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Status of Modern Women in India
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STATUS OF MODERN WOMEN IN INDIA
Dr. C. Thanavathi
M.A., M.Phil., M.Ed., M.Phil., SET, Ph.D., DGT, DCA,
Assistant Professor of History,
V.O.Chidambaram College of Education,
Thoothukudi – 628008. Tamilnadu, India.
Cell No. 9629256771
INTRODUCTION
It is definitely after Independence that the Indian women gained considerable importance
within their country in social and political spheres. At Independence the majority of women still
remained ignorant but they did not allow the fire that burnt in their hearts to die. They took many
progressive decisions such as organizing themselves to fight for a new set of goals. The goals
were getting equality based on gender, job opportunities, reforming the existing laws which gave
women only partial justice, and creating a society which did not oppress women intellectually,
physically and emotionally. Even though the efforts made by women activists and concerned
organization were slow in getting a real break-through, despite the conservative outlook of their
counterparts, they succeeded in creating a focused consciousness among middle-class and upper
middle-class women at large. Slowly it spread to the lower rungs of the existing political setup.
From then they have been desperately trying to evolve a new self-concept or a new self-identity
which is totally free from the traditionally imposed one. To assess the contemporary Indian
women's position we have to analyse the women's movement after Independence up to the
present. This will definitely include the different organizations and schools of thought which
have evolved in India in the wake of Independence.
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ISSUES RELATED TO MODERN WOMEN
Our Constitution gives equal rights to both men and women in every field. Today,
women enjoy voting rights, right to inheritance and property. In fact, the Constitution lay down
that the government should promote with special care the interests of the weaker sections of the
people. Several laws have been passed since independence to promote the interests of women.
These laws relate to marriage, inheritance of property, divorce, dowry, etc. In 1976, the Equal
Remuneration Act was passed to provide for equal remuneration to men and women for similar
work. Recently, the government has started a scheme for the protection of girl child. The scheme
is called ‘Ladli’, in which an amount is set aside at the time of the birth of a girl child which she
gets when she completes eighteen years of age. This amount is then used for the education or the
marriage of the child. Similarly, there is another scheme called ‘Jaccha Baccha scheme’. Under
this scheme, the state governments take care of the birth of the child and all expenditure related
to medical assistance for the upbringing of the child. However, in spite of these provisions, we
find a lot of discrimination against women.
1. Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination refers to the practice whereby one sex is given preferential
treatment over the others. The practice of giving social importance to the biological differences
between men and women is there everywhere. In some societies, these differences are very much
pronounced while in others, they are given less importance. Even the Indian society is not an
exception to this.
Different Faces of the Practice of “Gender Discrimination”:
In comparison with some other social problems, “gender discrimination’ does not
“appear” to be a serious problem in India. It “appears” to be so because; it has not been made a
very big social issue so far. But in reality, it has weakened the strength of the female community
of India. Though constitutionally men and women are equal, socially men are given priority and
importance sometimes to the disadvantage of women. There are various areas wherein this
discrimination is apparent.
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(i) Discrimination in Socialisation:
In our socialisation process female children are becoming victims of discrimination. In
the Indian social context even today male children are preferred to female children. Hence,
female children are subject to discriminatory treatment. Male preference and female negligence
has almost become a working policy especially in the rural areas.
Discrimination between male and female children is made in matters relating to food,
dress, health, education, domestic work etc. The policy of male preference and female
negligence has led to what is known as “female disadvantages”. In India, mothers show
preferences for male children. Give them importance because – males are wanted during their
old age to offer protection, males have greater scope than women and occupational avenues are
also wider for males than for females. This male preference has led to the abuse of advanced
technology. The sophisticated scanning and super monographic equipments are being misused to
find out the sex of the child; that is to go for abortion if the child is found to be an unwanted
female child.
(ii) Discrimination in the Distribution of Power and Work:
Most of the Indian families are patriarchal. Hence, the philosophy of equality of sex is
not acceptable to them. Domestic works such as – cooking, looking after the children, washing
clothes and vessels, keeping the house neat and clean, looking after the domesticated animals,
serving family members like a nurse on all days and especially when they fall sick, etc., are
branded as “women’s work”. Very rarely men do these works. But when the question of
exercising power comes, it is always the man who dominates. His decisions are final and his
orders are ultimate. The female voice is always suppressed.
