THE NATIONAL POLICY FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN :
The Government of India has declared 2001 as Women’s Empowerment year. The national policy of empowerment of women has set certain clear-ct !oals and o"#ectives. o"#e ctives. The policy aims at pliftment$ development and empowerment in socio-economic and politico%cltral aspects$ "y creatin! in them awareness on varios isses in relation to their empowerment. The followin! are the specific o"#ectives of &ational 'olicies particlarly of rral fol( on Empowerment of women in India. i. ii. ii.
iii. iii. iv. iv.
v. vi. vi. vii. vii. viii. viii. i. i.
)rea )reati tin! n! an envi enviro ronm nmen entt thr thro!h o!h posi posittive ive econ econom omiic and and socia ociall pol policies cies for for fl fll development of women to ena"le them to reali*e their fll potential. The The de-# de-#r ree and and de-f de-fac acto to en# en#oy oyme ment ntss of all all hm hman an ri! ri!ht htss and and fnda fndame ment ntal al fre freed edom om "y "y women on e+al "asis with men in all political$ economic$ social$ cltral and civil spheres. E+a E+all acces accesss to part partic icip ipat atio ion n and deci decisi sion on ma(i ma(in! n! of wome women n in soci social al poli politi tica call and economic life of the nation. E+a E+all acces accesss to women women to healt health h care care$$ +ali +ality ty edc edcat atio ion n at all all level levels$ s$ care career er and and vocati vocational onal !idan !idance$ ce$ employ employment ment$$ e+al e+al remne remnerat ration ion$$ occpa occpatio tional nal health health and safety$ safety$ social secrity and p"lic life etc. ,tre ,tren! n!th then enin in! ! le!a le!all syst system emss aim aimed at elimi elimina nati tion on of all form formss of disc discri rimi mina nati tion on a!ainst women. )han )han!i !in! n! soci societ etal al attit attitd des es and comm commn nit ity y prac practi tice cess "y activ activee part partic icip ipat atio ion n and and involvement of "oth men and women. ini inist ster erin in! ! a !ende !enderr persp perspec ecti tive ve in in the dev devel elopm opmen entt proce process ss.. Elimi Eliminat nation ion of disc discrim rimina inatio tion n and all all forms forms of viol violence ence a!ain a!ainst st women women and and the !irl !irl child. /il /ildi din! n! and and stre stren! n!th then enin in! ! part partne ners rshi hips ps with with civi civill soci societ ety y$ part partic icl lar arly ly wome women’ n’ss or!ani*ations.
Economic Empowerment: ,pport to Trainin! Employment 'ro!ramme for Women Women STEP) )entral ,ector ,ch ,cheme lan anched in 134545-46$ see(s to p! p!rade s(ill of poo poor and assetless women and provide employment on sstaina"le "asis "y mo"ili*in! them in via"le coope coopera rati tive ve !rop !rops$ s$ stre stren! n!th theni enin! n! mar( mar(et etin in! ! lin( lin(a! a!es es$$ spp sppor ortt serv servic ices es and and acce access ss to credit. The scheme also provides for ena"lin! spport services in the the form of health health chec(-ps$ le!al and health literacy$ elementary edcation$ !ender sensiti*ation and mo"ile cr7ches. The ltimate endeavor of each pro#ect is to develop the !rop to thrive on a self-sstainin! "asis in the mar(et place with minimal !overnmental spport and intervention even after the pro#ect period is over. ,ince inception$ arond 280 pro#ects have "een provided financial assistance nder the scheme. The ten traditional sectors identified for pro#ect fndin! nder ,TE' comprise of a!ricltre$ animal animal hs"andry hs"andry$$ dairyin!$ dairyin!$ fisheries fisheries$$ handlooms$ handlooms$ handicraft handicrafts$ s$ (hadi and villa!e villa!e indstries indstries$$ sericltre$ waste land development and social forestry. The scope and covera!e of the scheme is
"ein! "roadened with introdction of locally appropriate sectors "ein! identified and incorporated into the scheme.
