Essay on Gender Inequality in India

In this essay we will discuss about:- 1. History of Gender Studies 2. Understanding Gender 3. Patriarchy- The Cause of Gender Inequality 4. Mainstreaming Gender in Agriculture for Developmental Programs 5. Women in IT Sector 6. Obstacles Faced by Women in Political Participation 7. National Culture Policy and Gender Issues 8. Gender Inequality in India 9. Gender Budgeting 10. Conclusion.

Essay Contents on Gender Inequality in India :

1. Essay on the History of Gender Studies
2. Essay on Understanding Gender
3. Essay on Patriarchy- The Cause of Gender Inequality
4. Essay on Mainstreaming Gender in Agriculture for Developmental Programs
5. Essay on Women in IT Sector
6. Essay on the Obstacles Faced by Women in Political Participation
7. Essay on National Culture Policy and Gender Issues
8. Essay on Gender Inequality in India
9. Essay on Gender Budgeting
10. Conclusion

Essay # 1. History of Gender Studies:

‘Change is the role of society’, though this line is scripted in Shreemad Vagbat Gita, but any type of change is not so easy or not happened suddenly. Why does only a change? If one wants to establish anything or any destroy or any creativity needs many time—the self-establishment of women in the history of world known as gender studies. The women who are courageous, strong and determinate placed in the pages of gender studies. The histo­ry of gender studies was started possibly by Mary Wollstonecraft through her literary work, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ in the last decades of 18^th century (1792).

‘A Vindication of the rights of women’ is a book on theory about feminist doctrine by the first major feminist, Mary Woll­stonecraft, written in the western tradition when the issue of the rights of men were bringing revolution to the united states, to France and threating even the venerable English parliamentary, is the doctrine of declaration of the independence for women. Feminism comes from the gender sensitisation and gender dis­crimination is a disease created by society to distinct the female sex and male sex.

World is subdued under the patriarchal soci­ety where female has no voice and they treated as underdog. It is Mary Wollstonecraft who firmly established the demand for women’s emancipation in the context of the ever widening range of human rights and individual freedom that followed in the wake up from the great two upheavals of American Freedom (1776) and French Revolution (1789).

The book was not written all of a sudden, it has historical, po­litical issues or incidents and stands not only as a feminist work but a work of political lineage. Mary Wollstonecraft, a woman of radical thinker, standing on the last decays of 18^th century was influenced to write such a theoretical book by the innumerable writers and activist.

French Revolution (1779) talked about the Equality, Fraternity and Freedom. If we believe these three demands, then we are not patriarchal and we are gender neutral, but there is a kind of sub­division from Male to Female. Female could not get the facilities of free talking, free walking, free working and free living as they wish.

The book ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ was inspired by a pamphlet, written by a French man on education which was admitted to French Parliament in 1790 while Vindication of the rights of women was published on 1792. In this pamphlet it was said that women were not supposed to educate, rather they were to trained as cooking, stitching, child bearing etc. domestic activity.

The publication of ‘On the Rights of Man’ by Thomas Paine is very important to build the ‘Vindication of Rights of Women’ as in this book Paine established the urgent necessity of Rights of man to build a society and about women he said, “Women are robbed on freedom, and will by the laws, slaves of opinion which rules them with absolute sway and construes the slightest appear­ance into guilt…”

William Godwin’s publication of ‘The Necessities of Politi­cal Justice’ also inspired Mary Wollstonecraft because this book talked about the justice in everything and in every field while women are always injustice by the male member of the society.

In the 19^th century there was a predominance of the culture of sensibility. The term sensibility was considered problematic dur­ing the 18^th century because it suggested an over abandons and exaggeration of emotions and feelings. Philosophers like Rous­seau believed that women are by nature prove to sensibility, soft, emotional compare to the relationship attitude of male. He said, “Women have or ought to be have, but little liberty; they are apt to indulge themselves excessively in what is allowed them.”

Edmund Bark, the French Critic on French Revolution endured the ethos of monarchy – “We need aristocracy, people are not educated enough to understand Government.” Mary Wollstone­craft hates aristocracy and established her theory in ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’.

Religious is a kind of opium, a kind of poison, a kind of subjugation on which both male and female are subdued. But it also acts as a he­gemony by which females are subdued under the male as in the Bible, Adam says – “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh – she shall be called ‘woman’ because she was taken out of man.”

At the beginning of the book, Wollstonecraft talked about an important right of the education.

Female Empowerment through the Eyes of Arundhati Roy and Literature 89 She has also talked about the economic independence of women. She has given an idea about marriage. She must have Modesty in character.

The ultimate message of ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ is the gender equality. Domination has various divisions – women, class, culture, caste, economic section, country. Wollstonecraft opened our consciousness about the very patriarchal masculine practices towards female. Anthropology raises a question against the root of everything like the totems and taboos created by male on society. It related to socio-logical science. Nibedita Mehan in the Subaltern Studies prefers the ’emancipation of the self’ and finds one woman of her own-self—it is also the theme and mes­sage of Vindication of the Rights of Women.

According to Jacques Derrida, the text is an ‘aporia’; and in this text ‘aporia’ stands for the female psyche which is deadlock and raise a question—Do the women know that they are the product for their own or for patri­archy? On the other hand ‘Vindication of the Rights of women’ as the ‘chora’ is specific female writing. And Wollstonecraft in this book nothing tells beyond the women. ‘Acriture’ is the female writing or writing for female by the female. Mary is a woman and in the text without any hesitation regarded as the acriture. So the first movement of gender equality started by Mary Wollstonecraft.

Traditional Sociological Roles:

The Indian society, traditionally and still now, have very clearly demarcated roles for the men and women. So if a man performed the role of a hunter- gatherer, women worked as a nurturer and home- maker and no one transgressed into each other’s boundaries. For quite a long time, this boundary remained so intact that no conflict appeared. Moreover, with no educational opportunities provided to women in the past, they did not even aspire to cross their sanctum boundaries.

Furthermore, the socialization pattern of traditional Indian society is such that the achievement in being a women lies in rearing the kids and making the home only, i.e., it sees women mostly through the embodiment of only a mother and disregard another social roles.