(iii) Women’s Health is ignored:
Women suffer from some distinctive health problems from which men are free. Women
have to undergo the distinctive biological process of pregnancy, or child-bearing, delivering,
nursing, feeding, child-caring or rearing etc. These are their maternal functions. But the
insistence on the family planning has posed many health hazards.
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The use of contraceptives, Copper-T, sterilisation, abortion and hormonal drugs has an
adverse effect on health. Those who make use of them suffer from problems such as bodily
weakness, bloodlessness, high bleeding, fatness, problems in uterus, discomfort in breast,
chronic back pain, etc. As Neera Desai and Vibhuti Patel have criticised, the advocates of family
planning do not seem to bother much about these problems.
a. Women neglecting their Own Health:
Studies have revealed that our women themselves are neglecting their own health.
Normally Indian women consume less food [that is, on an average 100 calories a day] and spend
more energy on work. Women toil for the good of the family and children even at the cost of
neglecting their own health. Women very rarely complain about their ill-health because of their
virtue of “self-denial”. The records in the health centres reveal that women are lagging behind
men [that is, 1:3, meaning one woman taking medical help for every 3 men] even in matters of
availing of medical help.
b. Women have their own reasons to neglect their health:
Not finding free time to go to health centres because of heavy work at home; non-
availability of proper medical facility to test the health or ill-health of the mother and the child
especially in the primary health centres; inability to walk a long distance to reach a well
equipped health centre in the absence of proper transportation facility; non-availability of female
doctors in the nearby health centres, etc., are some such excuses.
(iv) Decline in the Female Population:
Normally, in the population of any country, male- female ratio remains more or less the
same, that is, 50:50. In India as the census reports reveal female population has been steadily
declining ever since 1901. It is for this reason Neera Desai and Vibhuti Patel raised the point
whether the womenfolk in India represent a “declining sex”. According to 2001 Census, there is
a deficit of 35 million women as compared to 3 million in 1901. For every 1000 men, we have
only 933 women at present as against 972 women in 1901. The male preference has led to the
abuse of technology. Thousands of “unwanted female” children are killed at the stage of foetus
itself. It is said that in India, out of 12 million female children born every year, around 25% of
them die before they attain the age of 15. Of the children who die every year, about 3 lakh
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female children, that is, more than the number of male children, die for one or the other reason.
Of the children which die every year in India, the 6th child dies due to gender discrimination.
(v) Gender Discrimination in Occupations and Public Life:
Women workers are paid less than the male workers for the same type of work. Much
labour is extracted from women by giving them very minimum wages. In matters of giving
treatment, promotion, increment, facilities, etc., discrimination is normally made. In public life
also men are given priority. Excepting the glamorous film actresses and politicians, in all other
fields, women are not given importance on par with men. Government officials also practise this
discriminatory treatment in dealing with the people.
In India females are discriminated in various fields like health, education and jobs. The
girls carry the liability of dowry on their head, and they have to leave their parents home after
marriage. Besides, in order to safeguard their old age parents prefer to have male offspring.
Many female babies are aborted, abandoned, deliberately neglected and underfed simply as they
are girls. This is worst in the state of Rajasthan. But now there is a great change in this direction.
In some states like Haryana where girl child ratio is very low, the government has taken out
many schemes to promote education of girls. Reservation of jobs for women and even six
months maternity leave is provided to them besides many others. The World Bank Document,
“A New Agenda for Women’s Health and Nutrition” (Washington 1995) estimates that in
developing countries, 450 million adult women have their development problems due to lack of
protein input during their childhood. In many communities, women and girls get less food or
poor quality food compared to men and boys. When they are ill, they get less attention or receive
some attention only when the disease becomes extremely serious. There is ample evidence at the
global level of disparity in health status between men and women and their access to medical
services.
In a majority of the countries, literacy rate for women is significantly lower than that for
men. In 66 countries, the gap between the male and female literacy rates is estimated to be larger
than 10 percentage points and in 40 countries; it is larger than 20 percentage points in the age
group of 6-11, which corresponds to primary level education. According to 2011 census, there is
a gap of 16.7 percent between the literacy rate of men and women i.e. men’s literacy rate is 82.14
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percent compared to women’s literacy rate that stands at 65.46 percent. About 24.5 percent (85
million) of the girls in the world are estimated to be out of school compared to 16.4 percent (60
million) boys.