9a#iv Gandhi ,cheme for Empowerment of dolescent Girls 9G,EG % ;,a"la’ centrally-sponsored scheme was approved "y the Government on 15.4.2010. The scheme is "ein! implemented in 200 districts across the contry on a pilot "asis. In the remainin! districts$
owever$ ,/? has completely replaced &trition 'ro!ramme for dolescent Girls &'G as all districts of &'G are now part of the ,/?. The scheme$ interalia$ aims at vocational trainin! for !irls a"ove 15 years of a!e for their economic empowerment. Sabla is
"ein! implemented thro!h the ,tate Governments@ATs with 100 per cent financial assistance from the )entral Government for all inpts other than ntrition provision for which 80 B )entral assistance to ,tates is provided. n!anwadi )entre is the focal point for the delivery of the services. Objectives: • •
•
•
?ife ,(ill Edcation and accessin! p"lic services$ Cocational trainin! for !irls a!ed 15 and a"ove nder &ational ,(ill Development 'ro!ram &,D' The sccessfl implementation of ,/? re+ires conver!ence with development activities@schemes of other Departments sch as >ealth$ Edcation$ =oth ffairs$ ?a"or$ '9Is etc. &early 100 la(h adolescent !irls per annm are epected to "e "enefitted nder the scheme. !ainst the allocation of 9s. 80 crore for the year 2010-11$ a sm of 9s. 0 croreappro. has "een released to ,tates@ATs. The year 2011-12 will "e the first complete year of implementation of the scheme after which the physical and financial achievements made vis-F-vis the tar!et wold "e assessed. sm of 9s. 680 crore has "een allocated for ,a"la for 2011-12. Swa-Shati
The pro#ect #ointly fonded "y ID$ World /an( and the Government of India was lanched in Hcto"er$ 1333 and clminated on 0th ne$ 2008. The o"#ective of the pro!ram was to "rin! ot socio-economic development and empowerment of women thro!h promotion of women ,>Gs$ micro credit and income !eneratin! activities. The pro#ect was conceived as a 'ilot 'ro#ect implemented in 8 "loc(s of 86 districts in 3 states. The pro#ect esta"lished 16$5J6 ,>Gs coverin! a"ot 2$ JJ$000 women. This was a )entrally ,ponsored 'ro#ect. Swa!a"si##ha
This was an inte!rated scheme for women empowerment thro!h formation of ,elf >elp Grops ,>Gs lanched in e"rary$ 2001. The lon! term o"#ective of the pro!ramme was holistic empowerment of women thro!h a sstained process of mo"ili*ation and conver!ence of all the on !oin! sectoral pror!rams "y improvin! access of women to micro-credit$ economic resorces$ etc. This is a )entrally ,ponsored ,cheme. The ,cheme had "een a"le to provide a form for women empowerment$ collective reflection and nited action. The scheme was clminated in arch$ 2006. The pro!ramme was implemented in 580 "loc(s of the contry and 56361 women ,>Gs have "een formed "enefitin! 3$ 43$J48 "eneficiaries. The scheme came to an end in arch 2006. It is proposed to ta(e p ,wayamsidha with a wider scope drin! the KI 'lan. It is also proposed to implement a woman’s empowerment and livelihood pro#ect in for districts of Attar 'radesh and two districts of /ihar with assistance from ID. The schemes of ,wayamsidha and ,washa(ti wold "e mer!ed and implemented as ,wayamsidha$ 'haseII in the KI 'lan. The idTerm ppraisal 9eport of the Tenth 'lan has also recommended mer!er of these two schemes as these have similar o"#ectives. The net phase wold "e a contry wide pro!ramme with lar!er covera!e in ,tates la!!in! "ehind on women development indices. )onver!ence is the "asic concept in ,wayamsiddha. The lessons learnt in ,wayamsiddha and ,wa-,ha(ti wold "e incorporated in the niversali*ed ,wayamsiddha !ivin! an inte!rated set of trainin! inpts relatin! to social and economic empowerment$ incldin! s(ill development and trainin! in traditional and non-traditional sectors.The estimated re+irement drin! the KI 'lan period for "oth phase II of ,wayamsidha as well as the ID 'ro#ect is 9s. 000 crore.