The Indian women was and is still seen as an epitome of tyaga (sacrifice) where her own aspirations were to be put behind the family’s happiness. If a woman worked outside the home, it was believed, will lead to disharmony in the family and the purpose for which the institution of family was created will not be met.

Essay # 2. Understanding Gender:

Although we have understood the word “Gender” from our grammar classes, obviously it is being used differently now.

The word “gender” is being used now sociologically or as a conceptual category, and it has been given a very specific meaning. “Gender” refers to the socio- cultural definition of man and woman, the way societies distinguish men and women and assign them roles, rights, responsibilities, clothes, behaviour, status, power, relationships, hierarchy, in-equalities etc.

Everyone is born male or female, and our sex can be determined simply by looking at our genitalia. But every culture has its ways of valuing girls and boys and assigning them different roles, responses and attributes. All the social and cultural “packaging” that is done for girls and boys from birth onwards is “gendering”, which is done through the process of socialization.

Each society transforms a male or female into man or a woman, into masculine and feminine, with different qualities, behaviour patterns, roles, responsibilities, rights and expectations. Unlike sex which is biological, the gender identities of men and women are psychologically and socially – which means historically and culturally determined.

Sex is natural and biological. It refers to visible differences in genitalia and related differences in procreative functions. Sex is constant; it remains the same everywhere.

Gender is socio- cultural and it is man-made. It refers to masculine and feminine qualities, behaviour patterns, roles and responsibilities etc. Gender is variable from time to time, culture to culture, even from family to family. Therefore it can be changed, whereas sex cannot be changed.

Being born is a great spiritual lesson. The human maturation process is a spiritual event. Unlike other species, humans enter this world powerless, helpless, incapable of being self-sufficient for a very long time. (Chickens, calves etc. within a day are able to move).

A girl or a boy, a human baby is totally dependent. Or is it that the boy is stronger than the girl? Then why is it that the family or the society prefer boys and discriminate against girls?

Nature produces male and female which society turns into masculine and feminine. There is a man and a woman in each one of us. But society does not allow the man in a girl and the woman in a boy to grow.

Essay # 3. Patriarchy- The Cause of Gender Inequality:

Patriarchy is the cause of gender inequalities and the subordination of women. Patriarchy means the rule of the father. It is a cluster of values, a mindset, a way of looking at life, a world view based on superiority. It is an ideology which believes that men are superior to women that women should be controlled by men and that women are part of men’s property. The ideology is in the creation of dualism. It is a false dichotomy and is used to maintain gender hierarchy, a dualistic ordering of reality where one dominates over the other.

Such as:

For example the words used for husband are- swami, shauhar, pati, malik- all words mean ‘lord” or owner.

The word “patriarchy” literally means the rule of the father or the “patriarch”, and originally it was used to describe a specific type of “male- dominated family”- the large household of the patriarch which included women, junior men, children, slaves and domestic servants all under the rule of this dominant male. Now it is used generally to refer to male domination, to the power relationships by which men dominate women, and to characterise a system whereby women are kept subordinate in a number of ways.

The subordination we experience at a daily level regardless of the class we might belong to, takes various forms- discrimination, disregard, insult, control, exploitation, oppression, violence- within the family, at the place of work, in society.

The nature of patriarchy is different in different classes in the same society; in different societies, and in different periods in history. But the broad principles remain the same, i.e., men are in control, but the nature of this control may differ. For example, the experience of patriarchy was not the same in our grandmother’s time as it is today; it is different for tribal women and for upper-caste Hindu women; for women in USA and women in India.

In a patriarchal system men have control over:

1. Women’s productive or labour power.

2. Women’s reproduction

3. Women’s sexuality

4. Women’s mobility

5. Women’s intellectual capacities

6. Property and other economic resources

7. Social, cultural and political institutions.

The main institutions in society- the family, religion, legal system, political, economic and educational institutions, media, knowledge system demonstrate quite clearly that they are all patriarchal in nature and are the pillars of a patriarchal structure. This well-knit and deep-rooted system makes patriarchy seem invincible and natural.

In a male- dominated society, there is institutionalized violence against women in some societies for example, the custom of widow-burning in India, the Chinese ritual of foot- binding, the genital mutilation of young women in Africa, the witch-hunting in Europe.

Women face specific forms of violence, rape and other forms of sexual abuse, female foeticide, witch-killing, sati, dowry murders and wife-beating. Such violence and the continued sense of insecurity instilled in women as a result keeps women bound in the home, economically exploited and socially suppressed.

Essay # 4. Mainstreaming Gender in Agriculture for Developmental Programs:

Clearly, if agriculture is to be an effective sector for development, women need to be able to fully participate. That step requires action across a broad swath of the policy and institutional domains. Governments will need not only to advocate but also to legislate and demonstrate gender mainstreaming in national and local governance.

Government action should ensure that legislation does not discriminate against women in areas such as inheritance, wages, property ownership, divorce and contracting. A first stage is auditing all existing laws for discrimination.

Women have traditionally been excluded from many avenues of governance, whether in local user groups, producer organizations, local councils, or national government. Women need to be engaged at far more senior levels than is generally the case in scientific research, in ministries of agriculture, and in local government. Internal reforms, including affirmative action for women, are required to increase female representation in ministries of agriculture and in local government.

Such reforms should include action plans that set time- bound goals and mechanisms that ensure accountability. Training for women needs to provide them with the required skills, particularly in countries where female education levels are low, and to ensure that they are fully conversant with their roles and accountabilities. In India, the Panchayati raj (village councils) reserve seats for women and for members of scheduled castes and tribes.

Studies have shown that reserving seats for women increases investment in the type of infrastructure that is relevant to women and those village councils are more effective when gender-sensitivity training is provided to both male and female councilors to begin the shift in social norms, governments need to model good practices to the private sector and civil society.

They should ensure that public-private contracts for service delivery such as agricultural extension have benchmarks and targets with respect to women’s access to service and project participation, with penalty clauses for no achievement. Decentralization of resource management to user groups, such as user associations to manage water or communities to manage forests, should mandate participation of women. Not only should targets be across a broad swath of the policy and institutional domains.