In most Indian families, a girl child is least welcome although in India women were
respected from the early ages. Even though there are growing instances of girls excelling in
education, tradition, custom, and social practices place greater value on sons than on daughters,
who are often viewed as an economic burden. This attitude of the society also stands in the way
of the girl child being able to achieve her full potential. A recent report on the girl child makes
the following observations: “Girls are the world’s most squandered gift. They are precious
human beings with enormous potential, but across the world, they are generally the last to have
their basic needs met and first to have their basic rights denied.” The need of girls for food
clothing, shelter, healthcare, education, nurture, and time to play often goes unmet. Their rights
to safety, freedom from harassment and exploitation, as also their rights to grow, develop and
blossom, are denied. Prejudice against the girl child becomes clearer and sharper from the data in
sex ratio in the age group 0-6 years. In the Census, 2011 this ratio has been recorded as 914,
down from 927 in the Census, 2001. The child sex ratio has steadily declined from 976 in 1961
to 914 in 2011.
2. Dowry System
The practice of dowry is one of the worst social practices that have affected our culture.
In independent India, one of the landmark legislations is the passing of the Dowry Prohibition
Act in 1961 by the Government of India. Despite the fact that the practice of both giving as well
as accepting dowry is banned by law and such acts are punishable offences, the system is so
thoroughly imbedded in our culture that it continues unabated. Whether it is rural or urban India,
the blatant violation of this law is rampant. Not only dowry deaths, even most of the acts of
domestic violence against women including psychological as well as physical torture are related
to matters of dowry. Some of the very basic human rights of women are violated almost every
day. Sometimes it is heartening to see some girls stand firm to assert their rights against dowry.
But there is an urgent need to strengthen such hands by taking some concrete as well as
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comprehensive social, economic, political and administrative measures in order to free Indian
society of this disease.
3. Problems and Issues of Women Education in India
The problem of women’s education in India is one which attracts our attention
immediately. In our country, due to conservative traditionalism, women’s status has, through
ages, been considered to be lower than that of men. During the later part of the Vedic period the
Aryans had sealed the fate of women culturally and socially by denying them the right to study
Vedas and thus half of the population was deprived of one of the most fundamental human
rights. They were regarded as the bond slave to men for their economic dependence on them.
Even today, in spite of the recognition of women’s status equal to that of men, the majority of
them suffer in primitive ignorance as ever before. Illiteracy and ignorance is prevalent more in
women folk than in men-folk and this evil is rampant especially in rural areas and backward
communities.
The importance of women in matters of building the character of the citizens, economic
reconstruction of the country and social reforms is being realized. Under the fast changing
conditions in the country in the recent times increased attention is being paid to their education.
Though different Commissions and Committees appointed at times, suggested for the solution of
the problems of women’s education and for its expansion, even then there are certain problems
still persist in that field.
The main problems facing their education are:
(i) Development of immorality;
(ii) Suitable Curriculum for the education of girls;
(iii) Lack of social consciousness among women;
(iv) Scarcity of lady teachers;
(v) Lack of proper physical facilities;
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(vi) Unwillingness of lady teachers to serve in rural areas;
(vii) Financial difficulties;
(viii) Problem of transport;
(ix) Problem of wastage and stagnation;
(x) Problem of co-education;
(xi) Lack of enthusiasm and interest of the officials in charge of education
The education of girls and women is an integral part of national development. Steps that
are being taken to improve and expand their education will not recede to the background due to
lack of finance. It must be remembered that there is still a big gap to be filled between the
education of the boys and girls, further; mother is the pivot of family life in India. Our way of
life depends on her. It is essential; therefore, that at least the programmes for girls and women
that have already been included in the current pan are not disturbed. The lack of coordination
that existed between the home, the school and the life outside had to be remedied; and a close
integration must be secured between the process of education and the social and economic life of
the country. Everyone should be trained to make an adequate living and lo fill effectively her
appropriate place in life.
