 years after opening it. Deposits can be made till the account completes 14 years and thereafter the account will earn only applicable rate of interest.
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Bibliography:
https://yourstory.com/herstory/2019/08/india-government-schemes-women-empowerment-modi
http://mospi.nic.in/sites/default/files/reports_and_publication/cso_social_statices_divisi on/Constitutional&Legal_Rights.pdf
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1955/Women-empowerment:-With-Special- Reference-to-Constitutional-Provisions.html
https://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/women-and-child-development/women- development-1/legal-awareness-for-women/women-and-the-indian-constitution