Governments will need not only to advocate but also to legislate and demonstrate gender mainstreaming in national and local governance. Government action should ensure that legislation does not discriminate against women in areas such as inheritance, wages, property ownership, divorce and contracting. A first stage is auditing all existing laws for discrimination.

Women have traditionally been excluded from many avenues of governance, whether in local user groups, producer organizations, local councils, or national government. Women need to be engaged at far more senior levels than is generally the case in scientific research, in ministries of agriculture, and in local government. Internal reforms, including affirmative action for women, are required to increase female representation in ministries of agriculture and in local government.

Such reforms should include action plans that set time- bound goals and mechanisms that ensure accountability. Training for women needs to provide them with the required skills, particularly in countries where female education levels are low, and to ensure that they are fully conversant with their roles and accountabilities. In India, the Panchayati raj (village councils) reserve seats for women and for members of scheduled castes and tribes.

Studies have shown that reserving scats for women increases investment in the type of infrastructure that is relevant to women and those village councils are more effective when gender-sensitivity training is provided to both male and female councilors to begin the shift in social norms, governments need to model good practices to the private sector and civil society. They should ensure that public-private contracts for service delivery such as agricultural extension have benchmarks and targets with respect to women’s access to service and project participation, with penalty clauses for no achievement.

Decentralization of resource management to user groups, such as user associations to manage water or communities to manage forests, should mandate participation of women. Not only should targets be set, but also reporting should be transparent to enable civil society to monitor target achievement and call for corrective action if progress is not made.

Governments will also need an eye to the future, given women’s lower levels of schooling. Ensuring a pipeline of well-qualified female candidates for senior positions in public and private agriculture organizations will require increased emphasis on female education, including incentives such as cash transfers for the education of girls and scholarships for vocational and university training in agriculture sciences and policy.

This policy brief has been extracted from the World Bank’s, 2008 World Development Report, and Agriculture for Development. Further information and detailed sources are available in the Report. The Report uses a simple typology of countries based on the contribution of agriculture to overall growth 1990-2005 and the share of rural poor in the total number of poor (2002 US$ day level).

In agriculture-based countries (mostly Africa), agriculture contributes a significant (>20%) share of overall growth. In transforming countries (mostly in Asia), non- agricultural sectors dominate growth but a great majority of the poor are in rural areas. In urbanized countries (mostly in Latin America and Europe and Central Asia), the largest number of poor people are in urban areas, all though poverty rates are often highest in rural areas.

Gender Dimension and Women in Agriculture:

The important role of women in agriculture calls for attention to gender specific constraints in agricultural production and marketing. Main streaming gender in agricultural policies and programs is essential for development success.

Women play major, but largely unrecognized, roles in agriculture in most countries of the world. Failure to recognize their roles is costly – it results in misguided policies and programs for agricultural output and associated income flows, higher levels of poverty and food and nutrition in security.

In many societies, access by women to resources and participation in agriculture is mediated through their fathers or husbands. As daughters or wives, they are part of a complex web of interactions entailing both cooperation and power plays, as households design livelihood strategies to map a pathway out of poverty. These livelihood strategies adapt to suit the women’s asset endowments and account for the constraints imposed by market failures, state failures, social norms, and exposures to uninsured risks.

Every aspect of these strategies has gender dimensions, whether through the different asset and opportunity sets of men and women, the constraints that men and women operate under, or the design of policies that set the household context in which the strategy is implemented. A woman’s negotiating power is affected by her participation in economic activity, which itself depends on her asset endowment (including human capital).

Women Face Constraints in using the Pathways out of Poverty:

In the drive to escape poverty, households pursue three pathways: farming, labour and migration. Rarely, though, is any one pathway an exclusive strategy. Within households, men and women have different opportunities to pursue these pathways. Social norms often dictate that most of the child rearing, cooking and household chores are responsibilities of women, thereby limiting women’s mobility and potential to take advantage of new economic opportunities and reinforcing inequalities. Increased labor force participation by- women, combined with those traditional roles at home, can mean much longer work days for women than for men.

Enabling women to move beyond subsistence production and into higher-value and market-oriented production is an important element of successful agriculture for development strategies. Women, more than men, spend their income on food, thus improving household food and nutrition security and particularly the development of children.

Farming is a Key Pathway for Women, Facilitated by Better Access to Resources:

The farming pathway is a key for many women because their mobility is constrained and thus migration or external labor markets are limited options. But their role can be restricted to subsistence food crops with low potential to generate higher incomes. Compared with men, women face a number of costly constraints, ranging from lower wages for agricultural work to lack of access to land, working capital, technology and marketing channels.

Unrealized Agriculture Growth Potential:

A study in southern Ghana found that soil fertility, tenure security of plots, and participation in credit markets were lower for women than for men. Consequently, women were much less likely than men to plant pineapples, a profitable export crop. Evidence from Burkina Faso suggests that overall output of crops grown by the household could increase by 6 per cent if some labor and fertilizer were reallocated within the household from men’s to women’s plots.

Access to Resources:

Women are less likely than men to own land, and even when they do own land, their land holdings are smaller. This inequality is driven by unfavorable marital and inheritance laws, family and community norms, and unequal access to markets. In Uganda, women account for the largest share of agricultural production but own just 5 percent of the land, and often they have insecure tenure rights on the land they farm.

Land titling programs in many countries have often reinforced men’s land rights, but during the past decade, many African countries have, adopted new land laws to strengthen women’s land rights, to recognize customary tenure, and to make lesser forms of evidence (such as oral evidence) on land rights admissible.

From 2003 to 2005, Ethiopia issued certificates to about 6 million households (18 million plots), which documented inheritable land-use rights of both the husband and wife jointly, while still restricting market transfers. More than 80 percent of evaluation survey respondents indicated that certification improved women’s situations.

Wage Discrimination Undermines Women’s Participation in the Labor Force:

Barriers to land rental can be particularly costly to women. In India, the marginal product of one day of labor in agricultural self- cultivation is equal for men and women at Rs 150. Daily wages in the casual labor market, however, are Rs 80 for women compared with Rs 100 for men. This discrimination in casual labor markets makes renting land particularly attractive for women.

