Day 38 – Q 3.By undermining the agency of women, a society does great disservice to itself. Elucidate.
3. By undermining the agency of women, a society does great disservice to itself. Elucidate.
महिलाओं की एजेंसी को तिरस्कृत करके, समाज स्वयं के लिए बहुत ही अपकार करता है। स्पष्ट करें।
Introduction:
Gender inequality remains one of the pressing problems of India. Though the reasons for this are mostly sociological, there are certain political and economic factors.
Body:
Issues women face:
- Women are under-represented in state legislative assemblies and Parliament (less than 15% representation).
- Money and Muscle power inherent to Indian political system has made politics a men’s game and women are discouraged at the entry level itself.
For example, the system of “Panchayat-pati” or “proxy sarpanch” defies the purpose of 33% reservation offered to women in local bodies. - Social issues: Laws ban female foeticide and dowry but they continue to plague our society.
- Khap Panchayat: They play a major role in restricting the empowerment of women and curtail their freedom.
- Health: Women get affected most in times of poverty and disasters. Ex: At times of poverty, Men and Children get first share in food and only the remaining is available to Women which affects her Health and well-being.
- Work place discrimination: Corporates still defy gender norms and prevent accession of women to top positions.
- Education: Discrimination in terms of access to education to girl child.
Reasons:
- Patriarchy – It has ingrained a pre conceived notion about giving preference to male child in the family.
- Poverty- lack of income and food turns a girl child into a burden for the family.
- Illiteracy.
- Societal norms.
- Ineffective implementation of laws– like PC-PNDT, Dowry Prohibition Act, PSHWP Act etc.
Measures:
- Adequate maternity, crèches at work place, child support centers etc.
- The corporate glass ceiling which discourages in higher management roles for women needs to be broken.
- The Gender Wage gap needs to be removed. Women earn as low as 63% lower as compared to men.
- Safety of women in public and house needs to be ensured through efficient policing and judicial system.
- Resources like land, houses in the name of women as being done under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
- Providing land ownership rights to women especially female farmers.
- Effective implementation of Maternity Benefits Act and MUDRA scheme.
Conclusion:
The empowerment of women has direct repercussion on the growth of the family and helps in progress of the society as a whole. Government is giving more concentration to women related issues but more needs to be done. First step in that can be passing of Women Reservation bill.
Best Answer: Jyoti Singh