The facilities for education should be adjusted as accurately as possible to the actual
needs and opportunities which arise. Any wastage of training should not be tolerated in a country
so poor as India. The methods of education had to be so designed that the inherent appeal and the
value of education would win for it the loyalty of the pupils and support of the parents. The
awakening among Indian women has been really considerable during recent years. Despite all
obstacles and many difficulties women education is advancing steadily. They are making their
influence felt in international affairs. Inside the country there is a demand for equal rights.
Indeed, it is quite obvious that women’s education must catch up with men’s education as rapidly
as possible and that great gap between the two must be bridged.
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Apart from being a wife and mother, women must play a positive role in the country’s
planning and progress and she must develop her own talent. She then to achieve her two rolls of
wife and mother, and a worker to her country, and she can only do this with the mutual co-
operation of educational set up of her country and herself Our girls have all the potential
qualities, mental, physical, but these will have to be nourished and cherished until they grow into
the full and glorious womanhood. Our late Prime Minister Pandit Nehru said, “the most reliable
indicator of a country’s character is the status and social position of women more than nothing
else. He said, “I am quite convinced that in India today progress can be measured by the progress
of women’s of India”. Dr. Radha krishanan quoting Manu believed “Where women are honoured
there the Gods are pleased, where they are not honoured all work becomes fruitless”. Women as
human beings have as much right as men have and the honour they expect in society depends on
the degree of their education.
Before drawing conclusion it may be mentioned that the task of the school authorities in
India is to prepare the girls for the triple role she will have to play in adult life. First, as the
founder and fashioner of a happy home, secondly to be able to earn her livelihood independently
an honourably if circumstances demand her to do so and thirdly to discharge her duties as a
responsible and enlightened citizen. The Indian Education Commission 1964-66, rightly
emphasized, “For full development of our human resources, the improvement of homes and for
moulding the character of children during the most impressionable years of their infancy, the
education of girls is of greater importance than that of boys”. However, the change in the attitude
of the public towards women’s education would go a long way in improving the situation.
Social reformers and social thinkers believe that in a nation like India giving education to
women in as large a number as .possible can prove to be a panacea for many of the problems of
women. Accordingly, much attention is paid to the education of women after independence. The
female literacy level is also increasing steadily. It has increased from 18.7% in 1971 to 39.42%
in 1991 and to 64% in 2001. In spite of this change in the trend towards literacy, some problem
has cropped up. We find glaring differences between the level of education of men and women.
For example,
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i. It is found that girls are being discouraged to go for higher education and also for
professional and technical education.
ii. There are regional imbalances also. In states like Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra,
female education is encouraged and given almost equal importance. Whereas in states
like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh etc. education of girls is neglected even today.
iii. Increasing drop-out of female children from schools is another problem. Though female
children are getting admitted to primary, middle and high schools in a substantial
number, many of them drop out of the school in the middle without completing the
course.
iv. Admission to School: Even in the matter of admitting children to school at elementary
level, female children are discriminated against male children. Awareness is not there
among people regarding female education.
CONCLUSION
Women in independent India are comparatively in a more respectable position. Some of
the problems which had been haunting the community of women for centuries are not found
now. Problems such as child marriage, practice of ‘sati’, prohibition on widow remarriage,
exploitation of widows, devadasi system, purdah system, etc. have almost disappeared.
Development in the field of science and technology, universalisation of education, socio-political
movements, modernisation and similar developments have changed the approach of people
towards women to a certain extent. These developments boosted the morale and self-confidence
of women. As a result, Indian women now feel that they too have their own individuality,
personality, self-respect, talent, capacity and efficiency.
Many of those women who could grab the opportunities extended to them have proved
that they are capable of discharging the responsibilities assigned to them on par with men. The
nation which neglected almost 50% of its population for several centuries has now understood
the necessity of giving equal rights and opportunities to its womenfolk. The Constitution of India
provides equal rights and opportunities to women. It does not make any discrimination on the
grounds of sex. Indian women are also responding positively to this changed socio-political
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situation. This does not mean that our women are completely free from problems. On the
contrary, the changing situation is causing them new problems. They are now beset with new
stresses and strains. Some of the major problems haunting the modern women was analysed here.
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