Access to Markets and Services:

Women’s agriculture can be commercialized with careful attention to underlying gender roles. Some ways to assist in this process include improving women’s access to senders such as agricultural extension and finance and to technology such as improved seeds or female- specific farming implements. Other ways involve improving women’s agricultural wages and linking women to modern value chains from which they are normally excluded.

The rapidly developing high-value agriculture sector particularly emerging global supply chains (vegetables, fruit, and flowers) and fast expanding super markets in developing countries—has had important effects on women. Those activities generate considerable employment through production (about twice the labor input per hectare for cereal production) and more off-farm jobs in processing, packaging, and marketing.

Women dominate the more numerous casual and temporary manual labor jobs in the subsector, with men dominant in the management stream. The labor regulatory framework is important to ensure that women are protected both from wage and opportunity discrimination and from unsafe work environments.

Gender Sensitive Agricultural Extension:

The need for incorporating gender concerns in agricultural extension became apparent during the early 80s.

This came about, as there has been an increasing realization that:

i. Women play a major role in agriculture and agriculture continues to remain as an important source of livelihood for women;

ii. Women lack access to extension services as extension programmes rarely identify women as an integral part of its target audience;

iii. Extension needs of women and men vary considerably as often they are involved in different activities;

iv. Men and women have differential access to assets, information, markets, credits and other services: and

v. Extension personnel are often unaware of these “gender issues”. So, there is a need to sensitize them through training in “gender analysis” and “gender-sensitive agricultural planning” methods.

The most common approaches adopted to bring about greater gender sensitization in extension organizations are as follows:

i. Organize training programmes for staff on gender difference in agriculture and gender analysis tools.

ii. Employ more women extension staff, preferably female Para-extension agents to work closely with women groups Target women as clients for extension and organize separate programmes (trainings, demonstrations, exposure visits) for them.

iii. Form groups of women farmers (common interest groups or thrift-and credit groups); and provide them with the micro- capital assistance for enterprise development.

iv. Provide agronomically designed farm implements and other inputs (minikits for farm women groups).

Extension during the initial gender-sensitive years (from early 80s to mid-90s) have focused on women who are involved in agriculture and improving their capacity to do farming better. However, during the last two decades, it has become apparent that the above approaches, though necessary, are not sufficient to address gender inequalities.

First, extension has to deal with a new set of challenges such as deterioration of natural resources, fragmentation of farm holdings, threats and opportunities related to opening up of agricultural markets and introduction of new standards for production and marketing. These challenges have made agricultural development more complex.

Second, to address the new challenges, extension should expand its agenda beyond transferring new technology.

The expanded agenda should include the following:

i. Link more effectively and responsively to domestic and international markets where globalization is increasing competition.

ii. Reduce the vulnerability and enhance the voice of the rural poor.

iii. Promote environmental conservation.

iv. View agriculture as part of a wider set of rural development processes that include enterprise development and non-farm employment.

v. Couple technology transfer with other services relating to both the input and output markets (Neuchatel Group, 2002; APO, 2006).

Third, to be successful, farmers (both men and women) require a wide range of knowledge from different sources and support to integrate these different bits of knowledge into their production context. Extension should therefore play a capacity development role that includes training, strengthening innovation process, building linkages between farmers and other agencies, as well as institutional and organizational development to support the bargaining position of farmers.

Fourth, extension should explicitly address poverty. Improving opportunities for rural employment is critical for equitable growth and rural poverty reduction and women comprise a significant portion of the working poor in rural areas.

The clientele for gender-sensitive extension should therefore include the following:

i. Farmers, fishers, forest users, pastoralists, and those performing domestic work

iii. Temporary, casual, piece-rate, own-account, migrant, and home-based workers (vegetable market vendors, day-labourers, artisans etc.) in the informal sector

iii. Part- or full-time contract workers, farmers, share-croppers, and tenants

iv. Small, medium and large-farm food processing, and off-farm enterprises

v. Unionized and unorganized workers.

Essay # 5. Women in IT Sector:

It is generally believed that IT is one of the best equal opportunity areas ‘that provide wider opportunities for women to enter and succeed in this industry’. Nevertheless, the validity of these claims is yet to be established through empirical analysis. For such a transition in attitudes toward gender to take place, certain prerequisites have to be met.

First, there should be an adequate proportion of technically trained female labour force. Second, for the permeation of an alternate gender culture, there needs to be a process of de-learning and re- learning from the new work environment for both men and women. In essence, the family life of a woman and her professional commitments adapt to one another.

To illustrate the gender situation in IT, one has to view ‘the women in technology approach’ and ‘the women and technology approach’. The former approach tries to involve more women via equal access to education and employment; while the latter has a broader focus on the nature of technological work.

The women in technology approach advocates a wariness of the ‘add women and stir’ approach which insists on imparting skill to women to survive in the world of new technology. This approach locates the problem in women (their socialisation, their aspirations and values), but does not ask the broader questions of whether and in what way science and its institutions could be reshaped to accommodate women.

Whereas, the women and technology approach looks into the gender segregation of skills and jobs and the gender sensitivity of the organisation in particular. It aims to alter the masculine practices of these occupations so that women could enter into such work without any loss of identity or integrity. What is needed is a transformation in the nature of paid and unpaid work, as well as looking at the impact women can have on technology and technology on women.

Drawing from this approach, the following parameters have been used to analyse the gender regime in the IT sector in India – the proportion of women across various IT occupations/sectors, working conditions, practical gender needs of women, learning and career path. The actual situation can be evaluated from the published literature available on this theme.

Factors Restricting Women’s Career Choices- Marriage & Family Commitments:

The factors deterring women’s career choices have been analysed and presented by Dataquest surveys. Marriage is found out as a point at which the shrinkage of women from the career pipeline has started. The first sharp drop in the number of women professionals is at 3+ years of experience.

It is because childcare and housework remain women’s responsibilities, irrespective of her income, educational level or employment. This places a great burden on women and restricts women’s choices in terms of better job opportunities. Though women employed in the IT industry are relatively free from domestic drudgery, this is a class-specific phenomenon restricted to a few in high level jobs whose domestic responsibilities have been transferred to women of a lower economic class.