Lite$at%$e Review: &' 'aper : M(NRE(A a# its I"*act + ,ai! Wa.e# W+"e W+$e$s: A Case st%#! +/ S+it*%$ ,ist$ict +/ Assa"' 0!:
Sa"*e 2its : There are 1J "loc(s in sonitpr district of ssam. sample of 28B$ which accont for J "loc(s was chosen as sample to stdy on the "asis of demo!raphy$ location specific featre to !ive fair representation of the district. 'rimary Data: ,trctred and nstrctred +estionnaires@schedles. ,econdary Data: '"lications$ technical #ornals$we"sites$ periodicals$ "an( report
In the re!ion maimm of women poplation is en!a!ed as la"or in hosehold wor($ hose constrction$ road constrction$ shoppin! comple etc.Daily a!e wor(er Res%t 3 Fi#i.s +/ the Re*+$t: Ic$ease# ic+"e: In sonitpr district the total nm"er of women employment increased from J.54 la(h in 2010-11 to 8.22 la(h in 2011-12. This indicates that the prchasin! power capacities of the women wor(ers have increased. C+s%"*ti+ S"++thi.: rom the srvey it has "een fond$ a lar!e ma#ority 62 per cent of the respondents said that they spent wa!es earned at G&9EG wor(s on re!lar food and consmer !oods. The increased income locally availa"le thro!h G&9EG wor($ they felt$ was helpin! ensre at least two re!lar meals a day. L+we$ I#ebte#ess: rom the srvey$ 0 per cent of the respondents said that they had spent their wa!es on repayin! small de"ts. It also helped them to (eep themselves away from the cltches of local moneylenders. 0%t the a"+%t ea$e# th$+%.h M(NRE(A is +t s%//iciet t+ $e*a! #ebt' E$ichi. Lite$ac!: si!nificant percenta!e of wor(ers % almost J per cent spent their G&9EG wa!es on their children’s edcation. ccordin! to 2011 poplation censs$ the female and male literacy rate of sonitpr district is 5.8B and 65.34B respectively. The 2011 )enss report of ssam hi!hli!hted a sharp rise of a"ot 1 per cent in the female literacy rate. I"*$+ve# Heathca$e: It was seen thatJ0 per cent of the respondents spent earnin!s on healthcare. This act also provides medical facilities$ drin(in! water facilities$ foodin! to the wor(er’s children etc. drin! the wor(in! hors. P+ve$t! e%t$ai4ati+: /efore implementation of G&9EG act the standard of livin! of the poor people in sonitpr district was misera"le. rom the collected data it is seen that in 2010-11 the total nm"er of #o" card issed 2.1 la(h which is increased to 2.22 la(h in 2011-12$ a!ain it frther increased to 2.2J la(h in 2012-1 . rom this we can say that the nm"ers of employees
was increased which increased the income of the people. s a reslt the livin! condition also improved as they were a"le to develop their sanitation facilities$ drin(in! water$ ntrition level$ electricity. C+""%it!-Leve E//ects: Women participation has increased after the implementation of G&9EG in many areas. lar!e nm"er of women wor(ers attended the !ram-sa"ha meetin! held in connection with G&9EG. )ommnity level empowerment of women is one of the !reat achievements of this ct. It$a-H+%seh+# E//ects: G&9EG has si!nificant impact in convertin! npaid wor( of women into paid wor( and widen the scope of decision ma(in! role of women in hosehold matters. s the wa!es are paid thro!h formal instittions$ the intra-hosehold stats of women increases and they can control cash resorces "ecase withdrawn can "e made only as per her own decision. /y !ivin! cash earnin!s in womenLs hands$ G&9EG $ "oth increased and diversified the contri"tions that women made to hosehold incomes as wa!e earners.