The opportunities offered by IT have only benefited a privileged few. Married women outnumber men in low-experience categories, but in 10+ years’ —the stage at which serious seniority should come in—a large number of women either opt out of their careers, or accept less demanding roles.

Factors Restricting Women’s Choices – Relocation Preference:

The demands of high responsibility may also play a role in keeping women from accepting such jobs. “Women have traditionally shied away from sales responsibilities,” says Gita Dang, head of technology practice at Korn & Ferry, “because it involves a great deal of travel.

The bulk of the important selling in the Indian software industry, for instance, happens overseas. “It is these business development people who blossom into the CXO roles. Women are left behind as team leaders only.” The data about relocation preferences of both sexes shows that women are far less willing to relocate. The willingness to relocate is a major factor that drives the growth of IT professionals. It is one of the areas where men outscore women.

The other reasons that deter women from climbing up the career ladder includes the mounting pressure at work place, work timings, time flexibility and travel.

Factors Restricting Women’s Career Choices- Unconventional Working Hours:

The BPO industry which is a subset of the IT industry has its own unique conditions that pose impediments to achieve a good work-life balance for women. Offering a reason as to why women professionals tend not to rise above a certain level, Prakash Toppo, V-P, HR at Global Vantedge says, Night shifts put an additional pressure on all employees in the ITeS sector.

For women, it becomes even more challenging and hence the burnout is much higher. Marriage more or less forces women to quit night shift operations. For instance, the trend of more women employees in call centers is more visible in the North and the Western part of the country. In the South, although there has been considerable increase in the number of women employees in call centers, yet it is quite low. This is attributed to the unconventional working hours that call centers have.

How can this be Changed? Organisational Perspective:

It is clear that untimely exits, either due to circumstance or personal choice, are the biggest reason why the number of women in IT companies declines so sharply with a rise in experience. The IT companies should develop a definite strategy to curb those exits. The biggest challenge for organizations is to be sensitive to family and social pressures under which women have to work.

Organizations should be sensitive to the needs of their women employees. They are wives, mothers and homemakers amongst other significant roles that they play. Various organizational policies must be drafted with these points in mind. Finally, despite all the good work that HR departments may put in to create truly women-sensitive work environments, it is the individual’s own home support system, ambitions and career aspirations that determine whether a woman manager is able to balance her career and family.

Essay #  6. Obstacles Faced by Women in Political Participation:

One of the arguments for the non-participation of women in the political process is that women themselves are responsible for their political isolation. The crucial problem is that women find themselves being judged and judging themselves by two standards.

One standard is that of Femininity in private world she is regarded as nurturer, passive, emotional home oriented and subordinate to man. The other standard is that of modern role – the public world expects women to be rational, active, achievement oriented, ambitious and competitive spheres.

This public-private split has a marginalizing effect on women. In such situation they have two options to follow the rules of the game of politics and be called unfeminine, or act in poli­tics guided by the standard of femininity and be seen as infe­rior. This compartmentalisation makes it very hard for women to choose an appropriate course of behavior. Fundamentally, at­titudes which society defines as stereotypically masculine, such aggressiveness are considered the norms of politics.

One must have these characteristics to be a real political ‘ man’ and real politician. Thus a woman who enters into politics is considered to be aggressive, calculating and practical and not expected to be soft, emotional and personal. Women in such circumstances find themselves entering an alien world. It is shocking to note that some women in politics, especially at the local levels raise issues from the women’s perspective in an otherwise and anti-women atmosphere.

The basic fact of subordination of women in society acts as a structural constraint and stops women from participating in po­litical activities in two ways – Firstly, due to gender- bases divi­sion of labour in the family women have to bear the full respon­sibilities of the household.

Women in both of rural and urban areas, are expected to shoulder the burden of looking after the family. It is their (women) duty to bring in fuel, fodder, water etc. It is their job to cook. She has to look after the rearing and end education of the children. She has to entertain the guests and also attend the social functions.

These constraints operate more or less in all classes and community of women. Men can take part almost all the political activities routine- wise because they can return home late, yet the family does not suffer as the woman is always available to look after the daily needs of the family.

Routine-wise political campaign work, maintaining contacts with the constituency, regular debates, discussions and meetings which are generally held at night usually clash with the women’s household and other responsibilities. Naturally, women find it difficult to participate in day-to-day political activities. In crisis situations or in time of mass mobilizations some stop gap ar­rangements are made and assistance of neighbours or the kin group is sought.

Another equally significant deterrent is the political cul­ture. Political process has not only become complicated, many decisions are taken behind the scene. Power games are con­trolled by monetary deals and since women have a little con­trol over finance they are not considered worth betting on.

In contemporary democracy with all its politicking , when qualities other than efficiency and commitment are valued, when maneuvering people and things are the norms, when decisions are taken at dinner tables, political participation is not an attractive proposal for the women, particularly when the cultural norms for good women have the overtones of non-material, clean, honest features.

When women aspiring for political careers are labeled as irresponsible by their family members and are seen as go-getters and not having ‘character’ it is the time test of moral courage and perseverance for women politicians. Threats of char­acter assassination, criminalization of politics and political vio­lence are enough to throttle the political ambitions of a woman.

The ordinary women has developed an apathy, even a dislike towards the word ‘Government’ and ‘Authority’. The common woman’s perception of government is, through the police, for­est- guards and law courts or family-planning functionaries. The women do not think of the ‘Sarkar’ (Govt.) as a friend or protec­tor of the weak.

Political routine work, regular visit to the constituency area, active participation in meetings and discussions, and prepared­ness to meet the people any time are not consistent with a wom­an’s life with her family. Such work clashes with her household rules. Moreover, speaking at the public meetings, asserting her individuality and negotiating power bargains require training and experience, which are not easily accessible to women.

In India only 40 percent women are literate. Naturally we can’t expect women’s active participation in politics effectively. Be­cause it requires informations, knowledge, exposure to various experiments, strategies, models etc. The understanding of politi­cal process, strategies and actions require training, education and constant interactions. Even men in a poor illiterate society find it difficult to fulfill this requirement. And for women it is much more challenging task.