Maj+$ L++*h+es i the E5isti. Sche"e Sta// t$aii. a# a#"iist$ative set %*: ,horta!e of field staff impendin! proposal for sanction of staff$ for approval is a common thin!. )G 9eport$ 2006 has pointed ot lac( of dedicated administrative and technical staff for &9EG as the (ey impediment for procedral lapses. N+-avaiabiit! +/ Chi# Ca$e Faciities : Different stdies show that certain women do not accept the #o" facilities of G&9EG "ecase of improper child care facilities.
P++$ w+$site /aciities : There is provision of safe drin(in! water$ restin! place$ chan!in! room$ first aid$ recreational facility for children etc. from the G&9EG fnd. rom the srvey it is fond that other than drin(in! water facility all other facilities were not availa"le. ,ea! i Pa!"ets : In case of sin!le women if they are the main earners in the family delay in payments is responsi"le for low participation of women. L+w eve +/ awa$eess: In ssam women participation was low "ecase of less awareness a"ot the pro!ramme. any of the male poplation had withdrawn from a!ricltral activities and #oined G&9EG. This vacated space in a!ricltre was ta(en "y the women. C+c%si+: The stdy reveals that if G&9EG, is scaled hi!her and eected well$ it can defan! poverty at the lowest level as well as it can also empower the poor in the immediate rn. The mltiplier analysis has shown the !ood impact of G&9EG, on incomes$ edcation and economic pliftment in the stdy area. rom the a"ove analysis it is conclded that the performance of G&9EG is still short of the desired levels. a#ority of the card holders coldn’t !et the 100 days of !aranteed #o". The scheme also failed in respect of providin! employment avenes to the nemployed on a lar!e scale. /t the same achievements coldn’t "e seen in ssam. The accred "enefits of women as commnity can "e seen in increased presence in the !ram-sa"ha$ increasin! nm"er of women in spea(in! ot in the meetin!s$ etc. 6' Pa*e$ : A I"*act Asses"et St%#! +/ the 2se/%ess 7 S%staiabiit! +/ the assets c$eate# %#e$ M(NRE(A i Sii"' A%th+$e# b!: Istit%te +/ R%$a Maa.e"et Aa#
The stdy was condcted in ,i((im after J years of G&E9G implementation from 2005 to 2010. Women participation was 25 $ J2$ 4$ J4 percent in the respective years. Meth+#+.! +/ $esea$ch: Malitative and +antitative research has "een done$ where in data has "een collected thro!h srvey from G&E9 "enificiaries in 168 !ram panchayat nits across J districts of state identified with the help of stratified random samplin!.lso srveyed 26 /loc( development officers and focsed discssion with !overnment officials at varios levels and case stdies. Fi#i.s: G&9EG schemes in ,i((im have improved the overall +ality of life of women in the state. The women’s overall income !eneration$ economic self reliance$ !ender main streamin! and overall +ality of life saw a ma#or fillip. The participation of women was important and witnessed across all the levels of the pro!ram implementation. There was also more than 100B increase in the participation of women in the pro!ram. Even crcial decisions li(e distri"tion of wor( in the pro#ects which normally sed to "e men’s domain witnessed participation of women. It was also a wonderfl insi!ht that none of the women had had any eposre to any sort of employment "efore. There was also a sense of social and !ender e+ality in the women since the income !enerated from the wor( done "y "oth sees was the same. ,avin! money was an important financial literacy achievement amon!st the women "ecase of &9EG. The pro!ram saw women sharin! a stron!er and more cohesive "ondin! "etween their il( and were
a"le to discss health and !eneral societal awareness isses. G&9EG also prevented women fol( from wor(in! in varios eploitative environments. The women as reslt were now "ein! viewed as an important decision ma(er in the family and also as an independent "read earner. The development wor( done nder G&9EG "ro!ht pota"le water sorces closer to the villa!es and it helped the women "y preventin! them from !oin! lon! distances to fetch water.