Political parties don’t count the women’s vote as their vote bank. Even the political parties are reluctant to fill the seats of women candidates. Though they have a women’s wing they rarely take a serious attempt to involve women in public life. Notably, economic dependence and prohibitive election ex­penses are the big hurdles of women seeking to participate in public life.

Essay # 7. National Culture Policy and Gender Issues

:

The Department of Culture referred the draft of “National Culture Policy-an Approach Paper” to the commission for its views and comments.

The commission considered the approach paper which emphasized that –

(a) Women in India were a great sustaining and preserving force of culture

(b) The cultural fabric in India continues to be enriched by women’s contribution, and

(c) Women must be assigned an important role in all programmes, whether of relatively or preservation.

The Commission pointed out that in order to effectively incorporate the gender perspective in our culture policy, the goals should be spelt out clearly and the mechanism for action specified in detail. The policy should be provide the creative women an equal chance to be seen, to be heard, to be read and to have equal access to the people of the country. It should open doors not only to give recognition to the creatives women but also to motivate and assist talented girls and women to achieve excellence.

The Commission suggested that a survey or study be taken up to assess the participation of women in the different area supported by the Government. On the basis of the survey positive action should be taken to motivate and encourage talented women in various aspects of culture. Women should be enabled to make their contribution through better opportunities for securing training cultural education research etc. In the training schemes for conservation of cultural property, women should be given equal opportunity. Technical courses (for instance, the Museum staff) should have larger participation of women trainees.

The commission advised that space for women artists in galleries and museums should be enhanced. Augmentation of teaching positions for women is institutions of art and culture was warranted. To enhance the contribution of women to culture, managerial administrative and decision-making posts should be made available to women in an equitable manner.

The Commission urged that Government’s grant awarding policies should be modified to give adequate opportunities to women. Award panels should have greater represen­tation of women. Proposals from women applicants for grants should be specifically invited. Women should get a fair share of grants-in-aid, project grants funding for research projects fellowships etc., meant for support of art and culture.

Essay # 8. Gender Inequality in India:

Women in Pre Independence India:

During the Indian renaissance, led by the legendary Ram Mohan Roy, traditional values shackling the lives of countless Indian women were challenged severely. This, to at least some extent, paved way for women’s education and hence colleges and schools dedicated only for women were established.

However, the working women phenomenon was still decades away. Later in the Gandhian age, even though a large number of women came out of their homes supporting the Indian Independence cause, their primary achievement still remained in managing the household.

The Post-Independence Women’s Movement:

The women’s movement in India challenged the traditional division of labor in Indian society. The movement believed that it was the patriarchal institutions which bonded the women in their houses.

With the changing cultural ethos and values inspired by the movement’s ideology coupled with increased exposure to education, the post LPG reforms heralded an era where the Indian women had challenged the traditional male bastions of employment and had entered almost every field hitherto occupied by men. Many women were now getting into paid employment outside their houses. Further, with the service sector of the economy booming, still more women were being employed.

Static Expectations:

While the women started working, their primary responsibility of managing the household did not vanish and it only seemed to increase their work of having to manage both house and work. Patriarchal values ensured that women did not receive much help from the men folk around.

While the women’s role underwent a metamorphosis, the family still remained the same. It still had the responsibilities of looking after the kids including other things and with no support system; many women had to give up their jobs. Many do it out of choice, yet many others are asked to quit forcefully. But there are a few women who are lucky to have supporting husbands. Those women who continue working in spite of familial pressure are more vulnerable to violence within the family.

Work Places- Hidden Sites of Violence:

That we have a bill, which is on its way to become an act, to prevent all forms of harassment at work place speaks volume about all forms of violence at work place. With deeply entrenched stereotypes relating to gender roles, prejudices and biases against women in the Indian psyche, the workplaces often become sites of harassment for women. Office work not just drenches the women physically; it also takes a heavy toll on women’s mental and emotional health. This builds up the tension and has a potential to play havoc with women’s personal lives.

Child Bearing and Child Rearing:

Reproductive and sexual health of women is often adversely affected, thanks to phenomena like extreme son preference, female feticide, multiple abortions and multiple pregnancies. Even those women who are economically independent are given no decision making power when it comes to make fertility decisions and reproductive choices.

Not questioning the women’s biological role of creating a new life, they are often left with no or little control over their body. Bad health, coupled with sexual drudgery may even lead to loss of work at the office space further leading to facing the wrath of their bosses.

Working Conditions:

The informal sector which is bigger than the formal sector in India openly discriminates between men and women when it comes to giving them equal wages. The working conditions in the informal sector are often unhealthy and since this sector is unorganized, there is no or little space for workers’ union, maternity leave, crèche facilities etc. the situation however, is a little better in the formal sector but here too, gender discrimination makes the work environment stifling for women.

The Changing Urban Family; Degrading Support Systems:

The urban family has undergone lot of changes over time. Joint family system has given way to nuclear families leading to erosion of the support network from the family. Migration has led to a feeling of alienation from culture and tradition in those who migrate in search of employment. Hence with no traditional support system of the joint family present, women try to meet the demands of the workplace and household.

Are the Indian Women Getting a Fair Deal then?

With all the arguments presented above, it does appear that the women are on a receiving end while they manage both work and house. While their education has made them aspire to work outside, the changing cultural ethos dictate that if a highly qualified women chooses to just manage the home and not formally ‘work’, she is wasting her life, thereby devaluing and rendering housework insignificant. A notion is created where sitting at home is called worthless which lacks creative pursuit. Women must be able to make informed choice whether or not they want to work.

The Way Forward:

Women’s right to work outside or simply manage home in spite of being educated must be respected. Moreover, if both the partners (man and woman, husband and wife) are working outside, managing the house becomes a shared responsibility not restricted just to women.

One must not expect that woman can manage both the places without any extra support and such support must come from the partner/family members. In the changing times, one must note and accept that the traditionally demarcated roles assigned to men and women are gradually getting blurred and now with increased focus on women’s education, a large number of women are aspiring to have paid jobs.

Measures So Far:

The government has taken a series of steps to empower women in general and working women in particular. Laws like Prevention of Sexual harassment at work place bill, Violence against women (Prevention) Act, Article 14 of the Constitution which guarantees right to equality, right to fair and equal wages. Then there are schemes like Rajiv Gandhi Shishu Yojna which provides crèche facilities for infants and even NREGA has such a component.

It is now a well-documented, accepted and proven fact that if any nation or for that matter the entire world is to develop, then the development of women is necessary pre-requisite. If any developmental plan bypasses half the humanity, then it must be challenged and questioned. Various social indicators like infant mortality, maternal mortality, fertility rates, women’s decision making power etc., are linked to women’ awareness and freedom.

As Amartya Sen puts it- that development should not be viewed merely as an increase in infrastructure or economic growth but it should be viewed as freedom. Even if one has opportunities but cannot make use of them, she is actually does not enjoy freedom.

In the Indian context too, working women, even though they are financially independent, they are not free in the truest sense of the word. If we are to really develop a just social order, then we must remove all the barriers, structural and social which may and do come in the way of the development of half the population of this planet.

Essay # 9. Gender Budgeting:

Gender equality is central to the realization of Millennium Development Goals. Gender equality, leading to increased work opportunities, enhanced capacities for livelihood development, enhanced social protection and overall increasing voice may enable women to participate equally in productive employment, contributing to women’s development leading to economic growth of the nation. No nation can afford development without considering women who constitute about half of the stock of human resources.

Thus, engendering growth has been internationally recognized instrument of development by incorporating gender perspective and concerns at all levels and stages of development planning, policy, programmes and delivery mechanisms. Engendering development and inclusive growth requires an enabling environment in which women’s contribution to the economy can be tapped and enhanced in a substantial and holistic way.

This needs to be ensured from conception to death – an environment that provides physical, emotional, economic, political and community security to girls and women. The engendered development also requires addressing the issues of accountability, capacity building and governance that are of utmost importance for gender equity and inclusive growth.

Women’s role in decision making institutions needs to be enhanced through providing them reservation and enforcement as well as implementation of all pro-women legislations. It is also imperative to eliminate all forms of violence against women through improving institutional mechanisms and enhanced budgetary resources. There is also need to redefine poverty through gender lens.

In order to promote pro-women inclusive growth, it is imperative to create and strengthen institutional mechanism for addressing the destitute, marginalized, disadvantaged and vulnerable women. The enhanced budgetary resources, besides strong political and bureaucratic will for engendering growth and development, will lead to progressive society. Women empowerment is the buzzword now- a-days.

No country can afford development without considering women who constitute about half of its population. However, development has bypassed women in India despite worshiping and paying regards to women in mythology and historical texts.

Gender disparities vary vastly across cultural, geographical and historical context. India is a large country with vast economic and socio-cultural diversity in its varied regions. The development issues related to women in a large country like India will not only be inappropriate but sometimes even misleading.

Women specific and women related legislations have been enacted to safeguard the rights and interests of women, besides protecting against discrimination, violence, and atrocities and also to prevent socially undesirable practices. In past, government of India has undertaken a large number of schemes aimed at the socio-economic development of women under various Five Year Plans.

Gender Budgeting refers to a method of looking at the budget formulation process, budgetary policies and budget outlays from the gender lens. Gender Budget, with regard to the government at any level, does not refer to a separate budget for woman, rather it is an analytical tool which scrutinizes the government budget to reveal its gender-differentiated impact and advocate for greater priorities for program and schemes to address the gender- based disadvantages faced by women.

In fact, gender budgeting, as an approach, is not confined to government budgets alone; it also includes analyzing various socio-economic policies from the gender perspective. As per Council of Europe’s Group of Specialist on Gender Mainstreaming, gender budgeting is an application of gender mainstreaming in the budgetary process. It means a gender based assessment of budgets, incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of budgetary process and restructuring revenues and expenditure in order to promote gender equality.

The fundamental objective of gender budgeting is to refine budgets and relate policies with a view to promoting gender equality as an integral part of human rights. Thus, gender budgeting makes the gender specific effects of budgets visible and raises awareness about their frequently implicit dimensions of discrimination against women.

Thus, it identifies the gender specific implications of public finance. Gender budgeting is crucial tool for monitoring gender mainstreaming activities, because public budgets involve all policy areas. Gender budgeting also increases the transparency of, and, participation in the budget process. It aims at democratizing budgetary process as well as budget policy in general.

Gender responsive budget initiatives can contribute to growing practice of public consultation and participation in the preparation of budgets and in monitoring their outcomes and impact. Gender budgeting also contributes to better targeting of policy measures and hence to the pursuit of effectiveness and efficiency.

Gender budgeting may be regarded as an important strategy in the pursuit of equity in distribution of resources and helping to redress inequalities and to reduce poverty. Thus, gender responsive budgets are tool for strengthening economic and financial governance. A gender responsive budget is a budget that acknowledges the gender patterns in society and allocates money to implement policies and programmes that will change these patterns in a way that moves towards a more gender equal society.

Gender budget initiatives are known by a range of different names such as gender sensitive budget, applied gender budget analysis, gender perspective budget analysis, etc. however, gender budgeting is the most popular term. Political will, accountability, allocation of specific human and financial resources, coordination of information and training and availability of gender disaggregated data can be regarded as preconditions of gender budgeting.

Transparency, partnership and cooperation throughout the budgeting process are key principles of gender budgeting. Gender budgeting is an important tool for women’s empowerment. Budgetary allocations are required for creating basic infrastructure, economic empowerment and gender mainstreaming. Social and political empowerment is also imperative in order to ensure gender equality in decision making and opportunities for socio-economic development.

The strategy is also required that entails tapping the economic potential of collective power of women and their due share in resources. Thus, it is clear that empowerment of women cannot be successfully achieved till all aspects – social, economic and political are addressed and public expenditure and policy is ensured to treat women as equal citizens in the country. Similarly, participation of women in decision making is necessary while societal attitudes towards women have to be changed.

A review of Ninth Plan budget shows that about 43 per cent of funds of gross budget support for Women Component Programmes from the 15 ministries and departments where ostensibly spent on women. Of these Family Welfare contributed 70 percent of gross budget support, Health, Education and Indian Systems of Homeopathy contributed 50 percent of gross budget support while the contribution of Rural Development and Labour 42 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.