'aper : A I#ia $e*+$t + eva%ati+ +/ M(NRE(A :AS%$ve! O/ Twet! ,ist$icts
Authored by: INSTITUTE OF APPLIED MANPOWER RESEARCH
Methodology: Twenty ditri!t "ro# the $rt %ot o" &'' ditri!t were e%e!ted "or tudyin( the bene$!i)ry %e*e% i#+)!t )nd re+one, Thee &' ditri!t )re +re)din( throu(hout the !ountry !o*erin( -. t)te "ro# )%% the re(ion, Se%e!tion o" thee ditri!t i done by uin( the e!ond)ry d)t) o" ditri!t "or the ye)r &''./'0 +%)!ed in the NRE1 webite, St)te )*er)(e were !)%!u%)ted b)ed on #)n/d)y )nd 2ob !)rd iued, Two ditri!t3 one )bo*e )nd one be%ow the t)te )*er)(e were e%e!ted "ro# e)!h t)te in )%% the re(ion e4!e+t wetern re(ion where the ditri!t d)t) w) not )*)i%)b%e, Where*er the d)t) i )*)i%)b%e3 two ditri!t "ro# e)!h t)te were e%e!ted )nd #ore wei(ht)(e in e%e!tion o" ditri!t i (i*en to e)tern re(ion by e%e!tin( 0 ditri!t where there i e*ere out/#i(r)tion "ro# thi re(ion, Lit o" ditri!t e%e!ted "or the tudy i (i*en )t Anne4ure 5 I, Fro# e)!h ditri!t two b%o!6 were e%e!ted in !onu%t)tion with the ditri!t o7!i)% !on!erned )nd "ro# e)!h b%o!63 three (r)# +)n!h)y)t were e%e!ted "or !)n*)in( the !hedu%e, In e*ery 1P3 8' bene$!i)rie were e%e!ted on r)ndo# e%e!tion b)i "ro# the %it o" 2ob !)rd ho%der9bene$!i)rie )*)i%)b%e, Thu in e*ery ditri!t '' bene$!i)rie were t)r(eted !o*erin( .''' bene$!i)rie +re)din( throu(hout the !ountry, The )%%/Indi) ur*ey re+ort +reent the re+one re!ei*ed "ro# the bene$!i)rie o" the !he#e +ert)inin( to the +eriod &''./'0, The in"or#)tion !o%%e!ted i (rou+ed into the "o%%owin( e!tion u!h ) --, Houeho%d det)i% &, Me!h)ni# o" 2ob !)rd re(itr)tion , Iue o" 2ob !)rd ;, Re(itr)tion < )++%i!)tion "or 2ob =wor6> 8, I#+)!t on W)(e3 In!o#e )nd ?u)%ity o" Li"e ., I#+)!t on out/#i(r)tion
Household Details Table-1.1: District wise Distribution of Head of the Household by Sex and Social Group
S.No.