Others spent less than 30 per cent of their gross budgetary support on women. During 1997-2001 Rs. 471.33 Crores were spent on women’s specific programmes. The larger amount was spent on Balika Samridhi Yojana, STEP and NORAD Schemes. Similarly, during Ninth Plan allocation, a larger amount was allocated for Balika Samridhi Yojana, Indira Mahila Yojana and Swashakti Projects. Rs. 245419 was allocated for 2004-2005 and a large chunk of amount was allocated on ICDS Scheme and its related components.

Allocation for women as reflected in the gender budget statements is showing a fluctuating trend. During 2005-06 only 2.79 percent budget was earmarked for the women, however it increase to 5.57 percent in 2009-10. There has been significant increase in the amount of gender budget allocations over the period of 2005-06 to 2009-10. The Eleventh Plan made the provision that gender budgeting and gender outcome assessment will be encouraged by all ministries/departments and centre and state level.

During the Eleventh Plan Period, Rs. 48420.51 crores have been allocated as gross budgetary support under the Ministry of Women and Child Development for pro-women programmes. Out of total budgetary support, a large chunk of amount has been earmarked for children. A few new schemes have been introduced in the plan for women empowerment.

Gender budgeting helps assess the gender differential impact of the budget and takes forward the translation of gender commitments to budgetary allocations. During the Plan, efforts will continue to create Gender Budgeting Cells in all ministry and departments.

During 2005-06, gender outcome assessment of fund flows has been covered 10 departments and the total magnitude of gender budget was recorded at 4.8 per cent of total union government expenditure. In 2006-07, 24 departments of union government were included in the magnitude of the gender budget was 3.8 per cent of the total budget estimates. By May 2007, Gender Budget Cells were established in 56 departments and ministries of Central Government.

During the Plan period, the existing system of gender based planning is likely to extend to other ministries and departments. It is also likely to seek to make all national policies and programmes gender sensitive right from their inception and formulation stages.

According to budget estimates, Rs. 31177.96 Crores was expected to use exclusively for women during 2007-08. The total magnitude of the gender budget has gone up from Rs. 22251.41 Crores for 2006-07 (RE) to Rs. 31177 Crores in 2007-08 (BE), an increase of almost 40 per cent. As a percentage of total union government expenditure, this constitutes a rise from 3.8 per cent to 4.8 per cent.

As a percentage of GDP, this is an appallingly low figure of 0.5 per cent and 0.6 per cent for the year 2006-07 and 2007-08, respectively. There has been an increase in the number of Ministries and Departments undertaking gender budgeting exercises that form the basis of gender budgeting statement of the government.

The Ministry of Finance reported that it has also pointed out that 50 ministries/ departments have set up gender budgeting cells. The composition of the gender budget pool simply demonstrates that the largest share goes to women’s education, health and food security and nutrition. The major chunk of allocation for women’s education can be accorded to allocations in Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.

According gender budget statement, almost 65 per cent of total budget provisions under the Department of Health and Family Welfare are meant substantially for the benefit of women. All the budgetary allocation in the Department of Women & Child Development was devoted to the expenditure for the benefit of the women. Similarly, around 94 per cent of the budget in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was made for the benefit of the women.

Interestingly, more than 1/4^th budget in the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports was meant for the benefits of women in the budget estimates for 2005-06. According to the gender budgeting statement, out of entire allocations of the Union Government for Police (Ministry of Home Affairs) only 0.03 per cent is women specific, which indicates that allocations of meagre resources for women specific programmes/schemes could be one of the major reasons for prevalence of high levels of crimes against women.

While around 45 per cent of allocations under the Department of Elementary Education and Literacy are earmarked for women specific, only 23 per cent of allocations under the Department of Secondary and Higher Education have been accorded by the government as a woman specific. During 2006-07, less than 18 per cent of allocations under the Department of Rural Development have been earmarked for women specific, which includes the inclusion of 100 per cent allocations for Indira Awas Yojana.

Gender budgeting has been internationally recognized as a key tool for empowering women by incorporating gender perspective and concerns at all levels and stages of development planning, policy, programmes and delivery mechanism. Government of India has adopted budgeting for gender equity as a mission statement and is widely disseminating tools and strategies across ministries and departments.

The importance of gender budgeting has been stressed time and again in different forums. In order to provide further impetus, the Finance Minister in his budget for 2004-05 mandated the setting up of gender budget cells in all ministries and departments and highlighted the need for budget data to be presented in a manner that brought out the gender sensitivity and budgetary allocation.

During 2005-06, budgetary allocation under 10 demands for grants, estimated at total of Rs. 14379 Crores were shown in a separate gender budget statement. An estimated allocation of Rs. 28737 Crores for benefits of women under 24 demands for grants in 18 ministries and departments were given in the 2006-07 budget. This statement was extended in the budget of 2007-08, to include 33 demands for grants of 27 ministries/departments.

In 2005-06, the number of Ministries that reflected their schemes and programmes in the Gender Budgeting Statement was 9 with 10 Demands for Grants. This has increased to 29 with 36 Demands for Grants in 2011-12. The magnitude of the gender budget reflected in the Gender Budgeting Statement increased from 2.79 percent of the total union budgetary allocations in 2005-06 to 6.22 percent in 2011-12.

10. Conclusion:

In this contemporary world, women need to gain the same amount of power that men have. Now it is time to forget that men are the only holders of power. Women are given equal access to education, freedom of speech and right to participate in the social decision making process at par with their male counterparts.

However it is painfully noticed that women in the society are given less of importance and they are deliberately kept aside in social sphere and they are practically dumped without having any empowerment to establish their identities in the society thereby causing much of exploitation and humiliation.

Women are generally been looked down upon with disdainful contempt. All sorts of strictures have been inflicted upon them, reducing their status to a mere play thing or a slave of man’s whims, a mere chattel to be dumb driven. The orthodox male oriented society in India has still not been able to adjust itself to the fresh wave of women’s liberation.

In words of swami Vivekananda “There is no chance of the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing”. This highlights the need and importance of improving and empowering women. A question needs to be answered since which period the condition of women started set backing.