Districts
Northern %e&ion 1 Barabanki 2 Sonbhadra 3 Sirsa 4 Karauli Sub-Total astern %e&ion 5 Munger 6 Kishenganj 7 Sambalur 8 Sundergarh 9 !umla 10 "an#hi 11 Malda Sub-Total estern %e&ion 12 $ahod 13 %habua 14 Bhandara 15 Bilasur Sub-Total Southern %e&ion 16 $e&angere 17 Medak 18 'alakkad Sub-Total North-ast %e&ion 19 (or)h *akhimur 20 Sou)h !aro +ills Sub-Total Grand Total
Social Group ST !C #e$ale "ale #e$ale
"ale
SC #e$ale
"ale
169 60 100 51 '()
0 8 74 46 1*(
0 120 0 40 1+)
0 50 0 40 ,)
106 53 77 51 *(
1 8 6 46 +1
23 1 30 16 )
1 0 13 7 *1
298 234 207 158 (,
2 66 93 139 '))
103 34 37 13 2 13 89 *,1
5 1 10 10 0 5 4 '/
32 28 129 126 241 211 151 ,1(
4 2 51 108 34 39 28 *++
121 33 41 15 9 12 22 */'
4 3 8 13 3 14 0 0/
31 188 24 8 9 4 6 *)
0 11 0 7 2 2 0 **
287 283 231 162 261 240 268 1'*
13 17 69 138 39 60 32 '+(
1 0 40 16 /
9 0 8 5 **
201 158 0 223 /(*
18 142 6 15 1(1
0 0 183 25 *)(
0 0 27 3 ')
69 0 31 13 11'
2 0 5 0
271 158 254 277 ,+)
29 142 46 23 *0)
68 79 14 1+1
29 66 66 1+1
35 2 30 +
24 0 40 +0
28 42 22 ,*
15 84 93 1,*
81 20 14 11/
20 7 21 0(
212 143 80 0'/
88 157 220 0+/
19
2
88
0
91
6
94
0
292
8
1
1
232
61
0
2
2
1
235
65
*) ,),
' '0,
'*) *)0
+1 ++*
,1 ,'1
( ''+
,+ ++0
1 ,(
/* 0//1
' 100+
(o)e, S- . S#heduled -as)e S/ . S#heduled /ribe B- . )her Ba#kord -lass Sour#e , M" Sur&e 2007
General "ale #e$ale
Total "ale #e$ale
Table 0.( : District wise Distribution 2ertainin& to 3$ple$entation of o$en 4uota in or5 6llot$ent S.No
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15
16 17 18
19 20
Districts Northern %e&ion Barabanki Sonbhadra Sirsa Karauli Sub-Total astern %e&ion Munger Kishenganj Sambalur Sundergarh !umla "an#hi Malda Sub-Total estern %e&ion $ahod %habua Bhandara Bilasur Sub-Total Southern %e&ion $e&angere Medak 'alakkad Sub-Total North-ast %e&ion (or)h *akhimur Sou)h !aro +ills Sub-Total Grand Total
Source : M" Sur&e 2007
indings ima#)
Share of o$en in the or5 6llocation 7''8 ''8 ''8 No %esponse Total 300 23 0 16 '',
0 277 300 33 +1)
0 0 0 248 *0(
0 0 0 271 )
300 300 300 297 11,
0 0 0 60 32 55 72 *1,
29 36 158 263 232 93 (11
0 0 0 82 5 0 135 ***
271 264 0 0 13 13 /0(
300 300 300 300 300 300 300 *1))
300 0 0 0 '))
0 300 300 300 ,))
0 0 0 0 )
0 0 0 0 )
300 300 300 300 1*))
78 57 0 1'/
99 97 0 1,+
123 146 300 /+,
0 0 0 0
300 300 300 ,))
300 0 ')) 1*,'
0 0 ) */1
0 300 ')) 1'',
0 0 ) /0(
300 300 +)) /,,
emale-headed hosehold participation in the wor(s is very encora!in! ran!in! from 12 to 82 percent. Tho!h the scheme envisa!es at least one-third of the total person-days to "e earmar(ed for women participants$ it is too early to #d!e on this point since the effective time dration of the scheme in these 20 districts is neven and in some cases the scheme hardly ta(en off. It was fond that only in J2 percent hoseholds$ the women cold share the 1@rd of the allocated person-days wa!e days . >owever$ in 22 percent of the hoseholds$ the women fol( did tili*e more than one-third of the tili*ed person-days in the hosehold.
